How many years of training would it take a sedentary 18 year old male to break 16 minutes in the 5k?

Really good , needed post, which means david45 will probably ignore it and start another thread complaining about his shoes.

He doesn't have the attention span to read HRE's post.

HRE wrote:

In high school I thought I might have been the worst runner on earth. Someone had to be, right? I couldn't run under 6:00 pace for even a half mile. It took almost three years of running before I beat another runner who actually finished a race. But I began working like crazy for several years and got to where I could run a marathon at better than 6:00 pace, managed to win some very small time races, and turn in times that were once only fantasies.

Out of curiosity, what were your 800, 1500/mile, and 5K PRs? Like you, I couldn't run a sub 3 800 in my freshman year of HS. I worked hard, got a 2:30 by the end of that year, and ran a 2:12 by the time I graduated.

3-4 years:

Year 1: 10-20 mpw of silly and dumb but consistent running - time drops from 25-28 to ~22 min.

Year 2: Didn’t learn much from Year 1 but starts running more. 25-35 mpw, maybe starts training smart after realizing they’re not that fast and they’re not improving much, and 30 mpw isn’t much - time drops from ~22 to 19-20

Year 3: definitely started training smart and running more - time drops from ~19 to 16-18

Year 4: continues training and improving - time drops from 16-18 to 16-17

I feel like this is a very possible and common path for a hobbyjogger like myself or anyone else. 16:00 is a tough time to get down to for most people, so many might never get there despite trying somewhat consistently. I think that 2 years of crap training and 2 years of good training is a very reasonable way that many people get there though.

david45 wrote:

How many years of training would it take a sedentary 18 year old male to break 16 minutes in the 5k?

It will never happen for you, Daveyboy. Might as will and focus on your illustrious career as night manager of the local McDonald's.

Thank you

Best PRs ? They all came after I was out of college and focused only on the marathon. I rarely ran anything shorter than 10 miles and when I did I almost always trained through them. But the bests were 4:48 mile, 9:54 two mile, 15:33 5 km, 32:20, 10 km, 54:48 ten mile, 2:35:21 marathon.

In high school our coach did not time anyone. He was the football coach and was only coaching for the extra money and to keep his players fit for the fall so you either needed to hear a time the other team's coach called for one of his guys who were close to you or extrapolate. I did once get a time of 3:06 for a half mile relay leg. And I once figured I'd run about 6:15 for a mile. I did get times for cross country courses but in those days courses were anywhere from 2.2 to 2.8 miles.

PS, oddly, I supposedly ran a 440 time trial in 57.8 as a high school senior. I've never been sure that was accurate but a year later as a college freshman i ran 59.8. So I just had no endurance,

You're welcome. Look, I didn't mean to be harsh but probably was anyway. The thing is, if you want to train only as much and as hard as is comfortable and enjoyable for you and accept whatever results that brings that's just fine. But be honest with yourself about what you're doing. You are capable of getting performances that seem beyond you right now if you really commit yourself to doing it but doing that happens mostly in your mind. Not everyone is suited to that nor should they be. If you are not stop torturing yourself for it.

HRE wrote:

In high school I thought I might have been the worst runner on earth. Someone had to be, right? I couldn't run under 6:00 pace for even a half mile. It took almost three years of running before I beat another runner who actually finished a race. But I began working like crazy for several years

HRE wrote:

Best PRs ?

...

4:48 mile, 9:54 two mile, 15:33 5 km, 32:20, 10 km.

Thanks for sharing (and for motivating people to train harder!)

HRE wrote:

PS, oddly, I supposedly ran a 440 time trial in 57.8 as a high school senior. I've never been sure that was accurate but a year later as a college freshman i ran 59.8. So I just had no endurance,

Nah, you had plenty of it, especially compared to me:

Freshman year of HS, after about a month of training:

400m: 1:20 or 1:21

Mile: Somewhere between 7:05 and 7:10

Lifetime PRs:

400m: 55.9

Mile: 5:06

I somehow pulled off a 2:10 800 in college even though I never ran a sub 5 mile or the equivalent time in the 1500. But I was more of a 400/800 guy and didn't run the 1500 or mile very often.

In excess of 99% of all current 18 year olds will never break 16:00 in a 5k, whether they train or sit on the couch. Don't get confused by all of the Let's Run superstars. You should not define yourself by how fast you can run. Quit obsessing over numbers. The Kenyans on my son's D1 team don't even own a watch when they get here. Get rid of yours. You'll know if you ever actually need one.

david45 wrote:

How many years of training would it take a sedentary 18 year old male to break 16 minutes in the 5k?

