Sub 20 minute 5K at 50 years old?

I've just started running, seriously, at 30.

I'll be interested to see what is posted here. I hope to be running well into the masters age groups, so the input on getting fit and fast will be of great interest to me!

Good luck pal!

I did increasingly long race-pace intervals followed by “long runs” of 40-60 mins on a mill. Did a TT on the track when I started to get a mill-related knee injury, and to my huge surprise went sub-19, at 53.

There are multiple ways to get there, make sure you keep it interesting.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

I did increasingly long race-pace intervals followed by “long runs” of 40-60 mins on a mill.

Do you mean that you worked out your race pace and then progressed through 400, 800 intervals. A run after the intervals is interesting! Did you do this once a week?

Go for it. I applaud your effort. There must be a million of us "masters" who have resolved to take our time and do it right, now that the ego driven races aren't pulling us off our plans. Of course, plans change as conditioning changes. But half the fun for me is coming up with a better plan. I haven't quite got the gift of tenacity. ADHD? - My newest impulse always trumps my prior impulse. Hope you can put up with 6 months of base building. Best of luck.

Sounds exciting - 23:00 down to 20:00 in a year to totally doable.

I just went back and dug out my logs from age 50-52. During that period I ran five 5ks between 19:20 - 19:45 with the 19:45 actually being the best effort as it was a very hilly twisty course. 15 years later I am only about :50 slower, but running more and smarter miles.

Here are my suggestions/advice -

You plan looks solid. Base building- Strengthening - Some Speed - Taper - then target race(s)

Additions:

- Try and find a group or at least someone to run with to relieve the "boredom". A couple times a week would be ideal. It could be your hard run, your easy, run, or your long run (the last is often best if you can match yourself with someone going your pace)

-Staying injury free and building a decent base is critical. No need to ramp up the track workouts too early. In a decent 5k plan as according to everything I have read says that a 5k is 90-95% aerobic anyway.

-As you build up you mileage a short shake out second easy 2-3 mile in the morning will help. I have been doing at least one and as many as three, short runs a week for the last 25 years. Usually on my days where I going to run hard in the evening.

-If some little races open back up jump in one or two to just see where you are. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Make it fun, keep it even and get used to racing again.

-Do not as you say " Ditch the aerobic and just go balls to the wall interval training from the get go." You may see some improvement, but are risking injury and certainly won't reach your maximum potential.

One of your weekly runs should be a long run - No more than 20-25% of your week mileage. Don't worry about time when you start.

-I think it is certainly okay during your build up period of 4-6 month to gradually introduce some faster miles. Nothing over the top, but 2x150 meter strides with active jog/walk recovery near the end of your runs. Ideally, these are run on grass or a soft surface, but for the past four years I just make sure they are in the last 1-2 miles from home. Do these 2x a week. That gives you a mile of harder stuff.

Add once a week some moderate hills as strengthen workout 4-6 200 hills with a jog walk back to the bottom. That is another half mile of good work.

One day do a mile at up tempo pace. Maybe start with a loose target of 7:30 and work down to 7:00. You goal pace for the whole 5k is 6:24 . You will get there just don't overdo it.

-Hard easy. Hard easy. You need rest more at 50 than at 40. Rest days are rest days. Either just a light jog or if you are of that frame of mind, then just take a day off.

-Keep at least two pairs of shoes in rotation. Your feet will thank you in the long run. (no pun intended)

Lastly there are tons of training plans online for 5km. Splash around a bit a find one that may work for you. It is okay I believe to cherry pick the best ideas for any one plan and fit it into your personalized plan.

Good luck

jtface wrote:

Sprintgeezer wrote:

I did increasingly long race-pace intervals followed by “long runs” of 40-60 mins on a mill.

Do you mean that you worked out your race pace and then progressed through 400, 800 intervals. A run after the intervals is interesting! Did you do this once a week?

Here’s the chronicle, FWIW.

Link didn’t post. Here it is:

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9380269

BTW it was pretty fun, because there was verified progress in every workout. It helps to have a modest goal like sub-20.

I've got a sub-20 streak going back to 2013 when I was 36. I'll be 43 this year (obviously) and just ran 19:30 (long course, was 19:14 for 3.1 per GPS) at a parkrun in January.

Glad I got that one in before races were shut down for the year. I hope to keep the streak going until at least 50 or beyond.

My routine has been 30-45 mpw consistently, with some peaks in the 50s or 60s if I'm training for something in particular. I don't do a lot of workouts because I tend to overdo it, but I do slip in the occasional 20 minute tempo, or chunks of marathon-pace training.

As others mentioned, consistency is key. It's a lot easier to get injured than when I was younger.

My PB's from my early 40's are nearly identical to yours. I stopped running completely for about 6 years and then at a corporate 5K in February 2019 ran a 24 flat on zero training. It was an ALL OUT effort and I couldn't hardly walk the next day. I was so disappointment at how much I had slowed down and the 50lbs I had gained, it was the turning point to get me running again.

My next 5K on July 4th (49 years old) I ran just under 20 minutes. Checking back on my running log, that is with ~25 to 30 mpw, all easy-ish miles, for the preceding 10 weeks or so. The month or two before that, I was just running once or twice a week, 4 miles, just trying to get going again. So with my sample of one, I'd say yeah, it's definitely possible. It didn't even require any speed work.

This July 4th (50 years old) I plan to run the same course (virtual 5K this time) with a goal of breaking 17. Been at around 50-60 miles most of this year, doing tempos, cruise intervals, and even sneaked in a track workout. It'll be close. :-) They aren't joking about the diminishing returns on increasing running workload!

Good Luck!

It's reassuring to hear things like this... Hoping to go sub 20 by the end of this year (aged 30 - no real running background)!

