How to get 18 min 5k?

Like just stay healthy and train smart. Without knowing your current training and training history it's hard to say what you should do now.

Anonymous15 wrote:

I'm a female in sophomore year of high school with a 21:53 at van cortlandt. I really want to train for an 18-19 min 5k. I know it sounds very far off my current time, but it's really importnat to me. Any advice for the training regimen?

Yeah, you'll want to include more info:

-mile time? 400m time? (or just some other distances)

-current mpw and last year's mpw?

-when did you begin running?

-what kind of workouts do you do?

-do you lift or do anything else?

But most likely, you're in a very common situation right now. Which is great, because that means you just want to follow the standard advice: slowly up your mileage so that you can eventually get a weekly long run of 90 min, a couple track/tempo sessions in a week, and then take the rest of your days really easy. Just stick with it and add more volume slowly. When you get to 20 flat, then you'll probably want more specifics to keep improving.

weight? important factor

Train year round. Over time, gradually double your weekly mileage. Run a tempo run, interval session and long run, weekly. Improvements will come in time, if you’re patient and consistent.

If you need a guide, buy Pete Pfitzzinger’s book, Faster Road Racing. It has training plans and explanations for all.

Lexel: Please make it a new personal rule to never bring up weight in discussions concerning adolescent runners, especially young female runners. Never, not even once, not even a little bit. If you need an explanation, please ask your doctor or another medical professional.

More miles and more time. Sometimes it takes a while. As someone already said, take a couple of weeks off between seasons, but train year round. Set incremental short-term goals. 21:15 by the end of the season, then sub-13 3200m and sub-6 mile for track, etc.

colder and wiser wrote:

Lexel: Please make it a new personal rule to never bring up weight in discussions concerning adolescent runners, especially young female runners. Never, not even once, not even a little bit. If you need an explanation, please ask your doctor or another medical professional.

100% Also runners really really over emphasize this factor. Aerobic fitness and strength is much much more important.

Buy Flagpole a banana cream pie to rabbit you. Then make sure you stay ahead of him and never see him after the starting line.

Harryette wrote:

Buy Flagpole a banana cream pie to rabbit you. Then make sure you stay ahead of him and never see him after the starting line.

Good advice except for the banana cream pie part. If we are talking pies, I'm partial to pecan or even better, chocolate pecan.

colder and wiser wrote:

Lexel: Please make it a new personal rule to never bring up weight in discussions concerning adolescent runners, especially young female runners. Never, not even once, not even a little bit. If you need an explanation, please ask your doctor or another medical professional.

Soft society lies. Running fast is a math problem with a few variables.

1. Natural ability(establishes your upper limit)

2. Weight(too much will decrease the % of upper limit you can reach)

3. Training/Conditioning

Weight is a factor and it must be addressed or you need to pick a different goal. Just like a 300lb person can't break 20:00 in a 5k, a 5'2" 150lb person can't break 18:00 in a 5k.

Karma Worthy wrote:

colder and wiser wrote:

Lexel: Please make it a new personal rule to never bring up weight in discussions concerning adolescent runners, especially young female runners. Never, not even once, not even a little bit. If you need an explanation, please ask your doctor or another medical professional.

Soft society lies. Running fast is a math problem with a few variables.

1. Natural ability(establishes your upper limit)

2. Weight(too much will decrease the % of upper limit you can reach)

3. Training/Conditioning

Weight is a factor and it must be addressed or you need to pick a different goal. Just like a 300lb person can't break 20:00 in a 5k, a 5'2" 150lb person can't break 18:00 in a 5k.

You're wrong about this, and wrong in a way that can cause severe physical harm. We're not talking about adult runners who need to address their weight. The OP is a younger teenager, and no one except an adolescent's personal doctor should suggest cutting weight to meet their performance goals or for any other reason. Running fast may be a math problem, but figuring out how to be a healthy, happy teenager is extremely complicated. You should refrain from giving advice with high potential to cause grievous harm.

Weight is an issue, but not an issue that can be dealt with correctly in an internet forum.

Lots of missing info here but if you’re just a year or two wiser and stronger you can get that by the time you’re done High school

Lose a stone in weight

Jamaica blue wrote:

Weight is an issue, but not an issue that can be dealt with correctly in an internet forum.

In ski jumping there is the BMi restricted to 21, otherwise you have to use shorter skies which results in a shorter jumping distance.

Because they had also problem with very lean ski jumpers (which is unhealthy!).

So there are possibilities to handle that for running too.

But in this respect i guess my suggestion is 10 years to early? Or 20 years?

Suggestion is of course to have a lower BMi limit. That would lead to a healthier competition.

It would be that simple!

Part of learning to become an adult is learning how to deal with the truth. Fact- too much weight will slow you down. Maybe she’s an acceptable weight for the goal she wants maybe she’s not. If she’s not she’ll need to lose weight to achieve her goal or she needs a different goal.

That’s reality, not safe space thinking that’s ruining society. Nobody is body shaming her, just facts about what it takes to achieve a goal. If she’s a good weight great, figure out the training. If not, address the weight or pick a different goal.

18:xx 5k?

just run 1 hour/day with lots of strides/short hill sprints

I think you're being very rational and logical in your response but not very empathetic to the fact that there is huge societal pressure on young women and how they look. She doesn't really need someone on the internet saying she needs to think about her weight, she's already running fast she wants to run faster, she needs training advice.