Sub-20 Goal for 5k (2012) (Read 5412 times)

    Not even close! 21:37 yesterday. Still good enough for 1st overall woman so I'm not totally disappointed. I need to get my mileage up. When I broke 20 a couple of years ago, I was running 50-60 miles a week. I'll probably have to do that again but it's a lot harder to find the time now, unfortunately.

     

    It was a tough course by all accounts, very hilly. I was totally out of it at the start and forgot to start my Garmin so I had no idea of my pace the whole time and just tried to maintain the female lead. I was pretty much in no man's land the whole time, actually. There was someone about 15 seconds ahead of me but other than that there was nobody. The leader ran 16Tight lippedx and then there were maybe four or five guys in the 19s and low 20s, and then there was me. I wish I'd had the Garmin going because I am very curious about my splits. I suspect that my first mile was 6:15-ish because I was hanging with the 19 guys for that one before they broke away. I definitely felt myself slow in the second half of the race from about 1.75 to 2.75, then was able to get a good kick at the end. The weird thing is that I never really felt completely gassed. I finished and felt like I could have given it more, but it's like my mental toughness/confidence aren't quite there. I dunno.

     

    I'm racing again in 3 weeks - the first race in a summer 5k series I'm doing. I'd like to be in the 20s for that one, at least.

      On the way back toward fast times (I ran 19:28 2 years ago), ran 19:52 the hard way in my 2012 debut Sunday.  The hard way meaning going out in the flat, maybe very slight down slope first mile in a stupid 5:29.  Yes, 5:29.  I still had 12:15 at 2 miles (a hill or two in the 2nd mile) but the third mile was a death march and has a couple hills in it.  A couple people passed me during the 2nd mile and maybe 10-12 in the third mile.  Finished 74/1695 and 3rd in my age group.  Apparently I just held on, 4th in my age group was 4 seconds behind.

       

      A 14 year old kid ran 16:19 in the race!

       

      I have only been averaging about 25 miles per week this year, one long run per week 7-10 miles, one tempo or fartlek per week and one day with strideouts.  The big difference is the 20 pounds I dropped from January to March.  The last time I raced at 180 pounds was in 1995.

       

      I'm going to target August for my next race and try and get my mileage back up in at least the 30-35 range.  Have some vacation in July so that will help me train (low key beach week).  That plus some smarter pacing might put me closer to 19:00.

      rossruns


        I'm making this my goal for the year, too.  I just ran 20:54 in a 5k this weekend, which was about a minute faster than my previous PR which I set in April.  I'm pretty sure as long as I can keep my legs healthy I've got another minute I can cut out before the end of the year!

          I'm making this my goal for the year, too.  I just ran 20:54 in a 5k this weekend, which was about a minute faster than my previous PR which I set in April.  I'm pretty sure as long as I can keep my legs healthy I've got another minute I can cut out before the end of the year!

           

          That's great progress for just a couple of months!

           

          I've been thinking more about my race. It's weird to me that I ran the first 5k of my recent 10 mile race faster than I ran this thing. I'm not really sure how to explain that one.

           

          I'm joining a running club that does track workouts on Tuesday nights. First one is tonight. I don't know what to expect in terms of the workout, the demographics of the club, etc. but I'm looking forward to it.

          lagwagon


            I raced on Sunday...very small race (~100 people, many were walking).  Certified course was pretty flat and fast, and I hit 19:47.  I ran alone after the first mile, and finished second overall.  Happy to hit my goal early in the season.  I have to say conditions were great for a fast race, but it didnt feel like a 100% effort, so I'll go for 19:30 next time out and maybe sub 19 by the fall.

             

            Funny note...the winner was a 20yo guy who had the audacity to come to a full stop midrace to relax a bit and sip on cup of water, pour another over his head, then resume to win in 19 0 something.  I think I lost a few seconds laughing hard at the ridiculousness in front of me.  But really, race was fun, the people were really nice, and they served great pulled pork sandwiches afterwards (at 10am.)

