My goal of Sub 15:00 5k

Looks interesting ,saw some comments on another thread about this thread.

Ill have a good look and try to give some positive and helpful comment , while

of course respecting your coach and his programs

So a few observations and ill not refer to the training other than 2 points :

1. Where is your longer run

2. At this stage training for 5km an 8mile tempo is quite long

Other than that looks ok , but 2 points come to mind in no way being disrespectful ,

1. your very easy runs ( at your level aiming sub 15 ) look quite slow in respect of AHR

2. Your height and weight looks more like a 400m sprinter

Otherwise i wish you good luck and im sure your coach has this covered , look forward to see you smash 15

Thanks Dexter for your feedback.

1. My longer run is kind of synonymous with these longer tempo efforts. These will progress to 10 miles @ easy tempo and 12 miles @ aerobic tempo w/ 2 miles up and 2 miles down. So not 18-20 miles but 14-16.

2. The long sub threshold tempos are long. That said I am incredibly aerobically under developed. I have been doing distance running for 2 years and the first 6 months of that involved losing 70 pounds.

3. My easy pace is indeed slow. I use the MAF HR to target 145 avg. HR and try to keep recovery at 135ish. I found that immediately prior to my 15:23 PR these were typically 7:15-7:25 pace. That was in 40-50 degree dry weather though. Currently it is like 90 and humid where I am. I am a horrible warm weather runner. I hope as

4. I was a HJer and sprinter as a youth prior to a 15 year hiatus from any athletic activity whatsoever. I am just kind of pretending to be a distance runner. Nothing special (2.06 HJ/50 flattish 400/22.xx 200/10.9x 100 type stuff) but decent.

I appreciate your comments and encouragement.

unusual_training_2 wrote:

highhoppingworm wrote:

That’s a long hard workout! What are your shooting for on the Marathon? Sub 2:40?

Yes, I'd be very happy with sub 2:40. I think someone more optimally trained/with more marathon experience might be a little more ambitious, as the 3:45 min/km pace felt very relaxed, even easy at times; I only really began working a bit from the middle of the last two repetitions. My average heart rate for the overall run was 149 bpm, and somewhere between 150 and 155 bpm on the repetitions.

By the way, I'm very impressed with your 12 flat 100m. Was it in spikes? Regardless, even with a rolling start, I could never hit that! You definitely have the speed to go sub 15; with your clear motivation, I'm sure you'll achieve it eventually if you stick at it!

Thanks. I was a little surprised too. This was in dragonflys. Just got a pair and wanted to acclimate my legs to them ahead of some track races later in the summer. I was a former sprinter so not entirely surprising. My guess is I would be like 11.6-11.8 FAT right now.

Wow! Never mind sub 15, even sub 14 might one day be attainable for you if you can keep improving aerobically as you have been doing :-).

ok Got it .... well done on progress so far ...shifting 70 lbs no joke , have done

similar , keep it going , drop another 20 and you'll be on fire !!

With this extra info , i see nothing wrong with the planning that you and your

coach are making ..kudos

Tale of two weeks in one. First half of the week sucked. Super high dew points. Stress at work. Kids daycare on vacation this week so juggling kids. Just a rough Monday through Thursday. Things cooled off on Friday and we headed to NH for the long weekend. Friday through Sunday have been wonderful. A real reminder of how much temperature impact performance and enjoyment of the sport. Next few weeks have some workouts I’m really psyched for.

M - 6 @ 8:28. Avg HR 134. 70+ dew point.

T - 9 @ 7:47. Avg HR 144. 70+ dew point.

W - 2 up + 1 @ 5:43. Deeks Quarters in 16 flat. 400s avg 73.5/200s avg 46.2. Had to stop in middle to go to bathroom so kind of a botched workout. Really really high dew point. 75 out the door. Felt horrible. Did this a few weeks before 5k PR in 72.5 on/50 off without bathroom break as a comparison point. I am

Not great at these alternator type workouts.

Th - 9 @ 7:38. Avg HR 147. 70+ dew point.

Fr - 6 @ 7:13. Avg HR 145. 12x100 on the minute 15.1 down to 12.8 in flats. 2 down. Much cooler. Felt WAY better.

Sa - 10 @ 7:31. Avg HR 139. In NH. Nice and cool. Scouted route for Sunday tempo. Relatively hilly (for me at least).

Su - 2 up. 10 easy tempo in 58:08. Avg HR 171. 2 down. 5:58/5:52/5:50/5:49/5:48/5:43/5:49/5:49/5:49/5:35. 2 down. 54 degrees and pouring rain. Felt incredible in the cool weather. Like I could have run forever. Definitely my best one of those longer tempos which I am not very good at. HR stayed quite low and legs never really started feeling heavy. Cruised in feeling quite strong.

Total - 66 miles

Congrats on still getting the miles in despite the busy week. I'm excited to see how much you improve once the weather cools down as well.

