Goal of sub 20 5k (Read 13664 times)

I would trust those MotionBased graphs thery are all over the place and really don't measure your true speed.... SportTracks has a better smoothing of speed that gives you a more accurate picture of your speed. I was doing 1k intervals on the track this AM and MotionBased says my max speed was 15.1mph. No way I was ever going that fast on the track. Anyways, since I've started running again in '04 I've never gone below 20 for a 5k, though I've run "equivalents" at longer distances... Hopefully this summer while training for Chicago I'll break 20 minutes. However, since I won't be tapering for any of these races, it might not happen. Maybe later in the summer during a workout...

I want to break 20 as well, but my immediate goal is to run around 20:30 on July 4th. The Firecracker 5k in Shreveport awards an nice etched glass mug to the first 101 male finishers (1st 60 females). That requires a finishing time of 20:30 to 20:45 most years. It's gonna be close.

Are you trying to break 20 minutes again?

I ran 19:42 this past March. I'm not racing at all this summer (summer races and the Deep South do not mix), but I hope to go sub-19 this fall.

Well I decided to do a quicker mile on the treadmill today during my easy run to see how it felt. I put on my flats and turned out a 6:13 mile. Could I keep running a 5k doing that in an opening mile? Yes but I think it would be really close to the edge for me. Now I am doubtful I want to try a 5k trial with a fast opening mile. If anything I would try a 6:40 first mile and get faster from there.

Now I am doubtful I want to try a 5k trial with a fast opening mile. If anything I would try a 6:40 first mile and get faster from there.

I don't think that would be the best strategy. If you run a 6:40 first mile, you would need to run 6:19 pace for the remaining 2.1 miles. A 6:34 first mile sets you up for 6:22 pace for the remainder. Or, you could do like I did last year, when I broke 20 for the first time... Mile 1 - 6:08 Mile 2 - 6:23 Mile 3 - 6:34 Last bit - 0:40.2 (6:16 pace) Finish - 19:45 I went out too fast, for sure, but I was able to hold on, and still had a bit of a kick at the end. But it would be even better to start at 6:34, I think...

Why not try going out fast during an actual race? What have you got to lose? Even if you blow up, at least then you learn about what your limitations are. I just recently had a breakthrough 5 mile race. For years I couldn't break 35 minutes, and the course is set up for it, fast and flat. I was always fine the first 2 miles, but I would tend to back off for miles 3 and 4. I never could make the time up in the last mile. This time after two miles I thought to myself, "It's today or never", and picked up the pace at mile 3. Just some food for thought. Good luck.

I think it would be better to follow your strategy where you push hard in the middle of the race. I tend to back off in mile 2....I think this is where I need to "go for it" I am thinking now that 6:30, 6:30 for the 1st 2 miles would set me up nicely for a sub 20. That is easy for a 2 mile run but in a 5k run I must run mile 2 quite hard to get the 6:30 split. However with only a mile left and a sub 20 on the line I think I could pull a 6:24 last mile followed by a 35 second last tenth (that last tenth is a given to be 35 seconds or less). Breaking it down more I would want to run 6:30 pace for 2.5 miles which would lend a 2.5 mile time in 16:15.

You're best bet is to hit the mile right on 6:25-6:27. The only way you'll break 20 by going out in either 6:13 or 6:40 is if you're actually in 19:35 shape. If 19:55 is the hairy edge of what you're capable of you'll need to run extremely even or slightly negative pacing to hit it. When I ran 17 flat my splits were 5:31, 5:32, 5:29, :29.

I agree. Last year I think I was in 19:55 to 20:05 shape. In the last 5K of that year (August), I ran the first mile in 6:09. I finished in 20:15. ______________ I have been trying to break 20 minutes for quite a few years also - since 2003. I have decided to take this year as a "recovery" year. I have been running slightly above my total average weekly mileage, but have been taking it easy on the quality. ______________ edit: But I think it is a better idea to get into 19:30 shape. It seems "easier" to run 6:09; 6:35; 6:40; and then :30 to :35 instead of 6:26; 6:26; 6:26; and then :38. I have been in good enough shape to run sub 20 minutes in the past. I just haven't had the skill.

I just broke 20min this morning, in a race in a park. My splits were slightly negative. I watched my Garmin for pacing all the way through, as I usually do. I don't know what my final time was, as I forgot to stop my watch in time (which I also usually do - usually forget I mean ), but I know the clock hadn't quite hit 20 yet. Wheee! I usually am afraid to go out fast -- b/c I'm afraid of how much it will hurt later on -- so I usually run negative splits.

Nice job... what were your splits? Did you go out faster than usual? Despite all the warnings I went out last night and ran a 5k time tria all alone on my made up loop in my neighborhood. It was about 74 degrees but the sun was setting and I was in the midst of my highest mileage week ever so I felt pretty strong. I ran my road loop which is not certified to be certain but its pretty close and i can compare with previous times. It does have one long hill to ascend. It ends near the start but the end is probably about 10 feet higher in elevation than the start. I started comfortably hard and hit half mile in 3:14. I thought wow only 6 of these piece of cake. I got to the mile mark in 6:30 and seriously mulled over giving up. This is the diff between time trials and races. I would never have that thought in a race. But I kept going and went up the steep hill to hit 1.5 miles in 9:52. So the hill had put me behind sub 20 pace...but now I would hit the turnaround and descend that same hill. I thought I better put on a surge to get my time back. I lengthened the stride and barreled down the hill. When I hit the flat and the bottom I continued to run hard in an attempt to get to 2 miles in 13 minutes. I did well as I reached the 2 mile mark in 13:03. I was surprised that I wasn't dead tired at this point for I had put in a hard effort for the last half mile. But I thought only a mile to go...I wanted to hit 2.5 miles in 16:15 or so to keep a 6:30 per mile pace. It is very hard to run what you think is above your ability. But I had no choice. To break 20 and see if I could do it I wanted to attempt it in practice. I ran hard and hit 2.5 miles in 16:17. Wow this is going to be close but now I knew I had a chance to break 20. I ran the next quarter mile in about 96 seconds so my time was around 17:43...then it was uphill to the 3 mile mark. I just wanted to get to the mailbox marking 3 miles in 19:24 or less so I put in a 60 second surge as I knew I would have something left for the final tenth if I had a chance to beat 20. I hit the 3 mile mark in 19:21 and knew I had broken 20. I hadn't really measured the .106 miles past this mailbox exactly so I just ran hard until my watch read 20 minutes then marked the spot where I was. I thought for sure I was well past 3.106 miles but when I paced from the 3 mile mark it measured 3 miles and 586 feet....which is 3.11 miles. Ok so my time for last nights 5k was about 19:59 but who knows if it was 5k or not ?.. I am not counting it as a record or anything...but it does beat my old time trial loop record by 28 seconds I do know I am capable of this now and what it will take. I must keep the sub 20 pace as much of the race as I can. There will be hills where I will fall off the pace. But by throwing in 2-3 minutes surges of what feels like 4k race pace I can get a few seconds back. My half mile splits 3:14 3:16 3:22 (uphill) 3:11 (downhill) 3:14 3:03 0:38 last tenth (hard to believe this was so slow. I thought for sure I could run this in 34 seconds...maybe I used all the energy on the rest of the race)