22:00 to sub 20?

Here are some additional considerations that you don't need to answer. Howe old are you? (If you are past mid 30's, then that's different than being in HS.) How long have you been running? (Beginning runners make the most gains.) Do you have extra body weight to lose? Are you hoping to drop this time in a year? How much more quantity and quality can you add to your training load? Assuming that you are young, have been running a while, don't have extra weight to lose and can safely increase your training load, then a more realistic goal would be a minute off a 22 minute 5k in a year and another minute the next.

Carl Spackler wrote:

Here are some additional considerations that you don't need to answer. Howe old are you? (If you are past mid 30's, then that's different than being in HS.) How long have you been running? (Beginning runners make the most gains.) Do you have extra body weight to lose? Are you hoping to drop this time in a year? How much more quantity and quality can you add to your training load? Assuming that you are young, have been running a while, don't have extra weight to lose and can safely increase your training load, then a more realistic goal would be a minute off a 22 minute 5k in a year and another minute the next.

HS...running 2 years. Not much weight to spare. This summer's mileage is my most so far. Guessing my times show that my endurance isn't great, so hopefully increasing my mileage to around 40 would help bring those times down?

Obviously the mileage is going to help, however be careful not to go mileage crazy and burn out by mid-season. You have natural speed if you can run a 5:50 mile and have never run over 30-40mile weeks up until this point.

I think a good solid long run and a controlled tempo are key at this point. My athletes always want to run their tempo runs too fast. Make sure you are at a pace that is appropriate for your current fitness. Jack Daniels and Joe Vigil have great systems to guide you on what paces you should be running.

To be at 20flat or under, you need to feel comfortable running 1mi repeats at 6:20s with less than 3min recovery. This is something you want to achieve later in the season. I have a girl that runs mid 19s on tough courses and high 18s on faster courses. She is bumping her mileage up to 40s this year and her tempo paces will start out around 7flat-6:50s over summer and won't go over 5miles.

You definitely can get in the 20s Keep focusing on aerobic strength! Good luck :)

Keep Training.

From the stats you posted, especially the 5:50 mile, you seem to have many if not all of the right ingredients to be sub 20. I recommend more speed work.

I am a guy who just turned 50 and my 10k time is right at 40:00 (2 weeks ago it was 39:50). Once a week I do a track workout that varies from week to week but is typically a variety of 200m, 400m and 800m runs that total ~ 5k. Pace-wise, I have been targeting between a 5:15 and 5:30 pace for each interval (varies based on weather, duration, total length of workout, etc.).

For me there is just something positive (running efficiency, strength, VO2, etc.) that comes from running at this quicker pace. As a result, when toeing the line for a 5k or 10k targeting a 6:25 pace - that pace seems "slow". If nothing else, mentally knowing that through these track workouts I have done 5k worth of work in ~ 17:20, putting it all together for 1 complete 5k sub 20 seems very reachable.

I have to think that adding speed work to the tempo and long runs you have been doing should be a help.

Hope it helps and good luck!

- HR

What is your training like now? Maybe post up a few of your previous weeks...

Since you're a female breaking 20 in the 200 will be tough. Without knowing you're 100 or 400 it's hard to tell.. I'd ditch the tempos and long runs. You'll want to increase your leg speed velocity by focusing more on form drills, 60 meter sprints, and lifting workouts.

Your mile is definitely superior to your 2 mile and 5k times, so at this time of year you shouldn't focus too much on speed as much as you should distance and strength if you're training for cross country (I assume).

Tempos are a good idea, but be careful not to run them too hard. If you want to do another type of workout, you could do fartleks and longer intervals. You want to train to pace yourself over the course of 3.1, not crash and burn. Even on some of your easy runs, try starting slow, then picking it up at the end (negative splitting). Leave the watch at home on your easy runs.