This approach has worked well for me. Get fast\reach goal time on a shorter distance, then increase distance little by little until I can run the full distance in goal pace.
This approach has worked well for me. Get fast\reach goal time on a shorter distance, then increase distance little by little until I can run the full distance in goal pace.
Easy Peasy wrote:
OP - what's your height? 132 pounds for a male is extremely light and it's actually almost impossible that you can't break 20 given your weight unless you're like 5'6" or have exactly zero talent.
5'5" bro
there are many roads to a 20 min 5K. you can get there on 20 mpw if you just upped your intensity. I'm a big fan of mile reps with 4 min passive rest. Classic VO2 workout. got me sub 20 in a few months after starting running.
You are fast enough to break 20:00 today. You just need to learn how to race, more specifically pace. Try running tempos of 1 - 1.5 miles @6:15 - 6:20. Focus on staying loose, comfortable and on pace.
OldGettingOlder wrote:
You are fast enough to break 20:00 today. You just need to learn how to race, more specifically pace. Try running tempos of 1 - 1.5 miles @6:15 - 6:20. Focus on staying loose, comfortable and on pace.
Shouldn't tempos be a bit slower than your goal pace?
What does this 5 x 1k workout look like?
Times? Rest?
When I first broke 20, I ran these 1k repeats in roughly 3:55, with 2 minutes (200m) jogging rest.
Agree with others that bumping your long run to 8-10m will be helpful.
Reality is real wrote:
What does this 5 x 1k workout look like?
Times? Rest?
When I first broke 20, I ran these 1k repeats in roughly 3:55, with 2 minutes (200m) jogging rest.
Agree with others that bumping your long run to 8-10m will be helpful.
Around 3:55, with 2 minutes jogging. +1K warmup and 1K cooldown.
Yeah thank you looks like everybody's agreeing on that. So that's what I'll be doing. Currently I try to run the 5K like the following:
4:20 , 4:20 , 4:00, 4:00, 4:00
Last 2 times I tried that I ran out of breath in the last K and did it in ~4:08. I didn't reach MHR though. Reached 186 (I'm 28).
If you can do that 5x1k workout with those times and recoveries, then I think you are close to breaking 20:00 now, especially in a race.
On low mileage, going for a big negative split like you mention above may not be the best race strategy because a) you give up too much time in the beginning and b) you don't have the mileage/fitness to really hammer the final part of the race. I'm not saying you need to start super fast, but why not go out at goal pace? 6:26 p/mile or 4:00 p/k?
Even pacing has always worked well for me in the 5k. From a mental point of view, if you can hit the 2 mile mark around goal pace, then adrenaline can take you through the final 1.1 miles.
What pace are you running your 6k tempos?
Reality is real wrote:
If you can do that 5x1k workout with those times and recoveries, then I think you are close to breaking 20:00 now, especially in a race.
On low mileage, going for a big negative split like you mention above may not be the best race strategy because a) you give up too much time in the beginning and b) you don't have the mileage/fitness to really hammer the final part of the race. I'm not saying you need to start super fast, but why not go out at goal pace? 6:26 p/mile or 4:00 p/k?
Even pacing has always worked well for me in the 5k. From a mental point of view, if you can hit the 2 mile mark around goal pace, then adrenaline can take you through the final 1.1 miles.
What pace are you running your 6k tempos?
My tempos are 4:20.
I'm sure that if I start at 4:00 I'll max out in the middle. But the thing you said about giving up too much time in the beginning makes sense. So maybe 4:10. I got a race next week maybe I'll try that. Though i don't have a feel about 4:10... Never trained at that pace.
Ok.
Your current 5k PR is 20:48, which is roughly 4:10 p/k pace. You should have an idea of that pace.
Running your tempos at 4:20 pace is pretty quick compared to your 5k time. If you can run these 6k tempos you mentioned at this 4:20, you should be racing faster than 20:48. A tempo run should not feel like a race, and extending the distance and slowing them down a little may help from an endurance standpoint.
But as a I mentioned above, if you can run that 5x1k workout at 3:55, and your tempo pace is 4:20, then you really should be able to run very close to 20:00 or even break it now.
You may just need a bit more racing practice.
One of my friends just broke 40-mins for 10K this week. He's been down there before a few years ago.
According to Strava he's run 650 miles this year which is about 19miles per week. He ran 75 miles in July and same again in August. His biggest week this year is 28miles.
- He does a long run of 8-10 miles once per week at about 8min/mile.
- He quite often plays a game of soccer once per week but hasn't done much recently.
- He will run a couple of other times in the week for 4-6miles. Often he does the last km or two at intended race pace.
- Every 2-3 weeks he will do a big session of race-pace work like 8-10kms of interval work!
He is a tall, skinny beanpole guy and I'm sure if he dedicated himself to training he could be a lot faster. But he doesn't and the point is he's not doing a lot to achieve this.
Of course different people have different backgrounds and genetic potential.
Hi all,
I'd like to post a quick update:
For the past 3 weeks I have run 25 mpw on average (40K), with a 12K long run (7.5 miles). Last week I had a 5K race. So I decided to make a first time try for 20 minutes. So I didn't hesitate to start off a little fast. Here is how it went:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8ner2yFgQYXsUybt9
As you can see I did the 5K in 20:13 (3:53, 4:06, 4:02, 4:06, 4:06). Apparently the track was a bit more than 5K. Official result is 20:26.
I'm very happy with the result, since that's a 35 seconds improvement of my PB, and it makes me 13 seconds away from my goal. Next race is in 30 days. I'm sure I'll do 20. I will update.
Thanks yall!
I think you just need to run faster. It might be as simple as that considering your age and weight.