It took me a Year and a Half, I had been in a Mental Hospital for 11th and 12th Grade, no exercise at all, I wanted to play Sports in College, so I ran a 10k it took about 1 hour and 40 minutes had to walk a lot of it, signed up for The Cross Country Team Summer practice class, I always did the same route as everyone else usually 5-9 Miles, but they were mostly gone by the time I finished, occasionally on the shorter runs, I would see some of those as they were leaving. To go to the camp in Mammoth we had to run 3 Miles in 18 Minutes, they ran the same route every week The first time I did 26 Minutes and then 24 a few weeks after that 22 Minutes, and the coach gave those who had not made it 1 last chance and I broke 20 Minutes about 19:50, so I did not make it, I asked the Coach what I had to do to get better, he told me run 15 Miles a Day I covered 15 a day EVERY Day, signed up for the team, Ran every run, some Kids met in the morning for a 2nd workout, I did not drive so I ran the 3 Miles to school before the Morning run and after the main Team workout in the afternoon I ran 3 miles home, so I was ALWAYS getting in at least 15 miles, my first race I was last on the team, by the end I was about 12th out of about 30 runners, the team won State (Orange Coast College in California), but I did not run because only 7 were allowed, but I kept getting in at least 15 a Day EVERY DAY I did not miss even one Day and I started Track Season running low 17's for the 5k on the Track and about 16:20 by Seasons end, I kept running at least 15 a Day and in the First Track Meet of my 2nd Year I ran 15:49 winning the race (The better Runners on the Team did not run, but I ran the 1500 and 5000 Every meet) by seasons end I ran 15:11 for 5000 and 32:07 for 10000 on the Track, The Coach Larry Greer to this Day calls me his most improved runner, he said he never had any one else improve that much. It was a GREAT Experience.

Viking21 wrote:

In excess of 99% of all current 18 year olds will never break 16:00 in a 5k, whether they train or sit on the couch. Don't get confused by all of the Let's Run superstars. You should not define yourself by how fast you can run. Quit obsessing over numbers. The Kenyans on my son's D1 team don't even own a watch when they get here. Get rid of yours. You'll know if you ever actually need one.

And how do you deal with not being talented?

david45 wrote:

Viking21 wrote:

In excess of 99% of all current 18 year olds will never break 16:00 in a 5k, whether they train or sit on the couch. Don't get confused by all of the Let's Run superstars. You should not define yourself by how fast you can run. Quit obsessing over numbers. The Kenyans on my son's D1 team don't even own a watch when they get here. Get rid of yours. You'll know if you ever actually need one.

And how do you deal with not being talented?

You're so worried about this concept. Why do you need to "deal with not being talented"? The equation is do you enjoy running or not. This is what you need to deal with. After that, its how do I improve - not chop 2 minutes off a mile time, take 5-10 seconds off (then repeat).

How do I deal with not being talented is a question a 14:55 guy asks after 4 years of college running. Does he potentially limit his career growth for an outside chance at 219 or to chop some more seconds off that 5k. Does he stop competing to work long hours or raise a family?

The answer to your question is irrelevant to you.

By realizing you’re not Joshua cheptegei and running because you enjoy it

david45 wrote:

Viking21 wrote:

In excess of 99% of all current 18 year olds will never break 16:00 in a 5k, whether they train or sit on the couch. Don't get confused by all of the Let's Run superstars. You should not define yourself by how fast you can run. Quit obsessing over numbers. The Kenyans on my son's D1 team don't even own a watch when they get here. Get rid of yours. You'll know if you ever actually need one.

And how do you deal with not being talented?

Jfc, the same way you deal with literally anything else you don't have. The same way you deal with not having the talent to be a famous movie star. The same way you deal with not having the talent to play in the NY Philharmonic. Does that sh*t keep you up at night, too?

david45 wrote:

Viking21 wrote:

In excess of 99% of all current 18 year olds will never break 16:00 in a 5k, whether they train or sit on the couch. Don't get confused by all of the Let's Run superstars. You should not define yourself by how fast you can run. Quit obsessing over numbers. The Kenyans on my son's D1 team don't even own a watch when they get here. Get rid of yours. You'll know if you ever actually need one.

And how do you deal with not being talented?

By whining on letsrun!

Not interested in marathons wrote:

david45 wrote:

And how do you deal with not being talented?

By whining on letsrun!

The fact is that sports have literally transformed lives. I never got to experience that.