Anyways, I am way behind your training, but I have felt inspired to start training. On Thursday I ran 8 miles with a friend. This was my first run in 2-3 weeks and my longest run in several months. My HR was through the roof and I threw up at mile 7 mid-stride! Ha! I was wrecked.

Here is what the last few days have looked like:

Thurs: 8 miles @ 7:09 w/ 173 HR

Sat: 3 miles @ 7:20 w/159 HR

Mon: 9 miles @ 7:22 w/165 HR

Obviously, I am very out of shape and am exhausted. I'll share my training every couple of weeks, but I won't begin doing any fun stuff for a little while. Simply getting used to running again for now. More than anything, I'm excited to follow and cheer you all along. Keep it up!

Sweet! The legend returns!

Where are you located by the way?

highhoppingworm wrote:

Sweet! The legend returns!

Where are you located by the way?

I am in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Any chance you are nearby?

Nah. Boston area.

Basics: M/36/183

Races: Track 5000 @ USATF NE champs on 7/31, Providence downtown 5k on 9/18. Need to find another tune up race or two in August.

Goal: 14:5x

PR: 15:23

Weather was kind of crazy much of the week. Rained a ton with a legit tropical storm to run through on Thursday. Don’t know if I have ever run in conditions like that. I will take rain over hot and humid any day though.Wednesday workout made me believe that 71.xx pace might be doable for a 5k this cycle (or year) but is probably more like 3000 pace right now. I am feeling fast on the 100s and starting to feel stronger on these long tempos even though they are a bit shorter than I would like. Hopefully that combo comes together nicely as the workouts start to get more serious in the next couple of weeks.

M - 6 @ 7:58. Avg HR 132. Beautiful weather.

T - 8 @ 7:18. Avg HR 146. Pouring/lightning.

W - 2 up + 1 aerobic tempo (5:37). 12x400 w/ 200 jog. Wanted to average goal 5k pace and focus on keeping this as relaxed as possible. Averaged 71.5 and ended with a bunch left in the tank so mission accomplished. Pretty high dew point.

Th - 8 @ 7:26. Avg HR 145. Literally a tropical storm while running.

Fr - 6 @ 7:11. Avg HR 149. 13x100 run on the minute 12.9-15.4. 2 down. Light to moderate rain.

Sa - 7 @ 8:25. Avg HR 137. Felt beat up and didn’t sleep Friday night really so took unplanned recovery day.

Su - 3 up @ 7:15 + 8 @ 5:38 + 2 @ 7:32. Didn’t feel wonderful but for some good work in. Wanted 9 or 10 but would have turned this into a real balls to the wall effort.

Total - 61 miles with all the change

Very nice! Very solid tempo on Sunday; was it on the track or road? Very encouraging session of 400s as well: how quickly did you do the 200m jog? And was it in spikes?

Tempo was on the roads. 400 was on the track in flats. 200s were in 60-85 seconds so pretty slow.

Impressive! I guess you'd probably be needing to average a bit quicker on the 400s to be able to go sub 15, even though you had something in the tank, but the training is clearly going in the right direction, which is all that matters.

The instructions were to run them no faster than 71.xx. That said, definitely not in sub 15 shape at the moment. If I were to guess I would probably trust my Runalyze account and say 15:25-15:30.

Sounds good! Clearly very good shape regardless, as you say.

Basics: M/36/183

Races: 1500 @ USATF NE champs on 7/31, Providence downtown 5k on 9/18. Need to find another tune up race or two in August.

Goal: 14:5x

PR: 15:23

Things started to click this week. Was on the track twice and definitely met more at home. Humidity was pretty off the charts but the temps were low enough that it was serviceable. Feeling really good about both of the quality days. 1000s in 2:54-2:57 felt pretty chill and was surprised by how quick the workout on Sunday was. I was able to run it with someone much faster than me which helped. I am thinking I may give the 1500 a go on 7/31 given it’s probably going to be hot as heck. Not sure what a good target is so should be interesting.

M - 8 @ 8:05. Avg HR 133

T - 9 @ 7:33. Avg HR 143

W - 2 up + 1 aerobic tempo (5:37). 3x(1000m + 200jg + 200m) w/ 4’ rest then 600m + 200jg + 200m. 1.25 down. Felt really solid. 2:55/31, 2:54/31, 2:57/32, 1:42/29. Didn’t have to push too hard.

Th - 9 @ 7:39. Avg HR 142

Fr - 8 @ 7:27. Avg HR 146

Sa - 3 up @ 7:24. 3200m LT + 4’ rest + 6x400m w/ 1’ rest. A bit faster than prescribed. Felt solid and under control. Last 2 400s got a bit tough but no form breakdown or anything. 10:24 (5:11/5:13), 66/65.5/63.7/66.7/64.9/64.5

Su - 10 @ 7:26. Avg HR 143. Pouring.

Total - 62 miles

What's purpose with running 400s faster than you probably ever will need at your current shape?