stuck in the 18's

NO - go ahead and start lifting before you get to far emasciated and lose any more muscle.

Do you have access to a track? if so, I can give you the training program we did at xc practices my senior year of HS, its a low mileage system with no really hard workouts but a lot of frequent workouts. For some reason, it produces results. If you have access to a track, let me know and I'll post the program.

Take a page from the book of Craig mottram: the problem may be between your legs.

if you only have 40mpw to work with, you may want to consider doing it at a decent pace, although be sure to go slow on recovery days.

stop reading letsrun. That will take one minute off your time right there.

I wouldn't worry about it. If you have been working on a decent training regimen (borrow from daniel's or really any coach with a published regimen) you are doing the best you can. Like you, I started running with an 18:xx, but I was in High School. I had a coach, training program, no job, and the advantage of being a growing kid. It still took me 2 years to break out of the 18's.

I would predict that if you keep working at it, you will at least get down to consistent 18 low's with an outside shot at cracking 18:00.

The most important thing is staying consistent with the training and having fun while doing it.

not austin-yea i have access to a track please post the workouts, thanks

So, you've been training for just over a year and got to 18:22, and wonder if you could go under 18?

Obviously, the answer is yes!

ANY organized training program should get you there, really. It sounds like you have just been going for runs 5-6 days a week, which is great.

Make sure that you consistently have the following components in all or most weeks:

- Intervals at or around 5k pace. I guess 5:50 pace is the right ballpark for you. 800s, 1000s, even some quicker 400s. Do around 5k worth in a session. 1:00-1:30 rest depending on the distance and your aerobic fitness.

- Threshold work. I don't know much about your running, but for you this will probably be around 6:15 per mile. Do four mile tempos at that pace. Do six mile tempos a bit slower. Do 3x2 or 4x1.5 or 6x1 mile a bit quicker. Just hit it for 30-40 minutes each week. (Some 10k races won't hurt, either.)

- Long run. 10 miles is fine for your purposes in a 5K.

Make sure these are in your schedule, just run comfortably the other days, and take one non-running day per week if you like.

I started running late like you, and trained myself down to 16-minute 5Ks on these loose and well-worn principles. Stay healthy, and you will absolutely break 18.

plateaus2013 wrote:

not austin-yea i have access to a track please post the workouts, thanks

Monday- 5k pace work with 1-2 min active recoveries(could be a ladder like 200-400-600-800-600-400-200 or 200-400-800-1200-800-400-200 or something like 20x200 or 12-16x400 or maybe 3x800 or 400-800-400 if you're tired)

Tuesday- 3x400 at 5k pace

Wednesday- 6x800 at threshold pace (http://www.runsmartproject.com/calculator/ to calculate threshold pace)

Thursday- 3x400 at 5k pace(or a long run if racing Saturday)

Friday- different 5k pace workout than Monday(or 3x400 at 5k pace if racing Saturday)

Saturday- long run (anywhere from 60-90 minutes) or a race

Sunday- rest day

Warm up for all workouts: 5-10 min jog(depending on time constraints) then 8 20 sec build ups(basically just running with good relaxed form at around 5k pace) with 1min40sec jogging after each

Cooldown for all workouts: 10-15 min jog(depending on time constraints, just 5 min if really pressed for time)

For base work just run 40-50 minutes Mon-Fri with a 60-90 min long run Saturday and rest on Sunday.

Build a good base for about 2 months before starting the workouts. After final race, take 2 weeks off, then ease in slowly back in to base.

My HS team went from our top 7 being 1755-1801-1819-1823-1824-1841-1847 my junior year before this training, to our top 7 being 1653-1703-1709-1722-1737-1748-1801 my senior year with this training.

+1 ^

Everyone is reading out of the same playbook here. Unlike the 800, there seems to be a lot of consensus on how to train for the 5000.