             

            E, sorry you missed, but chalk it up to a bad day, and sounds like a great plan getting out to the track for group runs!

             

            Rossruns, welcome to the party, and I look forward to you getting your sub 20.  Nice to see all the PRs in your footer this year, good stuff.

             

            kpk33x, sounds like a brutal third mile, but overall nice showing...I agree with your assessment, better pacing and an easier course and you're on your way to sub 19...maybe see you there!

              Lagwagon - Congrats! Nice race and great placement. 19:30 is definitely within reach for you. Also, it cracks me up to think of someone stopping mid-race and still pulling off the win...geez.

               

              I went down to the track to work out with the club but no one showed up, so I did my mile repeats alone after a 2 mile warmup. Splits were 6:28, 6:54, and 7:00 with 400m recovery jogs. So basically I have no clue how to pace. I ran the first 800m of the first mile at a sub-6 pace, which is about what I do in a typical race and it clearly does not work for me.

                 

                kpk33x, sounds like a brutal third mile, but overall nice showing...I agree with your assessment, better pacing and an easier course and you're on your way to sub 19...maybe see you there!

                 Thanks!  You'd think I'd learn not to do that to myself after a couple hundred races, but apparently not.  Good luck!

                  Had another race last night. I got a little closer but I still have lots of work to do. I ran 21:02 by my watch. My splits were 6:34, 7:02, 7:03, 0:24. The first mile felt great, almost effortless, so I'm not really sure what happened. I got really psyched out when I saw the 6:34 and knew I still had 2 miles to go. I sort of tried to ease up a little but I was in a smallish pack of other women runners and I couldn't decide whether to hang with them, drop back, or surge ahead, so I had moments of doing all of these things and I think it wore me out. The weirdest thing to me is that I can hold a 7:00/mi pace for a long time, much longer than a 5k, but I have so much trouble going any faster than that. It's like my body just settles into that pace and refuses to move. I'm not sure how to break out of that - I suspect more miles is probably the answer, and I'm working on that now. The goal is to get up to 50 by the end of the summer and hold it there for the rest of the year before bumping up to 60ish for next year. I was disappointed with this race initially, but it's not so bad considering that I ran 21:58 in April and 21:37 a couple of weeks ago. The times are coming down, just not as fast as I'd like.

                    ellithoe - amateur weigh-in here....

                     

                    First, you've taken a full minute off in about 2 months. I'd say that's pretty rapid improvement.

                     

                    Second, when you are practicing faster stuff, seems like you've had a tendency to start too fast and fade, or adjust. Like the mile repeats you did a few weeks back (6:34/7/7) - pretty much how you raced last night. Besides more miles, might want to focus on starting the speed workouts deliberately on the softer side and ramping up. And maybe throwing in some faster finishes on long runs. Whatever you can do to fix your fade prob.

                     

                    Good luck, that's some good progress so far.

                    Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                    We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes

                      ellithoe - amateur weigh-in here....

                       

                      First, you've taken a full minute off in about 2 months. I'd say that's pretty rapid improvement.

                       

                      Second, when you are practicing faster stuff, seems like you've had a tendency to start too fast and fade, or adjust. Like the mile repeats you did a few weeks back (6:34/7/7) - pretty much how you raced last night. Besides more miles, might want to focus on starting the speed workouts deliberately on the softer side and ramping up. And maybe throwing in some faster finishes on long runs. Whatever you can do to fix your fade prob.

                       

                      Good luck, that's some good progress so far.

                       

                      Thanks, that's something I will definitely try in my next workouts. I do try to get progressively faster when I run tempos, and that works pretty well for me. I'll start at 7:40ish and bring it down to 7:00ish in the second half. But when it comes to intervals you're right - I start fast and fade. I didn't even notice that my mile repeats from a couple weeks ago mapped onto this race so well. That's pretty funny. I wonder what would happen if I went out at 6:50 or so. I'm actually racing again on Sunday so maybe I'll experiment with a slower start. Not ideal to race again so soon but an opportunity arose and I figured I'd go for it, for fun at least.

                      stadjak


                      Interval Junkie --Nobby

                        more amateur advice:  if 7:00 is relatively easy to keep up for 5miles, but you  have a hard time exceeding 7:00 pace, then it sounds like intervals/speed is where you want to focus, not endurance (50+ miles).  You need to train your legs to run faster before you can make them run faster for longer.

