Running ability

Are you wanting to know the splits for any reason? I mean I always ran or felt like I ran negative splits in my 5k parkruns, usually I finished very strong and the last 400m I activate the turbo and dusted many people towards the finish haha.

CallumMcc93 wrote:

Are you wanting to know the splits for any reason? I mean I always ran or felt like I ran negative splits in my 5k parkruns, usually I finished very strong and the last 400m I activate the turbo and dusted many people towards the finish haha.

The reason is that it could give some indication as to what you may have had left in the tank. If you really ran negative splits AND finished very strong, then that 18:40 could be worth a lot less.

Even if the half marathon is not the best time (when compared to the other two), I think it is very encouraging that you ran that without specific training.

You definitely have the ability to run a sub 3h marathon without much training.

You ran 1:27 (on a track!). For reference, I know a few guys with 1:24-1:26 who have run 2:54-2:59 for the marathon after some specific training.

Your friend is right, you have some talent.

Yes I felt very strong towards the end of my 5k.

My mate was convinced that I’m not running them fast enough with all that left in the tank towards the end. Most of the time I finished parkrun I could of genuinely pushed for easily another mile.. does this mean I’m not pushing myself enough during a 5k race?

CallumMcc93 wrote:

Yes I felt very strong towards the end of my 5k.

My mate was convinced that I’m not running them fast enough with all that left in the tank towards the end. Most of the time I finished parkrun I could of genuinely pushed for easily another mile.. does this mean I’m not pushing myself enough during a 5k race?

If you feel like you had more in the tank, then you probably did. No need to worry though, your times are very encouraging and more experience will help you figure out how push yourself to your limits.

Listen to Trond Gudmundsson and ignore the lizard JS. Jan has been exposed on these boards as a liar and a self promoter who comes back time and time again peddling falsehoods about how great he is. His training methodology sucks most of the time and is a rather unsavory mixture of delusional workouts, $hitty approaches and pure fiction along with the occasional concept that has some merit. He also posts under other unregistered usernames that blabber on about how great he is, but are really obvious because they write in the exact same manner he does. It's quite funny and pathetic. For your own benefit, ignore whatever he spews on your thread.

With that out of the way, do your own research to figure out how to improve, and listen to advice that posters here give you but take it all with a grain of salt, because lots of individuals have differing ideas about the best training philosophy and are some are certain to disagree with one another. With some reading, you'll be able to figure it out. I'm sure some other posters will point you to some good resources.

Good luck, you've clearly got some talent and I'm sure you'll find a way to make the most of it.

The differing views are the best thing about the training advice here, because, er.... everyone is different.

Did you run your 61 in track spikes or just running shoes?

Hi mate, just my running shoes, my local track is just an ash/clay, not a fancy track put it that way haha

No one on the internet can tell you what your performance limits are. There are too many factors, even for a physiologist.

Go do the work and report back! You will not reach your potential if:

- You do not have fun.

- You get injured regularly (this is not normal).

- You do not give your body the breaks it needs (about 1 week per 3 months).

- You do not work on all speeds/systems throughout the year.

Good luck!

The Wizard JS wrote:

Those times you wrote there and your still good age 28 points to at least a sub 16 min 5 k , a sub 1:14 half and a sub 2:35 marathon. This is absolutely realistic on only 5-6 sessions per week if I`m the coach. :) Welcome to magic world class coaching!

Wizard JS is the purple aki of lets run.

Always Building wrote:

No one on the internet can tell you what your performance limits are. There are too many factors, even for a physiologist.

Go do the work and report back! You will not reach your potential if:

- You do not have fun.

- You get injured regularly (this is not normal).

- You do not give your body the breaks it needs (about 1 week per 3 months).

- You do not work on all speeds/systems throughout the year.

Good luck!

I think he knows all that already.

It’s a question in fact I wanted to ask, sometimes I feel that when I run the 5k parkrun I’m not actually pushing myself to my best ability on the day.

How hard should racing the 5k feel throughout?

On every one I’ve done generally I’ll set off at a reasonable pace and then just kind of relax and tick off the miles, and then when I know there’s only 400-600m left I’ll just absolutely take the handbrake off, let go at the end, sprinting through the finish?

Is this the correct way or am I not pacing correctly?

Just ignore some of these morans arguing on here.

For your 5K, I would look at your current PB and chip a bit off, and then try to get a feel for running 1K repeats on the road (with a significant recovery) at that pace. It is no use just guessing. Once you have a feel for that pace, personally I'd try to run the entire 5K at an EVEN PACE. No positive splitting. No negative splitting. I know, some people may say this is controversial. But I think, at least at the beginning, this is the best way.

In some ways I think it’s a good thing to have a really good kick in the closing stages and finish strong..

I asked one of my friends who is a good runner, how hard should I be pushing in a 5k and he said that if you have to ask that question you are clearly not running as hard as you are capable of?

Is he correct in a way?

Football and tennis are both decent training so you’re not exactly running untrained, but your times are good for little specific effort. With some solid training a sub 3 marathon shouldn’t be too hard for you.

OK then don't ask our advice.

I’ll ask as many people as I feel necessary, there’s nothing wrong with getting a ton of different opinions and views from other people.

There is when it confuses and conflicts you and then you make a piss poor decision.

Always Building wrote:

No one on the internet can tell you what your performance limits are. There are too many factors, even for a physiologist.

Go do the work and report back! You will not reach your potential if:

- You do not have fun.

- You get injured regularly (this is not normal).

- You do not give your body the breaks it needs (about 1 week per 3 months).

- You do not work on all speeds/systems throughout the year.

Good luck!

+1

A sub 3 marathon will need some commitment and training even if you have the ability to run much faster. It seems to me that you're lacking commitment or don't enjoy running that much if you only run 5k once a week. Do you want to run sub 3 because someone told you that's a good time? My advice is to become the best 5k runner you can be, which may take 5 or 6 years, then think about training for a marathon.

Hi mate, yeah I’ll openly admit that I haven’t the same passion for the running then I do with my tennis for example.

However, when I do run and take part in races I absolutely love it!

It’s always been a goal of mine from when I actually started out with running that somewhere down the line I wanna join the sub 3 club for the marathon & crack 60 seconds for the 400m.

I know if I really want it I simply have to get out there and put the work in which is my plan, I have to focus my attention more towards running than ever before in order to achieve this.

I’m not a delusional person and I know that with running you simply get out what you put in generally speaking.