My goal of a sub 15:00 5000m: I will not stop until I reach my goal

There are a series of races next June on the West Coast called the Pacific Coast series. There are 5 meets in 2 weeks kinda thing, I am hoping to get out there this summer and get in a fast race.

I am planning to peak around May. Right now everything is just base. To be honest I am only hoping to get into the low 15's by then. That time of year gets real hot down here and there are no races so my goal of breaking is actually not till early next fall. I feel that I am in just under 17 shape right now so I really do have a long way to go. I tried a comeback once before and got too excited and ended up going nowhere so this time I am being patient. Thanks for all the support.

Got a good run in today. Just felt great. First cool day of the year. It was only 70 today. I ran an easy warm up and then did 15x1000m. Goal pace was 3:45 with a 2 minute rest between each. Got done and felt like I could have done more. Really looking forward to the race next Sat.

Where is your 5k at?

Got in 30 minutes today, I have my first long run tomorrow (75 minutes) so I want to be well rested for it.

This week's mileage: 35 miles. next week will hopefully be around 45.

The 5K fun run is here in Saskatoon, entry fee is 5 bucks so why not eh.

Didn't get in the full 75, did 60. It was a good run, felt decent.

I had my first "workout" today, and it felt decent, but my foot is bothering me again.

My workout consisted of a loop of a city park as warmup (10:20), an up-tempo loop (9:00) and a cool-down loop (10:00). I have a best on this loop of 7:14 back in grade 11, so clearly I have a ways to go (course record is 6:45 by a 3:53, 8:26 guy to the best of my knowledge).

As for my foot, I have been to physio twice. The doc told me that I caught it earlier than 99% of people do, and to me this is a good sign as it shows that I know when something is amiss with my body. He told me to treat it like a cut: if it itches then scratch it, but don't scratch so hard that you tear the scab off, if you start bleeding, back off.

I have ran 5 days since the first visit, and it has started to hurt a little more so I am going to stick to the bike for the rest of the week, get in plenty of time on it. Since it is a lot less stressful to my joints I should be able to still increase my fitness on the bike, or at the very least maintain what I little I have attained so far.

Forgot to update last night, super tired from work.

Went to the gym, did a half hour on the bike and then got bored so I did about 15 minutes of core and stretching, then went to the local spa and soaked in the big pool of mineral water. It was unreal.

Went to the gym again today, did some intervals on the bike, about 3 minutes hard, 1 minute easy for 30 minutes. During the 3 minute intervals I held 5 lb. weights in each hand and swung them according to how fast my legs were moving in a running motion. Tomorrow I am going to go ont he bike again and then try a run on Saturday, see how that feels.

I have also started REALLY watching what I have been eating. Instead of having crispers or chips for a snack I have some kind of nut (peanut, almond, cashews) and water to fill me up. Started eating salad a lot more than normal, surprisingly energetic and almost bouncy.

I have also been treating my foot by rolling it on a frozen water bottle, this seems to help a lot. I haven't had any stiffness in my foot when I wake up yet, so I assume that is a good thing.

This Sunday: 5k fun run for charity.

Goal: sub 17:30.

You ready for the races JCHOW? I have not been running lately, got sick. Looking to start back tomorrow with the race. Will let you all know how it goes down.

I've been going pretty hard on the bike, today I actually did some light running on the treadmill with some circuits, 1 mile run (7:00), core exercises for 3 minutes times 3, felt decent. This was with a 15 minute bike before the circuits as well.

Rabbanah, I am definitely ready, I have been doing some minor strides on the roads, I measured them out and am running 14 second 100m with ease, feels just like a stride.

Not that has anything to do with the "race" on Sunday, but it is nice to know that I have basic speed again now that I am running.

The goal for the weekend is to do a SLOW 45 minute run tomorrow with strides and form drills, then Sunday go out at a brisk pace for 5 minutes, then go hard from there.

JCHOW wrote:

Today was pretty good, I ran for 43 mins, approximately 6 miles.It was also a fasted run, to help me lose my belly ha.

Fasting before a run doesn´t help you to lose fat. To burn fat efficiently you need also glycogen in your muscles and liver.

