How long will it take to go from 24:30 to sub 20 in the 5k? (Female)

Probably will take less than three months for you. Just jog a lot, fartlek your runs if you feel good and throw in some strides and short hill sprints two-three times a week.

Sand Dunes wrote:

Probably will take less than three months for you. Just jog a lot, fartlek your runs if you feel good and throw in some strides and short hill sprints two-three times a week.

Sub 20 in less than a few months? Wow I sure hope so ? I’m willing to do whatever it takes for me to get there anyway.

I have been running for about a month before this 5k by the way, but I haven’t been running more than 7-8 miles a week. I feel motivated to train but I’m not sure what I’m doing is exactly right.

I have been running 3 HIIT style workouts every week for the last month.

I have been doing 400s at 6-6:30 min/mile pace. I normally do about 8-10 of them and start the next rep as soon as I get my breath back and my legs start to recover (this usally takes about a minute).

The other workout I do are 200m runs in 44-46 sec but on a ecent sized hill. I usually do this 8 times or so and jog down the hill.

I have also been doing 15-20 x 100m in 17-18 sec.

I could do these all day.

But what shocks me is going out for even a 20 minute run at 8 min/mile pace leaves me sweating so hard. I read an article that says that if you’re not running at AT LEAST at 8 min/mile pace, you are running to slow for your gait to open properly - I’m not sure how true that is. So 8 minutes is always what I aim for when I go on longer runs, the problem is - I can’t sustain it for more than half an hour. I would find it much easier to do a jog-sprint-jog-sprint run (sprints at 6 min pace, jogs at 10) for half an hour rather than a solid 8 pace. I want to fix this, how do I get comfortable running at 8 pace? Should I swap all these workouts in doing (or only do 2 workouts a week) and run for 30- 40 minutes or so at 8:45-8:55 pace 4 times a week? (That would add up to about 20 miles a week (15 miles steady running and 5 miles of workouts). I think I could handle that fairy easily and from what I’ve read 20-30 miles per week is pretty much the bare minimum needed to build aerobic capacity for the 5k.

Sounds like you need to just build a base. Read this article:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2006/09/wejo-speaks-why-i-sucked-in-college/

Sand Dunes wrote:

Sounds like you need to just build a base. Read this article:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2006/09/wejo-speaks-why-i-sucked-in-college/

Makes a lot of sense. Basically, run a LOT of miles and stay uninjured (I’d have to build up over the course of 6-8 months if I wanted to run 50 miles each week.

The only probelm for me is, running super slow (about 10 min/mile) feels sort of shall I say ... uneasy and unnatural. Is that something you get used to? I like to be able to get a bit of a jog on lol.

About 4 minutes and 31 seconds

I agree that simply more mileage will naturally improve your 5K time. But sub-20 is faster than your current 1-mile race pace, so it will probably take longer than a few months.

Earlier this year, I realized some solid improvement by gradually increasing mileage, then adding long runs, then workouts over a five-month period. Except for the workouts, all the running was very slow -- 8:30/mi or slower. Also, a modest amount of weight loss was an important component.

In January, I ran a 3-mile time trial in 27:01 -- 9:00/mile. For the next few weeks, I ran 4-6 miles, a couple days a week, at 10:00/mi pace. Plus 40 minutes of elliptical training three days a week. My weight was 177 pounds.

In February, I increased the distance to 7-8 miles, three times a week, plus the elliptical. By then, I could average just under 9:00/mile, and my weight was 172.

In March, I introduced long runs of 10-12 miles and could manage 8:30 to 9:30 mile pace. Weight was 169.

In April, I was running 5-6 days, 45 miles per week. No elliptical training. I increased my long runs to 16 miles, and introduced VO2max and Lactate Threshold workouts (like 6x800m with 3-min jog, and 3x1.5-mile with 2-min rest). Training pace for other days was 8:30/mi. Weight was 166.

In May, I raced a 5K in 19:35. Splits were 6:25, 6:26, 6:00, :44. So, five months from 9:00/mile to 6:19/mi. Ten-pound weight loss.

