How fast can I get my 5km?

Stop time trialing every week. At your age once, maybe twice a month is plenty for all out efforts.

If you can get your mile time down to 4:40, a 15:59 5k is possible. A 14:59 5k requires more like a 4:30 mile. If you can't break 5:00 for the mile getting significantly under 17:00 for 5k will be difficult.

A serious age group schedule on a 2 week cycle would look something:

1 long run 12-15 miles starting easy ending at marathon pace plus 30 seconds.

1 progressive medium long run 8-12 miles starting easy ending at sligtly faster than marathon pace.

2 steady state runs 5-6 miles around marathon pace done by feel

1 tempo run with 10 -20 mins at LT pace. 5k race pace plus 15-20 secs per mile.

1 vo2 max interval session (800-1200 repeats @ 5k race pace or faster, half time recovery (3-5 miles total work)

1 mile pace interval session (200-600 repeats, equal recovery 1.5-2.5 mile total work)

5 easy/ steady days (3-5 miles) with strides and drills as time permits. Try to make at least half your easy days on grass, trail, or track.

2 days off

40-50 miles of volume is plenty to use as a target for the next year starting at 40 and seeing what you can tolerate.

Good luck-

Thanks for the detailed reply. My goal for this year is sub-17 and I’m hoping to use the ‘low hanging fruit’ of gains from excess weight loss to get to that point. I think it is achievable. Also I think my body will tolerate more intense training when I am at a healthier weight.

I am aware that sub-17 to sub-15 is a huge jump so appreciate the training advice and take note of this. I am also doing most of my easy running on trails.

I intend to post some progress updates.

I don’t want to discourage you but the likelihood that a 35 year old is going to go under 15 when they are already running around 18 minutes on 30mpw is not high. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try but unless there is some serious mitigating factor (you have >30 BMI or something) it just isn’t a very realistic progression regardless of how seriously you take your training.

Low 17s is a good near to mid term target and low to mid 16s is a good, aggressive 2-3 year target IMO.

Thanks, I’m not really sure what’s realistic for me - or a good target over the next few years, so I appreciate the input.

If this is real then, yes, you can improve a ton. Increase the mileage & switch up your workout structure. You shouldn't be running a weekly all-out 5k. Going to be hard to improve/stay healthy that way. Go to 2 workouts/week. 1 5k workout, 1 tempo, in season. More strength when you're base building. Easy runs can probably be done a little quicker. Add strides in. So much low hanging fruit here.

Hello, yes it is real. Thanks for your inputs. I feel like I really could improve a lot at the distance. I have been using the runbundle weight vs pace calculator to try and work out how quick I could be based on vo2 max improvements if I lost excess weight as mentioned (this is about 1 stone put on during covid times). Current BMI is 26.2.

I think losing that I can go sub-17, and then plan would be to start training ‘properly’.

I seem to be much better at shorter distance running and I enjoy it more - my current 5km time doesn’t really translate up beyond 10km. I’ve ran 4 marathons since 2010 (following reasonably structured plans) and my PB is 4:02.

If you’d like some help with things I’m more than happy to sort you out with a training plan.

Join a running club with some fast ish runners in it. That'll give you coached training, competition and track access for cheap 2 or 3 times a week (I paid 40 to join one and about half is UKA membership).

Many thanks for the offer, I may be in touch on that 🙂

Quick update:

Time trial today. 2 pounds lighter since my PB and 17:48 run today. Training not adjusted. By the calculator I’m using if I lose another 12 pounds (taking me to a BMI around 24.5), I should be able to go sub-17).

Goal race in July which is probably too ambitious. Interested to see if I hit a plateau some point soon.

I'm 35 myself and going for a 5k time trial tomorrow. I'm a very similar situation as you, except I'm focused a bit more on the marathon and ultras. My last time trial was about 17:10 trying to go for sub 17. I didn't start running with intention until I was 33. It's possible.

Good luck - sounds like you’re not far off it! Also impressive speed considering the focus on longer distances - I can’t imagine ever being able to do an ultra 👍

How much do you currently weigh?

About 14 1/2 stone. A bit overweight basically. I could lose a stone and be a healthier weight and still towards the top range of what’s considered a healthy BMI range.