Goal of sub 17 minute 5k (Read 8285 times)

    I'm not sure what's the fastest I've done 1000s at, but I don't think those are the fastest.  Probably the fastest I've done them in 4 years though.  I was having a good day.

     

    I so rarely do any workouts at 5k pace, usually the fastest I ever do is ~10k pace with more volume and shorter recoveries.  I definitely think there's more bang for the buck there.  5k pace workouts are for the most part a high risk / low reward workout which is why I so rarely do them.  But hell I'm sitting on a big base of fitness so figured I could handle it especially since I'd be okay with peaking for a 5k on July 12.

     

    I'm like scovill in that I usually can't do workouts at paces I can race at.  My legs were snappy that day.

     

    Runners run

      I have a few weeks to catch up on since returning from vacation, so here it goes:

       

      Week of 6/15 - 6/21 - 35 miles

      Week of 6/22 - 6/28 - 41 miles

      Week  of 6/29 - 7/5 - 45 miles

       

      Still mostly easy miles trying to continue building.  I'll try to stay in the 40 -45 range for a few weeks and then try to bump up to 50.

       

      Ran a 4.6 miler on the 4th and was happy with the result - a 26:13 for 5:42 pace.  The race has some decent downhills, so is a fast course, but this is my best time in the past 5 years on this course by about 25 seconds.  I figure that's good for around 17:20 - 17:30 for 5k..  Since there aren't many good races in the area until the Fall, I'll probably wait until September for my next 5k attempt.  We'll see.

      Running Boston in memory of my son.  Want to help?

      -------------------------------------------------------------------------

      2014 Goals:

      1. Run Boston for Matthew (< 2:40 if possible)
      2. Run 5k < 16:00
      3. Hold off father time for at least another year

        Ran 66 miles or so including a workout of 10 x 300 on Tuesday and a 4 mile race in 22:58 yesterday.  The 4 miler was a little slower than I was expecting, not terribly so but enough to make me more than a bit nervous about a sub 17 5k attempt coming up a week from today.  I dunno, maybe that's a good thing.

         

        Also I stepped on a snake.  Not sure if that's a good or bad omen.

        Runners run

          I've missed a couple weeks posting but I'm just going to pick up here.

           

          Week of 6/29 - 7/5

          61 miles

          Key Workouts:

          1. Tuesday: 6x800m at 5k pace with 90 seconds rest and an all out 200 for fun.

          2. Saturday: 10.5 miles with 2x2 miles at ~6:15 pace or so.

          3. Sunday: ~15 mile long run, I wanted 13 but I took the wrong turn.  I wasn't prepared for 15 miles, this run wasn't all that great.

           

          Rough start to the week due to non-running related activities.  I took Wednesday completely off to recover from Monday/Tuesday and I got back into the swing of things on Thursday.  I didn't step on a snake but I did kick a chipmunk on Saturday.  Not my fault, he ran into me.

            I stepped on a chipmunk once...thought I stepped out of my house and onto some leaves...when I got back I saw the squished rodent (I wear a 15...at least he didn't suffer!)


            On My Horse

              I will be taking a crack this Sunday.

               

              I don't think I will be breaking 17 this go, since this is about as in-the-middle of my summer base as my training will ever get, but I've been running really well over the last few months and have put some very solid miles down recently.  My pr is 18:29, and I should crush that fairly easily, since I regulalry run 6:00 pace for 3.5 mile tempos (although I do run those to damn hard)

               

              If I can run like a 17:20/17:30 I will probably take another shot in August to see if I can dip under before the College XC season starts.

              "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with in us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

                Okay I'm not quite there but I'm getting closer.  Ran 17:22 this morning for 10th at Take the Lake.

                 

                Mile splits:
                1 = 5:34
                2 = 11:14 (5:40)
                3 = 16:50 (5:36)
                3.1 = 17:22 (:32)

                 

                It was pretty humid but I don't think I had it even on a cool dry day.  I'm close but not close enough...yet.  I'll get this thing though.  This is my best 5k in 5 years.

                 

                62 miles for the week including the race and an easy workout on Tuesday of 10 miles with 10 x 1 minute @ 5k.

                 

                Next week is the great mikeymike vs. Thunder battle at the Bill Luti 5-miler in Concord, NH.

                Runners run

                  Mike, your almost there. You will have your sub 17 in no time.  I was at 17:30, did 4 weeks of 80+ and then ran my 16:50. Took about three weeks of 30-35 miles and still just ran a 17:08 5K last week. 

                   

                  2010 Goals 3000 Miles 1/2 Marathon-Sub 1:20:00 Marathon-Sub 3:00

                    Nice race Mikey - definitely getting close.  Fastest 5k in 5 years has to be encouraging.

