Forums >Running 101>sub 20 min 5k
Slow-smooth-fast
"I've been following Eddy's improvement over the last two years on this site, and it's been pretty dang solid. Sure the weekly mileage has been up and down, but over the long haul he's getting out the door and has turned himself into quite a runner. He's only now just figuring out his potential. Consistency in running is measured in years, not weeks. And over the last couple of years, Eddy's made great strides" Jeff 14 Jan 2009
Barefoot and happy
I too thought 8 min/mile was "easy", but then I got a heart rate monitor and discovered that to stay at an easy heart rate I had to slow down to 11 min/mile. But the good news is, once I slowed down I started improving steadily, and now my easy pace is under 9 min/mile. I have no doubt I'll get back to the 8's I was running before, but at a much lower level of effort. And I feel so much stronger now that I know my next 5k is going to be fast. Definitely sub 20.
Runners run
I've got a fever...
On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.
Why is it sideways?
Out of curiosity, how long a period was that training to go from 11min/mile->9min/mile? Was it hard to adjust to? My wife just got a HR monitor, and I of course had to try it, and found my "easy" 8/min/mi HR was alot higher than I would have expected as well. I'm planning on finishing out my "racing season" at the end of Sept, and then taking a shot at HR training for a bit. Wondering how long it was before you noticed a difference.
I also notice from your log that you just do easy and log, so I feel I have nothing to learn from this to help me with my aim.
Do you not do any tempo woor or intervals or hills etc? How do you know you are going to break 20 when you havent even been anywhere near this pace? Im intreagued.