sub 20 5k mileage

ohh also the 15ish mpw training for the last 5k was all easy miles except something like 3mpw that were intervals

bump

Run more miles, run less intervals until you develop a real base. A 15 to 25 mpw base is not a base at all. Report back after you've run a minimum of 35+ mpw consistently for 6+ more months. Even then I wouldn't say you're quite ready for "speedwork". A 19 y/o should be able to crack sub 19 from base alone much less any real speedwork. Add some strides to your week slowly and try to work up to a long run of about 90 minutes. Rome wasn't built in a day, with that said dont be a hero and try to run 12 mile long runs and 5+ mile easy runs and 40 min tempo runs next week. Have fun!

Just increasing your mileage will do wonders. Along with that, running at a variety of paces will help you improve and also help prevent overuse injuries.

thanks, so if i up my mileage to 35-40mpw and stay there for a while i should do it?

is it possible for me to break 20 in mid march? any mileage increase suggestion?

Its a gradual increase of all. Gradually increase distance to your easy runs and long runs. Gradually do strides. Gradually develop a tempo day. A solid base is how most runners avoid injuries later on. The only suggestion i have for you is to avoid running more than 1 5k every two months or so while in base. Like i said the idea of developing a base is to condition the body for speed later on. If you try speed too soon you're gambling over training, injury, or burn out. Do a cut back week every 4 to 5 weeks while building mileage.

tuuurtleeeee wrote:

is it possible for me to break 20 in mid march? any mileage increase suggestion?

You need to listen to your body and gradually do more. Don't just blindly run x miles per day or y miles per week because they are nice numbers. Start your runs slow and pick up the pace if you feel you are able to. If not, that's fine too. If you are feeling great, extend the run by another mile or two. Keep building, building, building.

Standard LRC Responder wrote:

Its a gradual increase of all. Gradually increase distance to your easy runs and long runs. Gradually do strides. Gradually develop a tempo day. A solid base is how most runners avoid injuries later on. The only suggestion i have for you is to avoid running more than 1 5k every two months or so while in base. Like i said the idea of developing a base is to condition the body for speed later on. If you try speed too soon you're gambling over training, injury, or burn out. Do a cut back week every 4 to 5 weeks while building mileage.

This guy is either clueless or this is one of the best troll jobs I have seen in a while.

Yes, I suspect you can break 20:00 if you run 35-40 mpw. It shouldn't require much in the way of intense workouts if you can run 21 off of 15 mpw. Make sure to keep you first mile under control in your March 5K race.

Ok so what pace do you suggest for first mile 6:30? Or less? So no need for speedwork right now? If so great

Well done wrote:

Standard LRC Responder wrote:

Its a gradual increase of all. Gradually increase distance to your easy runs and long runs. Gradually do strides. Gradually develop a tempo day. A solid base is how most runners avoid injuries later on. The only suggestion i have for you is to avoid running more than 1 5k every two months or so while in base. Like i said the idea of developing a base is to condition the body for speed later on. If you try speed too soon you're gambling over training, injury, or burn out. Do a cut back week every 4 to 5 weeks while building mileage.

This guy is either clueless or this is one of the best troll jobs I have seen in a while.

Why do you say so?

Shameless bump

I am looking to go under 20:00 for my next 5K, also. I think the advice you've received so far is good. My weekly mileage has only recently reached 35 or so, but I gradually built up to that over the past 14 months. Lately I've been including long repeats (half-mile to 1.5-mile), 3 to 4-mile "tempo" runs, weekly strides, and a long run of 12 miles.

I will plan to run 6:30 for the first mile of my next 5k. In my last 5K (my first in a long, long time), I misjudged how "easy" the first mile in a race should feel, and ran 6:02 or something ridiculous like that. Focus on staying relaxed and easy! Then run negative splits. 6:26 pace is a 20:00.

If you can run a solo 3,000m TT in 11:45, you should be able to run sub-20 in a race situation, I think.

Good luck!

Allen1959 wrote:

In my last 5K (my first in a long, long time), I misjudged how "easy" the first mile in a race should feel, and ran 6:02 or something ridiculous like that. Focus on staying relaxed and easy! Then run negative splits. 6:26 pace is a 20:00.

Forgot to add that after that opening mile of 6:02, I crashed, and finished in 20:03. Don't make that mistake!

One thing I forgot to mention: start doing some doubles if you haven't already. Assuming you aren't, start by doubling once or twice a week.

35-40 mpw seems excessive mileage for running a 3.1 mile race in 20 mins and please don't follow the advice to do two sessions a day. What you need is speed so certainly one interval session a week and one tempo run. A couple of slow 20 min recovery runs a week should be sufficient. Good luck.

I'm much older, but when I got back into running I broke 20 when I got to low 30s/week mileage and held it for a while. I didn't really do any specific workouts, although occasionally (like once a month) I'd do some intervals.

Given that you ran 21 on 15 mpw, yeah, I think you could do the same. Run mostly easy, build to 30-40 mpw. Once you've held that for a while (6-8 weeks?), you could do some strength-type speed stuff, like 800 or 1k repeats at 5k pace.

thegripper wrote:

One thing I forgot to mention: start doing some doubles if you haven't already. Assuming you aren't, start by doubling once or twice a week.

How many miles? 3-4?