Sub 15 5k, post grad training

I am a frosh in college and we're starting championship finals this Friday. I am just doing one event, the 5k as I feel that's the best event for me. I have run low 15:10s twice this season and I'm looking to see if I can break that 15 minute barrier. Recently I have done the following workouts within the past 2 months.

5x1000m w/ 3 min rest following 6x200m w/ 2 min rest

2:58.9, 2:57.5, 2:55.3, 2:49.0, 2:52.6, 31, 31.8, 30, 29, 29, 26.5

3x(200,200,400) w/ 1 min recovery in between and 400 jog after each set

28, 29, 60, 29, 29, 60, 30, 31, 64 (31.2/32.8)

4x(800 meters w/ 100 walk recovery, 300 w/ 800 meter jog)

2:18.9, 47.3, 2:16.6, 48.3, 2:15.2, 47.8, 2:17.1, 46.6

I have decent speed as I am a 53/1:58/4:16 guy. However, I really struggle in tempos and longer intervals as I did not have a base phase due to injury at the beginning of the season. I really want to break 15 as I feel like that would be a respectable time for a freshman. My MPW usually ranges from 45-55, I know very low for a 5k runner but I didn't want to risk getting injured again. Long runs are under par too as I only do 12 max just because I can't risk it. I do cross train twice a week though.

Any help would be appreciated! And if anyone knows race strategies I can apply that would great too. Thanks

tell us more about the 5ks you have run.

splits, how did it feel, competition level, etc.

So, I opened up my season with a 15:13. My coach had me split:

3:04, 3:02, 3:04, 3:03, 3:00

I'd say it felt reasonably comfortable, 8/10 for difficulty, competition was good as two other guys were ahead of me.

A month later I raced a 5k in 15:11, this one being a lot harder than it should be. Went through in 4:50 then 9:40 and that's when I started to struggle. Race was very competitive as I ended up in 20th place or so. It felt slightly harder than the previous 15:13.

Jason Intravaia wrote:

So, I opened up my season with a 15:13. My coach had me split:

3:04, 3:02, 3:04, 3:03, 3:00

I'd say it felt reasonably comfortable, 8/10 for difficulty, competition was good as two other guys were ahead of me.

A month later I raced a 5k in 15:11, this one being a lot harder than it should be. Went through in 4:50 then 9:40 and that's when I started to struggle. Race was very competitive as I ended up in 20th place or so. It felt slightly harder than the previous 15:13.

Sounds like your fast and have already run some good times. Given that you had little base, I don't see you knocking too much more time off this season. I bet you could still dip under 15:00 though with perfect pacing.

Your workouts are all on the short side and your mileage is low as well. Bummer about the injury. You seem like your lacking aerobic strength. I'm also assuming you have no control over your training schedule, so I don't know what kind of advice you can follow, but for what it's worth because you struggle in long intervals and and tempos means that you should be doing more. Maybe try something like 5x1600 with shorter recovery (

with the splits you mentioned i'll be hard to knock off 10+ seconds. i'd recommend you try to run 3:01-3:02s for the first 4k and if you're truly in sub-15 shape then you should be able to drop a 2:55 or faster. if you get into the right race and are battling it out with somebody the last 600, you'll probably have enough to dip under 15.

Thanks dude. It is going to be a very competitive race, 3 sub 15 guys and 4 15:10 guys so I'll definitely be pushed. I don't have a problem the first 3k at sub 15 but after that it's a real struggle. Since I'm not as aerobically strong as I wish I was, I'm just going to use the other races to push me. 10 seconds is going to be hard to drop but we'll see how it goes! I'll post my result tomorrow night and if it doesn't happen it's alright, I'll have one more shot at the state meet.

Yeah man it really sucks I didn't have a solid base but you I'm just gonna tough it out. I'll probaby be paced right on 15:00 or even faster because there's a couple of guys faster than me. I'll post my result tomorrow night

Jason Intravaia wrote:

Thanks dude. It is going to be a very competitive race, 3 sub 15 guys and 4 15:10 guys so I'll definitely be pushed.

Oh man I'm actually excited to hear how this goes. I think your key is just to race and not worry about time. Seems like your competition is perfect, a lot of people around your goal pace but no one crazy fast who could take you out insane.

I went from 8:49 to 8:37 in the 3k by getting in a similar race. Staying with the lead pack the entire time and then going FTW on the last lap (finished 2nd).

As for my training it's been going fine. Here are my last two weeks

Week 1

Tue: 5x1k 6 minute cycle

3:06, 3:04, 3:05, 3:06, 3:07

This was encouraging because I did the one less interval a few weeks back (with hotter weather) and averaged like 3:08 with my last interval 3:11

Thursday: 3 mile tempo

16:21

5:30, 5:30, 5:21

Nothing to really be excited about here, satisfactory.

Week 2

Tuesday: Hill Repeats

1 set of 5, 1 set of 4. 53 second average hill.

Thursday: 5 mile tempo

27:25

5:32, 5:33, 5:24, 5:30, 5:24

Todays workout was very encouraging, Without a doubt my best tempo post-grad, maybe my best ever. I had a partner for probably the first time which made a huge difference.

Dallas has a series of All-comers meets starting May 19. Working on getting together a group of people for a fast 5k.

Axc wrote:

Jason Intravaia wrote:

Thanks dude. It is going to be a very competitive race, 3 sub 15 guys and 4 15:10 guys so I'll definitely be pushed.

Oh man I'm actually excited to hear how this goes. I think your key is just to race and not worry about time. Seems like your competition is perfect, a lot of people around your goal pace but no one crazy fast who could take you out insane.

