So in July of 2019 I started running frequently, maybe 10-15 miles a week. By December I was running maybe 20 mpw. My highest ever miles in a week was 25 miles, so I'm not particularly logging in many miles. My whole childhood however, I played a multitude of sports (tennis my main one) and I also ran CC in high school for 3 years so my aerobic fitness was naturally a little above average. This past summer I was running consistently 15-20 mpw, adding in either a speed session or a hill session once per week. I wasn't running a lot, mainly because I have slight tendonitis in my ankle, but I was still getting in some decent work. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago, I ran a 17:59 5k which is a PR by 1 minute 40 seconds.
I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I didn't imagine sub 18 was possible, but here we are. I have been wondering ever since what my time could have been if I had been running 30mpw rather than 20 all summer. Coaches of mine (I ran college CC for the first time this year) were surprised at how well I performed since I haven't run since HS and my PR's weren't especially impressive. Now that I have run a pretty good time (for me) for a 5k, I am motivated to start logging in more miles and break 16. I believe in my heart that if I up my mileage I will be able to do this within 12 months. What kind of things should I do to achieve this (other than the obvious increase in miles)?
Ran a 17:59 with not much training. Can I break 16 minutes within a year?
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Don't let up on your training, get plenty of sleep, keep weed and alcohol at a minimum. Wear a mask, wash your hands. You're in!
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VO2 Max workouts are vital.
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If you hadn't gone through 3 years of high school CC without exceeding 25mpw or running sub 18, I'd say you had a chance to get another two minutes, which is a lot of improvement.
But even if you had a bad coach, failing to self-motivate to achieve that in 3 years tells me you're not likely to do it now either. I do believe the "not much training" part, but that's not gonna change. -
How old are you?
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Two minutes? Go after 16:59 first
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When I was 18 I went from 17:35 to 16:46 in 3 months or so. Not saying u can’t do it over a year. Concentrate increase base mileage only easy mileage for 12 weeks. No hard workouts. Then incorporate speed twice a week. Or hill workouts intervals tempo runs. A great workout for 5k is 6x800 with 2 min rest between. When I was in 16 flat 5k shape I did them around 2:20 pace, 2:25 at slowest. U want them to be faster than the 2:34 u would average for a 16 flat 5k but I would set your goal pace when u start speed at 16:59 5k goal pace. Good luck
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went from 18:57 (tt) to 16:40 in 3 months, then got down to 14:40 just over 2 years later... anything is possible
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Put on vaproflys and you’re there.
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21
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The difference between now and when I was in high school is that I am really motivated to improve now. Back then I had no interest in improving, only did CC to hang out with friends and never tried much. I love running now and am ready to grind
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If only 21, you can get there.
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This is an anecdotal story that may tell you absolutely nothing, but it is meant to encourage. I grew up playing a multitude of sports like you, but mainly soccer through soph yr of high school. I played tennis for one full year after that. Then I went out for track as a junior for the socialization, running low-4:50s and mid-10:30s for the 1600 & 3200, respectively.
I knew I was going to run cross country in the fall of senior year for the first time ever, but, I had a really hard construction job, so I maybe ran 3-4 days per week, 15-20 miles all summer. Most of it too hard probably. Once cross country season started, I began training in earnest, probably running 40-45 mpw. I had a 5k PR of 18:04 from over the summer, but I ended up w a PR of sub-15:55 in cross country. In the winter, I ramped up to 50-55 mpw, and ended up w 4:3x and 9:3x high school PRs on the track.
So, I would say, if you are really serious and willing to work your way up to 50 mpw (not as quickly as I did as I think I was fortunate not to get injured), sub-16:00 is definitely doable. Heck, the first summer 5k I did was in the 18:30s on a really fast road course, and my 3200 ended up being the equivalent of like 15:25 on the track. -
Deciding what you most need is important. If you are somewhat of a sprinter/quickness type like many tennis players, you may improve even more dramatically with consistent and patient increases in mileage along with tempo runs.
I spent too long on 400/800 hard repeats on about 30 miles per week and didn't improve until I learned that at least a year of aerobic development was needed for a fast twitch runner.
I didn't have a high school or college cc/track team background so 25 to 30 miles per week seemed like a crazy amount of running in college after coming from football and rugby.
A tennis guy should concentrate, I'll bet, on becoming a real long distance runner and you'll see the big improvements you mention. -
Two minutes is a lot. A more realistic goal would be a minute. If you're a summer runner and don't train in the winter, I would advise doing some running in the winter and then increasing mileage 10% in the warmer months when you get out more.
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In my opinion, since you sound nowhere near 40 years old and are healthy, nobody can tell you what you are capable of, especially with your mileage hovering (only) around 20-25 mpw as you've noted. I agree about looking toward 17 minutes before 16 minutes (for one, it's much harder to go from sub-17 to sub-16, compared to sub-18 to sub-17), but just enjoy the journey and every PR along the way. You're probably nowhere near your true potential. Just keep plugging away, be patient. Sub-16 may not happen in a year. I ran my first sub-16 5K when I was 31 . . . but that's me focusing on the marathon from age 25 onward.
Definitely do the VO2 Max workouts (based on your 17:59 5K!), but you may want to get your mileage higher first so you can withstand more reps at that intensity. At only 25 mpw, your legs probably won't tolerate too much volume of hard running. Once you improve your 5K time, make the reps faster according to the new (calculated and approximate) VO2 Max. -
19 to 16:40 in 3 months really?
No one can improve that fast 16:40 is a decent time for an untrained person, so running 19 then 16:40 in 3 Mo is just Bull crap dude. In 3 Mo your muscles barely make some adaptations to much tougher training. You must be a Trumphanatic. -
That is pretty typical improvement. We have many kids come in and run their 1st race in 19 minutes and end up running 16 minutes by the time the conference meet rolls around.
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abcrunning wrote:
19 to 16:40 in 3 months really?
No one can improve that fast 16:40 is a decent time for an untrained person, so running 19 then 16:40 in 3 Mo is just Bull crap dude. In 3 Mo your muscles barely make some adaptations to much tougher training. You must be a Trumphanatic.
Bro, as I posted, I went from 18:3x to 15:5x in 3 months. I had a season of track before but not much else training. Having played other sports, like the OP, helped, clearly. This isn’t uncommon.
OP, I would just start running more miles if I were you, do a long run. Then go from there. -
Don't up the mileage too quickly. Two days a week of VO2 max work (hills, intervals, fartlick) one day of tempo/threshold run lasting at least 30 minutes (sandwiched by warmup and cooldown). Over 6 - 8 week time work your way up to 50 miles. Don't go any faster than conversational pace on other days. 80/20 rule, 80 % of training should be easy, 20% hard. You'll do it.
