How can I run under 16:00 minutes for the 5k? So far I'm a sophomore, and will be a Junior next year. This past season I ran 17:17 for 3 miles before I got sick by the end of the season. Whats a good training plan to get under 16:00, and is it even realistic to run it by the fall? I was thinking of running 40- high 50s this summer, would that be enough?
By the way, I'm a 16 year old guy, and this track season I ran 2:03 for the 800 and 4:45 for the 1600m.
Yes. 2:03 800m suggests the required speed. Maybe work up to 63 mpw by 3rd week in August, then follow your coach's plan through xc.
Recruit wrote:
How can I run under 16:00 minutes for the 5k? So far I'm a sophomore, and will be a Junior next year. This past season I ran 17:17 for 3 miles before I got sick by the end of the season. Whats a good training plan to get under 16:00, and is it even realistic to run it by the fall? I was thinking of running 40- high 50s this summer, would that be enough?
yeah, a solid base near 50 and you should be all set since you have the requisite speed. how physically mature are you, as that's another big factor.
i was a guy who always needed to do a little something to stay in touch with speed, so on a day i felt good, i might do an untimed tempo out there. i frequently would pick up the last half mile of my run to be somewhere between 2:20 and 2:35 for the same reason.
my mileage was never out of the 30s, i was very slow as a soph, but i grew tremendously and i got to the 16:30s from 19:30.
Hmm. I think that I haven't finished growing yet, as I was 5' 6.6" a few months ago, and the other day I found that I'm now a little over 5' 7".
50 mpw won't be enough, probably. 17:17 for 3mi is only like 17:45 tops for a 5k, and maybe if you had progressed more in the season, 17:20. so you're talking about a 30 sec/mi improvement in a few months.
i think you should go do a 5k road race soon to get a bearing. you may be able to run 16:40s or something right now, which is certainly much better. with 2:03, you will just need mileage to get that speed to transfer up to 5k. start off at 50 mpw for a few weeks, then do 60s for the rest of the summer. if you feel like its a lot and you arent feeling good for workouts, then you are probably running too fast on easy days. you shouldnt ever run faster than 7 minute pace on easy days. it doesnt help. when you get back to school in the fall and drop your mileage to whatever your coach wants, probably about 40, you can start running faster because you'll feel fresher.
there are no secrets to running sub 16. you gotta get in the work, and 40 mpw ain't gonna cut it.