I woke up this morning feeling like I had been run over by a truck. Big fever last night. I would not have run the race, but I had already paid the 20 bucks. It was a very low key event with little competition. I went out with the lead guys and after a mile or so felt they were going to slow so I picked it up. They must have been waiting for someone else to lead cause they glued right to me. With about 1k to go I put in a surge and opened up a gap on them and then cruised in. Ran a 16:35. I think with someone pulling me and a healthy week before that I could go low 16, but I am very pleased with this time for now. Plenty of room to improve. Let us know how you do tomorrow JCHOW.

First workout of the year today.

The workout was: 5x30 second hill, 3 min rest, 3 min hilly tempo, 7 minute rest, 5x30 second hill, 3 min rest, 3 min hilly tempo, 7 min rest, 5x30 second hill. Warmup of 20 minutes, 30 minutes of form drills and accels, cooldown of 10 minute walk and 10 minute run.

I was very happy with this workout, as the longer it went on the better I felt. I never felt like I was going over my limit at anytime today and while I didn't feel great, I didn't shit the bed either.

Tomorrow's 5k fun run is at 1PM.

Weekly Mileage: 22 miles running and approximately 3 hours on the bike.

JCHOW'd the race go for ya? Did you get under 17?

Tonight I ran 12 miles at 6:30 pace. I am feeling much better than last week.

I woke up with a bit of a fever so I decided against doing the race, I was super pissed off. I took the day off actually so I wouldn't be feeling like shit the next day.

I felt a lot better today, had my last visit with the physiotherapist about my foot. He said that it didn't feel as tight and did some hip strength tests, said everything was really strong. He did say that during my stride (he watched me run for a couple minutes on a treadmill) I bring my leg in a concave when I bring it forward ever so slightly. He said it was nothing to worry about as long as I don't start doing that stupid duck kick that people do.

Did a workout today of 2 sets of 3x3 mins on the grass with rep rests of 2 minutes active and a 5 minute set rest. I did them at a tempo pace as it is still early and I don't need to be hammering workouts anytime soon. Total mileage for the day: 10 miles.

Hey okay if I hang in here. After trying to decide on 3 or 4 options for my running goals next season which included -

a.) Marathon (quickly decided against it) b.) Training to Qualify for the 20-23 age range for the world duathlon champs,

c.) training to break the kick up world record, d.) training to run a sub 16 5000 for next year.

Decided that D was the most logical option. As I'm 21 I can put the duathlon on hold for a year for when I've improved my 5 and 10km times.

A little background about my running - last year I ran a 35:29

10KM on 20-25 miles per week w/ basically 4 sessions of long intervals, short intervals and 2 6-7 mile steady runs.

My 5km PB is 17:04 off similar training - I think I have the potential to take 65 seconds off this as long as I clock consistent 35 mile weeks for the rest of the year.

Here is my last week's training:

Tue: Track Session (Longer Intervals) -

2KM @ half marathon goal pace - 7:35, 1 mile @ 10 mile goal pace - 5:59 (wanted 5:57), 1KM @ 10KM goal pace - 3:30,

600 metres @ 5KM goal pace - 2:02.

(this session will incorporate much longer intervals as my endurance improves.)

Wed: 7.5 miles steady @ 6:55 Pace

Thurs: Track Session (5KM Goal Pace)

8 x 400 metres w/ 40 seconds jog recovery - 79, 81, 80, 81, 80, 79, 81, 80.

roughly 16:39 pace - my goal is to get up to 12 reps before I start doing longer intervals at goal pace.

Sunday was booked in for an 11 miler but I had a nightmare day travelling and it had to be abandoned.

Today I did 7 miles in 49:02 with a v.fast finish.

I have also been doing a number of wrestling workouts (not in the ring but with weights and stuff.)

What can I say, I'm young and vain and want to look strong and muscular. If I put on weight what do you think the limit is - I am currently 5'9 and roughly 130 pounds. I want to get better definition but obviously don't want to become so big that I can't run fast anymore.

Jesus Christ, you guys are much too far away from sub-15 to actually be on this thread. At least Eddylee was at 4:15 when he started his sub-4 thread. The OP has a short term goal of 17:30? Lol!

This is JCHOW's thread so I don't speak for him, but he did say he didn't mind more people joining in. I know I would not mind someone else reviewing workouts. Might give me some ideas.

JCHOW, I was wondering where you got your training plan and workouts from? Are they from what you did before, an adaptation, do you have a coach, etc?