Hey all, this is my first ever post on this website, but I was just wondering the possibility of pulling of a sub 18 minute 5k this cross country season. Here is a little background on me and what i have been doing this summer:
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 115 Pounds
Freshman PR: 20:06 by just showing up to practices.
Sophomore PR: 19:24 Didn't train over the summer, and just showed up to regular practices
Sophomore Track PRs: 800m: 2:21 1600m: 5:26 I only ran the mile once, every other meet I ran the 4x800 and the 800m
I was just previously just doing Cross Country for fun, but now I am starting to really get into running. And of course, wanting to get better. One friend of mine ran a 19:57 5k his freshman year, and soon dropped down to a 17:55 5k his Sophomore season by running about 35 miles in the summer with intervals and showing up to the summer practices.
Now back to me, I have been running this summer 6 days a week at 30-35 mpw for about a month now, and plan on peaking to about 40 mpw in 3 weeks, which is when Cross County starts for me. Most of the runs have been 4-6 miles going around 7:10-7:40 pace. Though most of the routes around my house are mostly hilly. I have also been doing 1 tempo run every week and 1 set of hill intervals. My tempo runs are controlled, running about 25 minutes at 6:30 pace. And finally, I have a long run every Saturday that is 7 miles long where i just go at 8:00 pace.
So in conclusion, could I break 18 minutes in a 5k by October with this training and season training? The Conference Meet is for our school is around the last week of October. And if not, what changes should i make in order to have a better chance of doing this?
Thanks!