Hi all. My biggest aim is to get under 20 mins over 5k, my PB at parkrun is 21.12 which was 4 years ago. My PB for this year is 22.08. What do you recommend I do during the week, and how many days should I train/rest? Atm I get out on a Wednesday and do anything between 3 and 8k, depending how tired I feel. I work mon-fri in a physical job, which helps keep the weight off! I'm 33 later this month and in reasonably good shape, any advice to get below that 20 min mark would be greatly appreciated
Thanks, Glenn
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Sounds like you could certainly do it. I equalled my pb of 21:56 in April and wanted to get under 20. After a bit of a break following the London marathon, I started some speedwork specifically for my 5k time, and gradually increased my weekly mileage from about 25 to 40.
On the track, I did weekly sessions at target pace, usually with about 5k worth of fast work, increasing the distance I was holding target pace at each week
400m x 12 at target pace
500m x 10
600m x 8
800m x 6
1000m x 5
I think by this stage I'd got down to about 20:21 so I did
1 mile x 3 at target pace
1.5k x 2 at target pace
Then got 19:57 in early Sept - probably about 3 months of fairly determined training, though this was also whilst training for an autumn marathon too.
This worked for me, might not work for everyone. In general, I'd suggest you'd get most benefit from simply increasing your weekly amount of running, like bigballer said. Next step would then be incorporating some speedwork at target pace.
Or maybe you've already achieved it - how have things been since your original post?
hows the goal coming along? I’m in the same boat as you, pretty my the same PB’s and age etc. <div>
</div><div>I am trying to break the 20 minute barrier, only just started back running after maybe a year off. Really would like to break that 20 minutes!! </div><div>
</div><div>Cian </div>
A sub 20 5K should be achievable by an average male senior (lets leave veterans out of this for the moment!) with the right training over a suitable period of time and assuming they're not carrying any excess weight. It just needs a bit of dedication and focus!
<div><blockquote class="Quote">
<div class="QuoteAuthor"><a href="/profile/SBD.">SBD.</a> said:</div>
<div class="QuoteText">I think you're being a bit overly pessimistic there <b>Wheelyneil</b>.
A sub 20 5K should be achievable by an average male senior (lets leave veterans out of this for the moment!) with the right training over a suitable period of time and assuming they're not carrying any excess weight. It just needs a bit of dedication and focus!</div>
</blockquote>
I’m not convinced. The figures speak for themselves - less than 5% of parkrunners ever achieve sub 20. Even excluding women and vets, I would guess that less than 20% manage it. If the original poster has been running for more than 4 years then I cannot see where more than 2 minutes is going to come from.</div></blockquote>
Your speed training will need to be faster than 4 min K pace too, otherwise its not speed training (it's all relative!).
Then, pick your course for success - pick a flat one.
Most runners know the answer to improve - they just don't want to do it (me included!)
My advice is to practice running more at the 3:45-3:50 pace and keep pushing up the distance
2 weeks after running a 10km or Half Marathon and enough time to recover it would be a good time to test out a 5km Park Run as a benchmark to train towards a marathon.
Another 12 to 16 weeks of building mileage, fitness and endurance it would be a good idea to run a target marathon. 3 or 4 weeks after running a marathon, consider running a 5km race.
The endurance and fitness boost may lead to an improvement in 5km running times. Alternatively gradually building fitness, endurance and doing 1 or 2 interval or tempo runs may improve 5km race times.
Ive done a 5k in 19.56 at a body weight of 240lb and height of 181cm. Been training for almost 4months.
Just seeing if this is respectable for my weight and seeing if theres any runners out there who can do this?
I am running with an Apple Watch & the splits are well off. my friend is running next to me with a Garmin with 4:00 splits and my Apple Watch will say 4:30 or something stupid, making a sub 20 impossible for me.
The link is below - Thank you!!
https://ljmu.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-relationship-between-self-confidence-and-performance-i