IM BREAKING 15MINS FOR THE 5K

I ran 1505 this indoor season and unfortunately did not get the chance to try and break outdoor, but I have the same goal as you. In the lead up to that race, I was doing all tinman style training (CV reps + 200's & tempos). I don't know if this is the best way to train for a 5k (right now I am at the beginning of a Daniels based half marathon plan). The reason I did the tinman training is because I was very burnt out after XC, but still wanted to feel productive instead of just doing base. None of this is really fantastic advice, just relaying my experience. Anyways, best of luck and hopefully I'll see you on the other side of 15!

I wouldn't really call it an essential workout but I liked to do workouts of about repeat 4:40, 4:45 or 4:50 miles with recoveries of like 5:20. So you are doing continuous fast running of mile repeats of 4:40 or so with recoveries of 5:20 or so. Do like 3 or 4 mile repeats with the ensuing recovering.

Sally Vix wrote:

I wouldn't really call it an essential workout but I liked to do workouts of about repeat 4:40, 4:45 or 4:50 miles with recoveries of like 5:20. So you are doing continuous fast running of mile repeats of 4:40 or so with recoveries of 5:20 or so. Do like 3 or 4 mile repeats with the ensuing recovering.

Just to clarify - the whole workout is continuous.

A go to of mine in college was 5-6x1000m @goal 5000m pace w/ 2:30 rest, basic meat and potatoes.

i.e., you want to break 15, shoot for 2:59 per k.

Do it 2-3 weeks out of your next race. If you can do that and feel in control, in that 80% effort range, you should be able to run it for a race.

Add a tempo in another day of the week, do your hard strides every 2-3 days. Then a long run.

Broke 14 with this method.

Sally Vix wrote:

Sally Vix wrote:

I wouldn't really call it an essential workout but I liked to do workouts of about repeat 4:40, 4:45 or 4:50 miles with recoveries of like 5:20. So you are doing continuous fast running of mile repeats of 4:40 or so with recoveries of 5:20 or so. Do like 3 or 4 mile repeats with the ensuing recovering.

Just to clarify - the whole workout is continuous.

I thought you were fast many moons ago?

Agree with 5 x 1000m at goal race pace. McMillan has a good progression up to this workout (Google his "Best 5K Workout").

You may want to consider upping your mileage. I've found an inflection point in my training after consistently crossing the 75-mile barrier (I now train 75-85 miles per week). Without looking at your history or training, would suggest adding a double, slowing down on easy days, and running up to 2 hours for your long run. I also don't think you need to cycle down to 50 miles once every three weeks. That's 1) a big drop, and 2) a pretty frequent cut back. Try instead a 10-15% cut-back once every 4 weeks.

lilbyte wrote:

A go to of mine in college was 5-6x1000m @goal 5000m pace w/ 2:30 rest, basic meat and potatoes.

i.e., you want to break 15, shoot for 2:59 per k.

Do it 2-3 weeks out of your next race. If you can do that and feel in control, in that 80% effort range, you should be able to run it for a race.

Add a tempo in another day of the week, do your hard strides every 2-3 days. Then a long run.

Broke 14 with this method.

Nice how hard were your long runs

Obviously you won’t be racing for a while OP, any time trials planned?

Took the long runs pretty easy / slow, 16 miles out of 70-80 mile weeks.

Key to personally? Absolutely 20 x 400m at 5 k race pace and rest back to 120 bpm . On this I ran 14:20 5 k and 29:51 10 k . Just didn`t know back then I should have combined it with LT-intervals and not threshold tempos. - The Wizard -

There's no magic workout. All of the advice the previous posters gave has to considered within the broader context of the training plan.

You are at 70mpw. That is a good start. How long have you been at this volume? If more than 6 months you could safely increase to 80. And I agree with what was said above; maybe keep that down week a little more respectable at 60ish and once every four weeks.

The bread and butter of 5k/10k training, in my opinion, is threshold training. Have you done a tempo run recently? If you can do 20-40 minute tempos at a good pace, feeling relaxed, then you are in good 5k shape. I won't give you the pace I think you should run these, because the goal on tempo runs is to run controlled and then see what that yields for pace, not race them and retroactively tell yourself it was controlled. It is a good idea to wear a heart rate monitor on these to get objective in addition to subjective data.

Hard, long intervals, ie 5-6x1k at 5k pace, have their place, but that is really only in the peaking phase (last 3-6 weeks before goal race). These workouts are very hard and the temptation is high to race them all out to prove to yourself you're at a fitness level that you might not be. There is a time and place to hammer these sessions, but good volume and threshold training will get you 97% of the way there. Do two to four of these sessions in the final weeks before your objective at 95 percent effort and be honest with yourself about how it feels. You should be able to race a bit faster than you run these intervals because of the adrenaline of competition and the advantage of drafting in a pack.

How is your mile down to 400 speed? This can be very limiting in all track events. It is hard to run 4:48 three times in a row if you can't break 4:25. It is hard to break 4:20 in the mile if you can't break 58 in the 400. Read the "5x60m w/full recovery" thread and think about incorporating that into your training. It might be a good idea to hold off on that until the next cycle though (after you do your 5k time trial I assume).

For mile speed I would suggest 4-10x200 with 90 second rest once a week, and 4-8x100m strides once a week. You can do this after workouts or easy runs. It shouldn't be taxing.

Finally, the long run is important. At 70 mpw I would be doing 16 mile long runs (or 1h45) most weeks. Keep it easy most weeks, but if you feel good you could make it a progression or fartlek occasionally.

Good luck.

Sally Vix wrote:

I wouldn't really call it an essential workout but I liked to do workouts of about repeat 4:40, 4:45 or 4:50 miles with recoveries of like 5:20. So you are doing continuous fast running of mile repeats of 4:40 or so with recoveries of 5:20 or so. Do like 3 or 4 mile repeats with the ensuing recovering.

That is stupid.

Charles Martel wrote:

There's no magic workout. All of the advice the previous posters gave has to considered within the broader context of the training plan.

This is good advice.

I broke 15:00 on Daniels' 1500/5000m training plan from the 2nd edition book. 6 weeks easy running, 6 weeks threshold/hill sprints/short fast repeats, 6 weeks VO2max/mile pace/threshold, 6 weeks 5k specific (looks a lot like the previous 6 weeks).

Typical workouts were:

-Threshold: 4-6 miles either as cruise intervals or continuous

-VO2max: 6x1k with 2:00-2:30 rests or 4x1600m with 4:00 rests

-Mile: 4x200m + 800m + 6x400m + 4x200m with equal rest

The key is putting it together through a season. Daniels' book explains it well.

Charles Martel wrote:

There's no magic workout. All of the advice the previous posters gave has to considered within the broader context of the training plan.

Good luck.

True.

I think you need less rest, more reps or a faster pace. I would say this workout would put you at 15:10-15:20.

lilbyte wrote:

A go to of mine in college was 5-6x1000m @goal 5000m pace w/ 2:30 rest, basic meat and potatoes.

i.e., you want to break 15, shoot for 2:59 per k.

Do it 2-3 weeks out of your next race. If you can do that and feel in control, in that 80% effort range, you should be able to run it for a race.

Add a tempo in another day of the week, do your hard strides every 2-3 days. Then a long run.

Broke 14 with this method.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvPywLKwn3s