I went from 8:49 to 8:37 in the 3k by getting in a similar race. Staying with the lead pack the entire time and then going FTW on the last lap (finished 2nd).

I agree with this completely. Sorry I sort of ignored the race tactics piece. My PRs have always come in races where I tucked in, didnt pay attention to the times and stayed relaxed. Best of Luck!

Whoa that's a crazy improvement! Yeah I think that's a good idea, just going to stay with the pack as long as I can and then blast it

I've been following this thread a bit and just found out you're from Dallas Axc, I didn't recognize your name based on the Easter run results. Are you training with any of the local guys?

I'm a bit behind you (15:59 5K), but I haven't had a lot of success finding people to run workouts with outside of 5am in park cities.

Brent W wrote:

I've been following this thread a bit and just found out you're from Dallas Axc, I didn't recognize your name based on the Easter run results. Are you training with any of the local guys?

I'm a bit behind you (15:59 5K), but I haven't had a lot of success finding people to run workouts with outside of 5am in park cities.

I am indeed in Dallas, and was fourth at the Easter Run.

I did the Tempo run today with Disco (nickname) Trevino if you know him. I also usually do the social runs at Lukes Locker on Wednesday mornings.

Feel free to email me I'd be happy to try to meet up for a workout or an easy run. (I think I linked my email to my post here)

Wish we heard from that guy about how his race went...

Planning on racing a 3k on Tuesday and a 5k the following tuesday both on the track. I'm thinking my goal is sub 9 for the 3k.

I'm thinking

Anyways here is my week:

Tuesday 3 mile tempo

16:30

(5:35, 5:35, 5:20)

on these shorter tempos I need to realize that I actually still need to run hard. Didn't feel all that tired at the end of this.

Thursday: 3x200 2x1k 3x200

30,31,30/3:01, 3:04/ 31,31,31

Was planning on doing 3x1k but my legs were hurting bad after the 2nd. Overall felt it was a good workout... definatly ran hard.

Friday: 80 minute long run.

Looks like this thread is becoming my own personal training long oh well...

BUMP

This week:

Tuesday: 3k race 9:00

(69, 72, 73, 73, 71, 74, 72, 33)

Pleased with the race. Had help through the first mile, second was solo with a headwind on the first turn.

Thursday. 3x2k 4x400. Rest: 10 minute cycle and 1 lap jog.

(6:37, 6:34, 6:36/ 67,67,68,67)

Friday: 90 minute long run

Keep it up man, just looking at your first post from a few months ago gives me the feeling that simply getting into that same shape again will probably allow you to run sub 15, especially if you gave it exclusive focus. Getting back into running myself, post collegiate as well (technically still collegiate, as I'll be in college forever). Never really ran any 5ks but I'd like to go for a sub 15 as well. I stopped halfway through my sophmore year of college and am 2 years out of shape but I kinda want to aim for like a 14:30 or 14:10....feel like if I aim lower more will be possible, who knows how fast you could really be, so why not, you know? Well more like a guy I used to run with who was about my speed just ran a 14:10 as a junior so now I feel like I should be able to if I trained again.

I had around a 4:16 mile... I don't know how that translates, maybe my tempowork would be easier to see. We'd do double 4 mile tempos with ~8-10 mins rest inbetween and I'd be around 5:10-5:15 pace. That was all with 6 months of base, where I didn't run for 3 years before. Average milage was probably 45-55 per week at 6:25-7:00 pace. Feel I could achieve something pretty good if I actually stay consistent for a year or more.

Ive been running 20-30 miles a week and finally bumped it up to 50 per week the last couple, and I have some races here this summer (4th of July 5k, SF half (first half). If you keep updating the thread and I see it ill post 5k results. But I bet it will take at least 6 months before I can break 15 minutes, maybe 10 months, but I'll post 5k progress :)

So I made this thread 5 years ago and now I'm back... making another run at a fast 5k. This time I've set a lower target, breaking my pr of 15:14, but I'm having a lot more success. I've run 15:25 and 15:19 in time trials over the past three weeks. I have my third coming up this weekend. I planned on running three but there will likely be a fourth, either to take another shot at my PR or if I beat it this weekend, taking one wild swing at going sub 15.

Looking back at my old training posts has been interesting, the track workouts are in the same ballpark as before but the tempos as mileage this year are vastly superior.

I wasn't tracking my mileage back then but I was probably at max 60 mpw, and could have been in the 40s some weeks. Now I'm regularly running up to 75 mpw, and probably averaging 70 for the past six weeks. I held out on a GPS watch for years, but started using one this year and I think it has been very helpful.

Last time I was over the moon about a 27:25 5 mile tempo. This time I've been pretty much sub 27 on all my tempos, and I've a six and seven mile tempo averaging 5:23. That 27:25 was my only tempo I had a training partner for (the best solo was 28 flat) now I have a training partner for all my workouts, time trials and long runs. It's always nice but I think its particularly helpful for tempos.

A lot of this I attribute to running my first marathon in the fall (2:37 in NYC). Before marathon training my long runs pretty much peaked at 90 minutes. After doing 20 milers regularly in marathon training, 15 and 16 mile long runs, going around 2 hours are nbd. I do a weekly medium long run on Wednesdays, which is the the length of what I used to call a "long run."

Best workout this training cycle was probably last week. 6x1k with 2min rest last week. Splits were 3:02, 3:01, 3:03, 2:57, 3:02, 2:54

Right conditions and you’ll have a new PR. Really good day and you’re maybe even capable of sub 15.

Are you still in Dallas?