                     

                    My week, 7/6 - 7/12

                     

                    42 miles over 6 days.  All easy miles.

                     

                    This is my 4th 40+ week in the last 5 weeks, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but is one of the better stretches of training I've had in a while.  I've usually ended up with a bunch of aches and pains when I've hit 40 for a few weeks, so I'm encouraged to be feeling good.

                     

                    The easy miles seem to be working right now, so I'm going to keep going easy until I get to 50 miles a week.  I'm planning either a tempo run or a race most weeks as my one quality workout.  I'm feeling good so far and am happy with the way things are going.

                     

                    Still don't have my next race lined up, but won't be until probably mid-August at the earliest.

                    Running Boston in memory of my son.  Want to help?

                    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

                    2014 Goals:

                    1. Run Boston for Matthew (< 2:40 if possible)
                    2. Run 5k < 16:00
                    3. Hold off father time for at least another year

                      Thanks guys.

                       

                      Hey any New England runners looking for a pretty fast weeknight 5k north of Boston next week--I help put on a local 5k in my town.  It's next Thursday, the 23rd at 6:30 pm.  It's a pretty fast course on tree-lined suburban streets and finishes on grass in a park.  We had a kid run 15:30 last year.

                       

                      Details and $15 online pre-registration here.

                       

                      I'll be jogging it with my daughters but if you show up and want to hang around 'til after the awards I'd love to have a beer with any local RA'ers.

                      Runners run

                      jEfFgObLuE


                      I've got a fever...

                        Okay I'm not quite there but I'm getting closer.  Ran 17:22 this morning for 10th at Take the Lake...

                         

                        Next week is the great mikeymike vs. Thunder battle at the Bill Luti 5-miler in Concord, NH.

                         

                         

                        Nice race.  Looking forward to your battle with The Thunder.  Hopefully, someone can capture some video at the finish.

                        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.

                          Nice race mikey.  Closer is always better, especially in the middle of the summer.


                          Got back to training this past week after a week of inactivity.  Not the best running I'd hoped for, especially a tempo run that I blew up on for not taking heat and humidity into account.  Still, I'm probably around the same shape.


                          Highlights: 5x1200 @ 5k pace w/ 600m recovery

                          Attempt at a 40-minute tempo that turned into 32 minutes of "tempo intervals" when the heat was causing my heart rate to hit maximum levels.

                          80k total


                          Have a 5k Sunday.  And unlike the last one, I'm sure this one will be correctly measured.  If the weather cooperates, I think I'll be there - if not really close.

                          Next race: Acura 5k (July 19) Why practice running slow? It comes naturally!

                            66 miles this week

                            Key workouts:

                            5 mile race in 29:27 yesterday (slow course, tactical race)

                            14 mi run today.

                             

                            The 5-miler was my big showdown with Thunder which I won by a mere 2 seconds in a sprint finish.  Good times.  Today I just ground out 14 miles on tired legs.  Not sure when I'll take another shot at 5k, this upcoming week I'm RD for a local 5k then the following week is a 10 mile race I'll probably do.

                            Runners run

                              Attempt #2 today.


                              Summary: pacing failure.  Finished in 17:09, which is at least an 8 second improvement over two months ago.


                              km splits:


                              3:18 (fast start - this was a stacked race, with some of Canada's top marathoners doing the 10 miler that started at the same time - 40 or so people ahead of me at the 1k point)

                              3:24 (exact split time needed)

                              3:28 (too slow)

                              3:29 (bye bye goal time)

                              3:29 (at least the last 3 k were consistent - no horrible blow up)


                              Good enough for 8th overall and 1st old guy (masters).  Hopefully I can drop another 9 seconds in the next 2 months.

                              Next race: Acura 5k (July 19) Why practice running slow? It comes naturally!

                                Week of 7/13 - 7/19

                                66 miles

                                Key Workouts:

                                1. Tuesday: 10 mile fartlek run, 10x1 minute surges at 2 mile pace.

                                2. Friday: 10.5 mile tempo run, 2x10 minutes in the ballpark of half marathon pace.

                                3. Sunday: 14 mile long run with the last 3 miles in the same ballpark as Friday's workout. A bit harder than I should have gone, I think.

                                 

                                I've decided to switch my focus to a half marathon this fall (Leaf Peeper's in VT) so I'm shelving the 5k specific stuff.  I'm still going to take another shot at a fast 5k, probably in late August/early September, and hopefully drop under 17 as a bonus from the half marathon training.

                                 

                                Mikey: Surely, a 10-miler in MA next week could only be the Yankee Homecoming race?  Unless something unfortunate happens I plan to run the 10 mile as well.  Should be good times.