Sub 20 sounds achievable. I want to echo an earlier poster who suggested a regular dose of light speed during the week.

I had similar PRs to you but slowly wound down my running over 4 years in my mid-40s before ramping back up at 47. In that year I built my mileage to the highest level ever (65 MPW) but still ran everything about 45 seconds per mile slower. That want by design I had just lost speed in those down years.

I’ll be 50 this year and think I could knock out a sub-20 with a little focus.

Hey, thanks for all the replies. I'm glad to see the general consensus is that it's an ok plan and that I have a pretty good shot at sub-20. On Monday I was actually thinking "this won't be very difficult." Then I ran a tempo on Tuesday and got discouraged at the effort to pace ratio (ran it too hard).

Some responses...

"Hope you can put up with 6 months of base building."

Yeah, me too. That's got me a little worried. I've done this a couple times before, where I "fall in love" with running again, then lose interest or get injured a month later. So the advice to find a group is something I'm definitely thinking about. But most groups are so "workout" based and just full of one-size-fits-all interval training. I was thinking I could avoid that until my base building is done. But yeah, once covid is over I need some people to chase.

I also have a hankering to go run some track repeats just out of curiosity, but so far I've held off.

Like I said, my main goal is to stay injury free. If I do that, and don't ever hit sub-20, I think I'll still be happy. I enjoy the discipline and the process.

"As you build up you mileage a short shake out second easy 2-3 mile in the morning will help."

Interesting. I was thinking about this, but I'm trying to rein in my eagerness and be patient. But I think if I can build up to it, I'll probably implement a second run when I can.

I've been doing strides after most of my easy runs, but they're only 40-50 meters or so since that's the length of the park near me. Should probably lengthen those.

Not sure where I'll peak my mileage, but my biggest problem right now is my feet and ankles have all sorts of weird niggles and pains all the time, so I'm taking it slowly. One of the reasons I quit 10 years ago was achilles issues, and I've mostly managed that, but it's always in the back of my mind.

Anyway, I'll try to keep this thread updated with progress, though months of base building won't be super riveting reading.

Easily doable. Tinman training works great for us geezers.

"Easily doable"

We'll see. I'll take a look at Tinman training, thanks.

Just as an update, ran a 5K time trial today in 22:17, so about 45 seconds faster than last month. Ran it in the middle of my 8 mile "long" run today, and after running 10x2min fartlek yesterday. Didn't plan the days that way, just that life and weather had a say. There was a virtual 5K race where you just run a Strava 5k segment solo, so I ran about 2.5 miles over to the course, ran the 5k, and ran back home. Was generally pleased with the effort, think I probably could have been around or under 22 in an actual race. Making progress, but sub-20 seems like a long way away.

Otherwise, training this week was about 35 miles with a 20 minute tempo and the fartlek. I'm still motivated, but I think I'm going to have to address that eventually, either by mixing up the training or joining a running group. Cheers.

I dropped from 16st (224lbs) to under 11 st (154lbs) in under 12 months. At the start of my comeback my 5km times were 26-24mins. All my results are here

https://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=718&viewby=date

After a year and a half I ended up with a 14.50 5km, aged 44. I’m still planning to go faster. I hope to win the Carlsbad 5000 Masters race in September aged 45.

Check out the podcast that Peter Brady did me....

https://www.mastersmilers.com/mick-hill-comeback-king/

Keep it simple - you don’t need intervals, you don’t need Tinman training, you don’t need Lydiard, you don’t need Coach JS The Wizard, you just need common sense and a dogged determination & to simply put in the time & stay consistent!

Contact me directly if you want any help....I don’t charge a penny (or is a dime in the US?)!!

bethebest45 wrote:

Keep it simple - you don’t need intervals, you don’t need Tinman training, you don’t need Lydiard, you don’t need Coach JS The Wizard, you just need common sense and a dogged determination & to simply put in the time & stay consistent!

Maybe good advice, maybe not. Different things work for different people. You lost 70 lbs, great, and you got faster—what if this guy doesn’t have 70 lbs to lose, or doesn’t want to lose it? What if he has less time than you? What if his goal is at a different level than yours?

I appreciate the advice and the offer. Your story is pretty amazing, and I would consider you an outlier. Did you run when you were younger? I've found that people that ran competitively in hs/college/university can come back and still be fast, even after long lay offs. Something about muscle memory or lifetime miles or I don't know what...

Also, I'm slow. I've never run a 60s 400 or a 30s 200, never broke 5 in the mile. I could never get under 17 for 5K even when I was running 80 miles week, and I don't want to run that much again, so I think sub-20 is a good goal, but goals can change of course.

I think I need some sort of regimented training eventually, or I'll get stale.

As far as weight goes, I'm 6'1", 182lbs today. My racing weight was 160, but I don't see me going below 175 these days.

Thanks again for all the input from everyone.

I would still urge a “keep it simple” approach for any middle aged runner wanting to either get back into the sport (after say having been serious at a younger age) or someone who is new to the sport. The various systems of training out there can all have their place - but for the vast majority of middle aged people they are overly complicated and you’d be best just keeping focussed on building aerobic fitness, being healthy (diet & lifestyle) & becoming all-round “athletic”. I read so much nonsense on these boards - but very few of you can actually back it up with bonafide results - just a load of ifs, buts & maybes. I agree that the approach is partly determined by goals, age, how much weight to lose, time available, injury history, other priorities in life - I won’t disagree there, but the over arching philosophy needs to be one of simplicity not some overly complex periodised training system! A good starting point is to (i) learn to jog, most runners don’t know what jogging is & they need to hit a certain pace & feel a bit of a burn & (ii) once you’ve learnt to jog, jog some more & then some more