Goal of sub 20 5k (Read 13664 times)

Just got back from my 5k x country race, and though I didint break 20 (20:20) I am well happy cos it was very tough. Undulating country and trails and bridhes to negotiate etc. A nasty sting in the tail, steady ascent at the end for 400m. Good result in all. Not got the official results, though placed about 32 out of approx 180

Just got back from my 5k x country race, and though I didint break 20 (20:20) I am well happy cos it was very tough. Undulating country and trails and bridhes to negotiate etc. A nasty sting in the tail, steady ascent at the end for 400m. Good result in all. Not got the official results, though placed about 32 out of approx 180

Nice run Eddy. Did you get mile splits? Sounds like a very tough field if you barely finished in the top 20%. How did you attack the race? Did you run hard out of the gate?

First post. Have watched this forum for quite a while and finally dipped under 20 mins today by using a front loaded approach in terms of minutes/per km: 3.30,4,4,4.35,3.50 total 19.55. For someone like me who is an ex 100m sprinter I cannot hope to have the stamina to run this even pace so it will always be a sprint start and hanging on for "dear life".. The 2 major factors that at 43 years age and 180 pounds have got me there are: A)Utterly changing my running technique in 2008 to chi running style (zero injury now over fast tempo runs) B) Hitting the tempos until I could hit the MAFF formula in the article below http://www.rrca.org/resources/articles/slowdown.html "Racing Another important aspect of the heart monitor and MAF test is that the test is predictive of performance. A direct relationship exists between your aerobic pace and your race effort. In other words, as your MAF test improves, so will your racing ability. Data gathered on hundreds of runners over several years made it evident that the pace a runner could perform at aerobic maximum pace was positively correlated with race pace. The chart below, based on actual data, illustrates the relationship between MAF and 5K race performance. MAF 5K 5K min/mile race pace time 10:00 7:30 23:18 9:00 7:00 21:45 8:30 6:45 20:58 8:00 6:30 20:12 7:30 6:00 18:38" etc... It is no coincidence to me that last Thursday I ran in strong winds an even paced 4.5 miles in 7m50sec pace at just over MAFF of 144 average bpm for each of the miles and as luck would have it 3 days later I got there. 7m30sec to 7m45 pace has throught really focussed training come down from about 155-160 bpm at the start of the year pre chi running to the current 140-145 and this improved efficiency of running/stamina I think in aggregate has got me there.. I wonder if anyone else here has gone the MAFF racing formula approach above or tried chi running? Caveat to the experts here: I am a total layman here who does not belong to a running club and have played around with a number of different approaches from reading the noakes/daniels books and of course reading all the writings on various bbs to end up with something that seems to work for my specific scenario.

Think of it this way, "it could be much worse. 26 mph with the double stroller is pure H$LL". Good luck on Sunday. I have a feeling that will be your day! Just remember if you see the finish line and the clock still reads 19:XX then you better drop it down and show your track speed!

Well wouldn't you know I rounded the final turn this afternoon and my watch read 19:34. The finish looked along ways off but I dug in and gave it my best shot yet...... Here is how it went down so I can copy this training next time. I ran 10 minutes easy running from 1:27-1:36 pm...then stretched a little and from 1:38-1:41 ran at 5k pace...then at 1:51 I ran 2 striders faster than race pace...race started at 2:01. I started right at the front of the field like the 3rd row actually. I started faster than normal but still under control. We took a qucik turn into the 15 mph winds but they were not right in the face...some crossing so that was good. A 46 year old female who has been running times in the 20:20 range passed me and I locked onto her pace and was determined to stay with her as long as I could. She blocked the wind pretty well and we went through a mile in 6:34. I followed her to the midway mark as this is a double loop and my halfway time was 10:14. So I thought ok I will be mid to upper 20s thinking the wind had limited me. Every now and then the 46 year old would forge ahead as she kept passing runners and I would have to make a hard surge to stay with her. I was quite surprised to see 2 miles go by in 13:06! I had run mile 2 in 6:32. Now my thinking was ok...I have a real shot to beat my PR of 20:17....So I went around my female pacer thinking she would draft off me but she could not keep up. We were now out of the wind...and hitting walkers on the 2nd loop....looking back they easily cost me quite a few seconds so that is a bummer but it is what it is...I should have run faster. I had to go wide left a couple times to go around walkers and with about 1/2 mile to go I was still feeling good. I really took a big bite by running tangents and going way into the grass now when we cut corners. I was hungry to beat 20 and if I saw no cones I was going to take advantage to save every second I could. It was 18 minutes then 19 minutes with 2 blocks to go I suddenly felt I had a real shot to break 20....I fought for speed.....I turned the final corner and saw 19:34. OHMYGOSH what a last mile! My thoughts of course went to the JDF comments about seeing the clock in the 19s and driving it home to the sub 20 and pure elation that goes with it.....THE FINISH was too FAR... that is the 1st thought that came into my head but I quickly buried that thought and plunged ahead like a madman knowing that I could put the sub 20 to bed forever today! I remember seeing 19:45 and thinking that is more than 100 yards I cannot do it....then I saw 19:53 and thought no way...I will be lucky to beat 20:10.....then ACROSS THE MAT and MY TIME WAS ....WAS>>>>>> I fell just short finishing in 20:03!!! OUCH!!!!!!! The joy of beating my PR was somewhat drowned in the closeness to beating my GOAL....I tried to stay positive but kept thinking what if ... I know I could have found 4 seconds somewhere in this race....probably not at race end though....I was too far behind going into that last uphill sprint. My splits astonished me...the 1st half was 10:14 and the 2nd half was 9:49 Mile splits 6:34, 6:32, 6:22 and estimate a 35 second last tenth. I could have made some time in mile I suppose I had nearly a perfect race just left too much time to make up in the final mile. With the wind I am pretty happy as I thought I would have trouble getting under 20:40 before the race began. The key was having the confidence to stay with what I knew was a faster runner. I just said I have run a lot of miles and I can do this. I am doing it....and i did it...so close but gives me an excuse to keep the hard training going. I now feel 10 times more confident than I can beat sub 20...my previous best was 20:17 and I can run this same course again in 3 weeks time.

Way to Michigan! I was waiting for this one. I know you might be disappointed after such a narrow miss, but you have to feel good to know that your training is really starting to take hold. There is no doubt now that the big day is very near. "I now feel 10 times more confident than I can beat sub 20." Yes! It's interesting too that you are on pace to run more than 190 miles this month compared to your previous best of 171. You are just getting a little taste now of what these miles can do and it's only going to get better. It won't be long now before you blow by this 20-minute barrier and never look back. Well done.

Now, we have the same PR mich...20:03. 11 1/2 miles tonight in 1:41 to bring my week to 70 miles (70.5 to be exact).

Nice race and report MichiganFlyer. Your training is working!

I fell just short finishing in 20:03!!! OUCH!!!!!!! The joy of beating my PR was somewhat drowned in the closeness to beating my GOAL....I tried to stay positive but kept thinking what if ... I know I could have found 4 seconds somewhere in this race....probably not at race end though....I was too far behind going into that last uphill sprint. My splits astonished me...the 1st half was 10:14 and the 2nd half was 9:49 Mile splits 6:34, 6:32, 6:22 and estimate a 35 second last tenth.

Congrats on the PR! Great racing and nice splits!