Comeback journey to sub 20 min 5 k at age 66....

I don't mean to call into question your times but it would be helpful if you could send links to the claims you make about running 16:45 at 45+ plus because if that were true then there will be links, reports, articles, which are verifiable otherwise it cannot be proved and it would not be a good look to be shown to be less than truthful.

Running 16:45 for 5 kilometers at age 45 plus would place you at the top or close the top in most localities in the United States and elsewhere.

So, 5k in 26:30

Fair enough

26:30/5km for a man weighing 88kg/195 is an honorable time.

Weighing 10-13 kg less might have resulted in a time several minutes faster, possibly 23:00-23:30.

Pulse highest 157-170 bpm up to 3 km and then highest 175 at the end. 🧙‍♂️🇸🇪

The Wizard has left the building

Was that was a calculation or an actual time trial?

Ghost1 My understanding is he is trying to run sub 20 by next year. I am somewhat close in age and time it can be tough to get 1 minute faster. It is highly likely he will get hurt if he overtrains. Yes it may be healthier to bike swim lift and stretch but his goal is to run 20 minutes. Are you saying he needs to do 5 minutes next year because it will be to late after that?

im proud of you coach! keep it up

I agree that I should have run a bit faster in the 5k. I ran 4:04 for 1500 which I assume is a bit better. I never really enjoyed it nor did I train much. I ran 4:30 in high school at a tiny school where we didn't really train.

I time-trialled a 12:34 yesterday. No evidence needed. It gets better and better.

A solo time trial at 26:30 suggests sub-25 race fitness. Still a looooooong way from sub-20, but a step in the right direction.

That’s great and I’m happy for you, but it’s a looong way from sub20.

I was at the British masters 5k champs, as my wife was running. Letsrun very own sirpoc won (he's 42?) in 15:03 i think (a good tactical race to watch).

Anyway, there were 8 guys 45+ under 16:30, 6 guys 50+ 16:30 or under and a 60+ ran 16:42 (which was only good enough for 42nd overall.

A lot of these guys also never ran to their potential when they were younger. Sub optimal training, lack of mileage. A lot of the stuff we all got wrong when we were younger. In that we ran fast in spite of our training, not because of it.

Obviously some of these guys are also totally new runners. But I think you are way wrong in running 16:45 being articles about it. Nobody is writing an article on a 45+ year old running 16:45. In fact, to think so it's delusional. It's good, but this sort of stuff happens pretty regular.

Maybe, but someone running 16:45 at 45+ there's a paper trail or digital trail somewhere. Without that, the poster's claims are just that .. claims....not evidence..

Show me the evidence, otherwise it seems unlikely...

What are you talking about? This is double down gibberish you would expect of JS. Clearly, 16:45 is good for 45+ but as my post demonstrates (go look up the BMAF champs results for 5k in 2025), nothing about the posters claim is unreasonable. There's a couple of athletes a decent amount faster than the post than I know absolutely nothing about and I have helped manage the BMAF scene in the past.

What do you want the poster to do, dox themselves on Letsrun? Especially strange as some people have posted information about yourself (interesting life choices should we say) and then that information gets deleted. So, you can't have it both ways. Personally, posting personal information I would always be wary of on Letsrun. So when you add that to he fact nothing about 16:45 is remotely outrageous in the grand scheme, it's a very strange hill you are choosing to stand your ground on!

So 26:30 it is now. 11 month to go

Getting 6 Minutes and 31 seconds shouldn't be a problem. You only have to get a 1.17 seconds faster a day.

I hope you say the same from now on regarding Jan's claims. You can start with his 26:30

And no, a one minute video on facebook of Jan about to die on the treadmill is not evidence.

It was with the assistance of a treadmill, so you can put a huge asterisk by it, if you please.

No, he was talking about doing it this year, maybe on a track.
A treadmill performance will not count.