Goal of sub 20 5k (Read 13664 times)

Ran a 5k race today for the 2nd week in a row. After last weeks 20:48 I was looking to go under 20:30 today with a 6:30-ish 1st mile. I got out okay but still do not feel great in that 1st mile...even with 2.5 miles of warmup. I hit the mile mark in 6:38... Just kept passing people...felt very good....don't know why people run the 1st mile so hard. Determined to keep a good time on mile 2. Hit the 2 mile mark in 13:20. Quite happy as last year my 2 mile times were about 18 seconds slower than mile 1 times. Realized I had to run the final mile with my heart. It was windy but I had something left in the tank. I passed a few more runners but it was clear I was in the more talented crowd now as they fought harder to keep me from passing. Ran mile 3 in 6:36 and finished in 20:30 and 18 second improvement from last week. I still had something left at the end...felt great...7th of 66 in my age group.. I will take that but had I finished 11 seconds faster I would have been 4th place. Cannot wait till the smaller races come along...yet the big races give me more targets to attempt to pass.

Nice race Jeff...my advise to you would be look to best your PR first of all. I get caught up in the sub 20 thing too but in 95% of races I don't have a chance to get there after 2 miles. So look to chip away towards the sub 20 by lowering that PR... My PR is 20:17 so we are in the same ballpark. But I know if I attempt a sub 20 in my next race I will endanger myself into running the 1st mile too fast. I hope to run a fast time Friday...I am running a course where I ran a 20:22 last year so my main goal will be to break my PR...yet if I get through 2 miles in sub 13 then and only then will I attempt to go sub 20.

Nice race times folks. The number of race participants is another variable that helps make the perfect race. There needs to be enough people so you do not run the last mile alone. However, too many people make it hard to get the needed fast start. What size do folks look for? I usually am in races with less than 100 people, and often run alone in the last mile (similar to Jeff in his race.) However, the race I am doing this weekend, May 4, had a little over 200 last year. I think that is a good size, but I am not in sub 20 minute shape. My goal will be to break 21 minutes. Last week I ran 42 miles with a 10 mile long run (Sunday) and a 3X1K @ ~4:19 CV workout (1:20 rest) followed by a 200M strider in 41seconds (Friday.) This week I plan to run 40 miles with only one quality workout – a 4 X 1K CV workout followed by two or three 200M striders. I am going to skip running a 10 miler this week to see if it helps/impacts Sunday’s 5K race effort.

BostonChris, I actually ran that 5k today as well. After your other post/rant about headphones the other day, I clicked on your profile. As I was passing you at the 3 mile mark, I noticed the headphones and (no hard feelings) the shaved head and and I thought to myself "I wonder if that is the Chris guy from the board" since I normally don't see headphones at that pace. I actually thought the opposite of you, that the race was a little long. My best 5k is 19:25 (admittedly on a net downhill course) and I thought I ran a good race today and my 1 mile split was about 6:09 (according to the guy calling splits ("Split Guy"), but I finished in 20:05 (according to the results even though the clock read 20:02 when I passed it). As to your comment about organization .... I saw the Split Guy at the finish line and he was looking at his stopwatch (which he said was started at the gun) and the clock and he said his stopwatch was 7 seconds faster than the clock. What did your watch say?

Thats funny. And yes, that was definitely me that you passed at the 3 mile mark. Not sure what my watch said as I completely forgot to look at it or shut it off as I crossed. I also was around mile 1 at 6:08 I think, but my watch said 6:17 at that point so thats why I figured the time might have been slightly off. Regarding the headphones thing... if there ever was a race to ban headphones, I suppose it would have been this race, with its very narrow path. Headphones or not, everyone needed to definitely be aware of their surroundings, especially where it must have been crowded mid-pack. 400 runners on that course was pushing the limit. Nice scenery around the park though.

http://runningahead.com/forums/topic/ca58a446e6964be8aafba9b334379634 Here is my race report from yesterday.

BostonChris (and anybody else),since running An Ras Mor on March 30 through last week, I've taken at least 1:23 (or so) off my 5 k time (2 minutes if you count a series I run in Lowell with an easy course) basically by running 30-35 mostly easy miles per week plus at least one 5k a week. Just offering up a method that has worked for me.

Are these actual 5Ks you are running every week or are these 3.1 mile time trials you are running on your own?

Are these actual 5Ks you are running every week or are these 3.1 mile time trials you are running on your own?

Another testimonial to the fast flatness of the Good Times course. Why hasn't anybody brought this to Jeff's attention before? Jaybar, how many have you run? What's your bib number? Why haven't you said hi yet?

Another testimonial to the fast flatness of the Good Times course. Why hasn't anybody brought this to Jeff's attention before? Jaybar, how many have you run? What's your bib number? Why haven't you said hi yet?

havent been up to Lowell for that one yet, but I have done 3 of the Wednesday Night 5Ks held by the Mystic Runner's on Wednesday nights. And you arent going to get much flatter than the course around the lake in Wakefield (and it's much closer for me), but some day I'll try to make it up there - what nights do they have them on?