2010 Goal of Sub 20 5K (Read 2801 times)

In.

Have only run 1 in my life in the low 21's but I remember feeling like I left a lot of time out on the course that day. I do have a race coming up on April 2 and think I have a decent chance there. If not then my goal race would be in Mid July.

Training as of the moment is more tailored to the half im running in May, I was planning to start some 5k specific workouts last week and then I got sick. Now that I'm back and healthy I might try to get in 2 5k specific workouts before the race. Just trying to get my body used to that pace Something like:

10 x 400 (:45 recovery jog)

5 x 800 (1:15 recovery jog)

5 x 1000 (1:30 recovery jog)

all at goal pace.

Damn Dawg, I forgot that you were shooting for sub 20 not too long ago.  And look where you are now.  Nice work.

Jim's words to you are worth repeating.......

You can get there without a doubt if you are willing to do a little more. First thing would be to run on at least one of those days you take off each week. Compared to several I see posting here your mileage is ok, but it's still not a lot.

The next thing would be to a add a weekly track workout. It doesn't have to be a ****buster either...I'd say that 5 x 1K at about 8-10 seconds per mile slower than your current 5k race would do just fine. Take a half lap recovery jog between each rep. If you are real consistent, religiously doing them every week, you will see measurable results. You can rotate between those, 800's, and 1200's if you want. Just do about 3 miles worth of each. A lot of people will tell you to run them harder, do 400's and a lot of other stuff, but I can tell by your PR's that endurance/threshold work is what you need most at this stage. Running your intervals a little slower and taking a short recovery will boost your lactate threshold if you keep doing them. You should also be able to recover from them quite easily.

So that's it...run an extra day or 2 each week, and throw in those intervals. There are other things you can do but this is enough to get you to your goal. I see that you have been doing some nice long runs, so that's good. I picked on you because you're easy...if you've run 20:40 off of what you've been doing it's not going to take drastic measures to get your sub-20.

I would say to everyone else who has posted here that the best thing you can do is increase your mileage. Don't think that because 5k is a short race that you don't need lots of endurance to run it well. That's a very common misconception.

This is/was one of my goals for 2010.  I had geared up for a race yesterday.  Local 5-K as part of the Pasadena Triathlon at the Rose Bowl.  I run at the Rose Bowl a lot, so I figured it was a good race spot because of familiarity.  The general 5-K course there is very simple, one lap around, with the extra tenth picked up on one of the side streets. 

Before the race, there was some chatter amongst some of the regulars that the course for this one was a little different and they thought it was a bit long.  Turns out they were right. 

My plan was to try to run 6:20 to 6:25 for the first two miles and then give it all I had for the last mile.  I went through the first mile in 6:20, the second in 6:18.  Perfect.  I ended up running along someone who was just about the perfect pace partner.  We burned through the third mile in 5:58.  And then the long part.  By my watch, the course measured about 3.3 miles, and I crossed the tape at about 20:23.  Reverse engineering the 6:00 split my watch said I did, that would have put my 5K time at about 19:12 to 19:15.

A really, really good run, but frustrating because I don't yet have an "official" 5-K time under 20.

xhristopher,

Come tonight, your allergies will either be up or down, the wind will be either gusty, calm, or in between.  Can't control any of this, so put it all aside.  (Personally, wouldn't take any allergy meds today; however.)  The diet is what it was.  If you pay for, you pay for it.  In the end, you probably won't know for sure if this has any cause and effect on your performance.  Check this off your worry list.

Guess what, now we're down to just running the race.  Go out comfortable hard.  If you error, error slightly, and error on the side of "hard"...its a race, you want to excel.  If you run your 1st mile too fast, keep going and don't worry about slowing down, you will.  When you want to slow down, run faster.  Race and learn.  Use tonight to re-establish where your fitness is, then plan your next days / weeks accordingly.

Good luck!

 half mary

*gasp*

you're doomed.