                         

                        400m repeats at 5K goal pace or a bit faster would be how I'd approach it.  Rack up the number of repeats from 8 to 12 with 90sec recovery jog.  Maybe start at current 5K pace and negative split down to a bit faster than goal 5K pace.

                         

                        I just went from 21:34(Feb) to 19:38(May) recently.  I'd attribute most of my progress to interval workouts (though to be fair I run 45+mpw).

                        2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                          more amateur advice:  if 7:00 is relatively easy to keep up for 5miles, but you  have a hard time exceeding 7:00 pace, then it sounds like intervals/speed is where you want to focus, not endurance (50+ miles).  You need to train your legs to run faster before you can make them run faster for longer.

                           

                          400m repeats at 5K goal pace or a bit faster would be how I'd approach it.  Rack up the number of repeats from 8 to 12 with 90sec recovery jog.  Maybe start at current 5K pace and negative split down to a bit faster than goal 5K pace.

                           

                          I just went from 21:34(Feb) to 19:38(May) recently.  I'd attribute most of my progress to interval workouts (though to be fair I run 45+mpw).

                           

                          I was wondering about this, actually. I feel like people often say that more miles will just make you faster naturally, but I do think that my raw speed is somewhat lacking, so I like your advice to throw in some shorter intervals. I'll do 8x400 this week as my main workout and work up from there. I've checked out your log a couple of times because I noticed that your Feb time was close to my current one, and I was really impressed with the progress you've made! Thanks for weighing in.

                          stadjak


                          Interval Junkie --Nobby

                            Oh, and one thing I like to do on my 2nd-quality workout of the week, is a tempo pyramid: I run about 7miles and drop 15secs off the pace each mile, then back up.  So: (2mi warmup), 7:30, 7:15, 7:00, 6:45, 7:00, 7:15, 7:30, (1mi cooldown).  Surprisingly you might find the first 7:00 is harder than the second 7:00 (after you just got done with the 6:45).  The idea is to put some fatigue on your legs by the time you hit 6:45, and to keep going after doing the hard goal mile.

                             

                            Not sure why, but I really find that workout fun and satisfying.  It also gave me the confidence to shoot for 6:30 as my goal pace, since one of my pyramids dropped down to 6:15pace at the bottom -- so I figured I could sustain it.

                            2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                              That workout sounds really good. I've been doing progressive tempos the last couple of months - warming up then bringing the pace down gradually every half mile or so - but I like the idea of the pyramid. I may try that out next time I do a tempo. Thanks for sharing.

                                I thought I'd pop in and brain-dump. Big grin

                                 

                                I raced my last spring event, an evening-start 5k, on 08 June.  For this one, I lacked the company/assistance of the friend who'd more or less paced me to my sub-20 in May.  I set a high goal of 19:30 and just tried to run a smart, even pace early, then finish as strongly as possible.  A little slow early -- I looked to the Garmin for guidance, something I've been working on NOT doing! -- but finished strong, posting a 19:29.

                                 

                                Intervals definitely have helped.  I do the occasional striders after easy runs, and I'd been doing a weekly interval session of 400m to 1000m repeats.  Given how much faster 5k pace is than even tempo, let alone easy pace, I think the repeats had a big impact on my physical ability to sustain the faster pace.  And the mental benefit was significant, too.

                                 

                                Another factor is getting into a race where there will be others around your target time.  Small events where you end up running alone are tougher when you're reaching for a big time.  Having people around, whether to maintain contact with or run down, can provide extra little motivation translating into precious seconds.

                                 

                                This is a fun thread and it's helped me be more focused in my races.  Hopefully, there's something in the junk I post that might return the favor.

                                "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

                                -- Dick LeBeau