This was at age 58, and I had a running background. Still, I think it demonstrates a basic outline of what could work during a 5- to 6-month time frame.

Mazz23 wrote:

Sand Dunes wrote:

Sounds like you need to just build a base. Read this article:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2006/09/wejo-speaks-why-i-sucked-in-college/

Makes a lot of sense. Basically, run a LOT of miles and stay uninjured (I’d have to build up over the course of 6-8 months if I wanted to run 50 miles each week.

The only probelm for me is, running super slow (about 10 min/mile) feels sort of shall I say ... uneasy and unnatural. Is that something you get used to? I like to be able to get a bit of a jog on lol.

Posters are going to the Wejo quotes to advocate jogging slowly as a solution. Wejo, a sub-14 5K man owes most of his sub-14 5K to his speed foundation he built from ages 12 to 22. I am sure Wejo did many 200 repeats as a youth.

You do not have to high mileage your way to sub-20 5K. OP, you are used to intense anaerobic training. Do intense training to get yourself into sub-5:30 1500m condition. One long run of the week no more than 45 to 60 minutes. You are correct to be skeptical that jogging at ten minutes per mile will translate to a sub-20 5K.

You know from your previous training that training for sub-5:30 1500m will not be easy. Once you are in sub-5:30 1500m condition, sub-20 5K should also occur soon.

Do your easy runs by feel. Ignore the article that said if you're not running easy at 8 minute pace. Not because it's untrue but because easy runs need to be easy. So basing it off feel is the way to go and the way to build up endurance. And more than likely, those easy runs will naturally be at around 8-9 minute pace over time.

If you're on a treadmill, cover the screen with a towel. If you have a GPS, switch screens so you don't see your splits.

With your speed background, you should be able to get down to at least 21 minutes in a few months. I'd also consider adding a 6-10 mile long run on the weekend, also by feel. Good luck!

Hi

I’m a mid 20s female.

I got my 5K down from 24 to 21 in a year.

I ran a 10K less than 3 months after starting running in 47 mins. but I didn’t come from an aerobic background (mostly lifted weights etc). I’ve found speed comes to me quite easily but I really struggle with long runs.

Lots of easy running and try not to go off too fast in your races.

24:30 to 19:59 is a huge jump. But if you can do a 6:30 mile on 7-8 mpw, you may have the potential.

Obviously, you need to increase your mileage a bit, but you don't need to run so slowly that it's uncomfortable or awkward.

"I’m thinking of going on 45 minute runs daily (after work, at night) and was thinking of doing them between 8:30 - 10:00 min/mile pace and adding in a couple of jog-sprint-jog-sprint runs in."

Not a bad plan, although 8:30 is probably on the fast side, given that your 5k pace is 8:00. Another good workout for 5k would be 5x1000 at roughly 5k pace, with equivalent rest. So if you run the 1k in 5:00, take 5:00 rest.

Get to 25-30 mpw, stay there for 6 weeks or so, then time trial again.

Some good advice on here.

The answer is that nobody knows how long it will take you.

Allen gave an inspiring anecdote above about how it is possible to make large improvements. But you might have to do it a different way.

If you are really going to increase 7-8 miles per week to 45 minutes of running per day, you should probably decrease your weekly high intensity training to 2x per week. It sounds like you really like the short speed repeats, so while those are not what I would typically recommend, you could keep doing those.

Then follow the advice of the guy above who said to forget about your easy run pace. He gave a couple tips. Another would be to measure out 3, 4, 5, 6 miles etc and then run all your easy runs without a watch. Focus on keeping your breathing easy - if you are unable to keep a conversation, slow down. You may have to take walk breaks. Start with 30 minute runs, then add a longer run, then bump gradually up to 45 minutes on the easy days.

If you increase the mileage too quickly it is a recipe to get hurt. Listen to your body.

Scrap all that you are doing and get done steady mile's in to build endurance and base to build Intervals etc on top of. HIIT uys a water of time for you especially right now.

6 weeks base. Includime long run

Then introduce tempos and hills

Then add intervals.