Goal of sub 19 minute 5k (Read 5724 times)

Thanks

I will be running a short fun 1500m on the track for fun in 1.5 weeks.  No particular time goal.  Hope to survive the heat in the afternoon.  If I feel good, may try to go for low 5 min, if not, then may be I will go for mid 5 min.

 

Since I am getting older, I think I am losing more and more short distance speed.  So, may be this is a good chance to set a PR.

But, since then I have PRed in my marathon by about 45 minutes and put in over 2,000 miles of training. 

 That's huge. Somebody's 5k PR is about to be destroyed.  Good luck.

Please skip this if you have seen it on the sub 20  thread.  Just wanna bump this thread up!

 

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Yesterday, I ran a track 5k that Jim told me about.  It was a private 5k organized by a running club in Saratoga, CA.  I arrived at about 7, met some of the members on the track, and just started warming up.

 

While I was warming up, there was a race for some of the relatively slower runners.  They weren't that slow.  I think the winner probably finished just outside of 20 min.  After I finished warming up, Jim came to say hi.  We've never met but Jim somehow figured it out who I am.  I guess I was the new guy!  He was so nice to introduce me to various folks, including Ken (Nice to meet you).

 

Weather was good.  Except for some water on the inside lane along one of the curve, the conditions were really good.  I was hoping for a fast finish at 19:30, but I knew my goal was in jeopardy yesterday when my legs were very sore due to intensive training the last few weeks.  I did give it a good run in the 1st mile or so.

 

When the "gun" sounded, a lot of of folks were really fast.  I was pulled along and ran the 1st 200 in about 44 sec.  That was way too fast, so I slowed down quite a bit to finish the 1st lap in 1:33.  But I probably slowed a little too much, so my 2nd lap was 1:36.  The fast guys were already 100m+ ahead of me, leaving me and another runner about 20m of each other (he was ahead).  I sped up to hope to catch him and draft behind him.  We ran at a pretty good pace for the next couple of laps.  But he slowed down after about 5 laps.  When I realized that, we already ran a 1:36 lap.  I sped up along the curve to pass him, only to be passed by him again in the straight portion.  I stayed behind and hoped he wouldn't slow down again.  Unfortunately, he did.  And the next lap was even slower at 1:37.  I had no choice but to pass him again.  I tried to speed up a little.  But I guess I was either too tired or not in shape, or both, the last few laps were a big stuggle and I finished 19:51.  It is still a PR (by 2 sec) but far from my goal.  I think I am having a plateau now.  I know I can run sub 20 consistently, but probably not ready to go much faster yet.  I hope I can do much better after my Marathon base building phase concludes in a couple of weeks.

 

I will run the Lake Merritt race again in 2 weeks and hope to do better next time.

 

Splits are as follows:

 

1-  1:33
2-  1:36
3-  1:34
4-  1:34
5-  1:36
6-  1:37
7-  1:35
8-  1:36
9-  1:36
10- 1:37
11- 1:36
12- 1:32
last 200-44

I did another 5 mile tempo today.  Since I ran 92+ miles last week including a 21+ miler last Sun, I knew I would be running the tempo a little slower than when I ran it last Tue with fresher legs.

 

In addition, I had tail wind for the first 2.5 miles going out and head wind for the last 2.5 miles coming back.  This is not ideal.  I normally ran a little slower in the beginning so the wind won't matter much.  I hate the idea of facing bad wind at the end when I am getting tired.

 

I set my Garmin VP at 6:52/mile.  Going out was pretty comfortable, with the tail wind.  After the turn around point, it became a little bit of hassle.  After 3+ miles, I was thinking that may be I could take it easier today and run only 4 miles for the tempo, since I ran so much last week.

 

This was the type of thinking I had when I was training for Boston earlier this year, and I decided not to do it again.  If it would take me 7+ min to run the last mile, so be it.  I will finish my workout.  Interestingly, the last mile, I was feeling good and ran the fastest split among my 5 mile tempo, without any struggle at all.

 

Warmup: 3.72 miles

Tempo Splits:
Mile 1: 6:52
Mile 2: 6:50
Mile 3: 6:50
Mile 4: 6:55
Mile 5: 6:45
Cooldown: 3.52 miles/5.66k

 

I have another 5k coming up this Sun and will attempt sub 19:30 again.

 

Exactly.  Congratulations on overcoming the desire to bag the last mile.  We all, I think, have the urge to shorten our quality workouts.  Overcoming that feeling and completing the workout is going to pay off. 

Nah, you don't need to join USATF.   Check your spam folder for emails from Walt.  I didn't get a single email after I joined until I realized my spam filter was automatically deleting their emails from my inbox.  DOH!

 

Michigan was fun ... and tough.  I may have to write a RR!

Alright. Been lurking but now figure to get in on the game. Ran my second sub 20 (19:40) today so I guess its not a fluke.

 

So here's the big question? How does one shave off 45 seconds. I run between 45 and 55 usually with one track workout per week (typically mile repeats - up to four now). Training primarily for marathon and a BQ. What is working for you guys to get those extra seconds?