Forums >General Running>47 years old, lift weights, run, lower my 5 k time
Rick
I did not become an expert skier slamming down mogul fields one day a week with my friends. I became an expert skier when I was a ski patroller 6 days a week with 90 percent of the time skiing slow and easy. Skiing = time on skis, running = time on feet.
A lot of good discussion here but you seem set on your ways. So with that, set reasonable goals. Also, check out the other thread. Another 5k runner, unwilling to increase mileage.
12-22 Last One Standing - dnf 37 miles
1-23 Sun Marathon - 3:53
3-4-23 Red Mountain 55k - 7:02
4-15-23 Zion 100 - 27:59
Running is not soccer, though soccer includes bits of running, as do many other sports. Would you expect a diver who is trying to move over to swimming say "we don't train that way when diving, so I'm not going to train that way when focusing on swimming"? Running is somewhat a skill sport (which goes to your point about neuromuscular training, and is why drills and strides are important). But running is also a sport that is heavily dependent on things like capillarization - you accomplish that with slower running. You build your aerobic engine with slower running - always running faster spreads the stress among your aerobic and anaerobic systems, which in turn limits the development of pure aerobic fitness. Slower running forces you to use your aerobic system almost exclusively, developing it further. (if you've ever lifted weights, surely you've experienced the phenomena where you have to reduce the weight lifted sometimes to ensure that you're working/developing the right muscles, instead of having other muscles that are already overdeveloped kicking in. Same thing with running.) You need that strong aerobic foundation to race well - that way you rely primarily on your aerobic engine for most of the race, sparing the anaerobic engine for the end. When you don't have that well developed aerobic engine, it's ridiculously easy to go out too fast (because it feels easier to split the work between aerobic and anaerobic) and then crash when the anaerobic system hits its time limit and you have nothing left but your underdeveloped aerobic system.
Running is not soccer, though soccer includes bits of running, as do many other sports. Would you expect a diver who is trying to move over to swimming say "we don't train that way when diving, so I'm not going to train that way when focusing on swimming"?
Running is somewhat a skill sport (which goes to your point about neuromuscular training, and is why drills and strides are important). But running is also a sport that is heavily dependent on things like capillarization - you accomplish that with slower running.
You build your aerobic engine with slower running - always running faster spreads the stress among your aerobic and anaerobic systems, which in turn limits the development of pure aerobic fitness. Slower running forces you to use your aerobic system almost exclusively, developing it further.
(if you've ever lifted weights, surely you've experienced the phenomena where you have to reduce the weight lifted sometimes to ensure that you're working/developing the right muscles, instead of having other muscles that are already overdeveloped kicking in. Same thing with running.)
You need that strong aerobic foundation to race well - that way you rely primarily on your aerobic engine for most of the race, sparing the anaerobic engine for the end.
When you don't have that well developed aerobic engine, it's ridiculously easy to go out too fast (because it feels easier to split the work between aerobic and anaerobic) and then crash when the anaerobic system hits its time limit and you have nothing left but your underdeveloped aerobic system.
Ok, I can buy some of that. So we know, for 5k results for me, 2 hard + 2 easy = 15 > 1 hard + 3 easy = 25. And I'm going for Door number 3: 3 easy, 2 hard = 25 and anticipating my results should be better than Door number 1.
Thanks
Born: 1973
Marathon PR: 3:44 (2000)
5k PR: 22:02 (2022)
1 mile PR: 6:09 (2022)
Goals:
5k - 21:42
Mile - 5:59
400m - 1:10
SMART Approach
Running is definitely a skill. Big time. You are likely an exception not showing progress going from 15 to 25 miles a week or perhaps your race strategy has not improved. Most under estimate the importance of a smart race strategy. I don't anticipate "significant" progress tweaking your work outs within those 25 miles. You are more likely to get a bump in 5K fitness if you dropped 5-7 lbs (if you need to)....
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