We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

5 km running time

steph2strong
steph2strong Posts: 426 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm a 10 km runner. I just had baby last month so am in the process of working back to my pre-baby 10 km time of 47 min and then I'm hoping to cut further from there. I'm running 10 km in 48 min currently. However with a newborn I can't always fit in longer workouts and therefore have started to do some 5 km runs and training. I have never raced this distance, only 10 km and above, so I don't know what goals to set. My 5 km time yesterday was 22:25. I would love some suggestions on 5 km goals and how to make the most out of these shorter workouts. I find that I feel less motivated and accomplished when I can't get long workouts in.

Replies

  • jellebeandesigns
    jellebeandesigns Posts: 347 Member
    That 7.17 a mile which is great for a woman. I don't race to win and usually pace at 10 ish for my runs. Work on the pace that best suits you and always strive to pr
    More importantly you had a baby last month and need to give your body 8 weeks to begin to heal. Wait before you go back out to run until you're cleared by a doctor. If you've been cleared ignore this.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    You can try this calculator although it looks like you are already running a faster 5k than it would predict based on a 48 minute 10k.

    https://www.mcmillanrunning.com

    Why not just run a race and see where you finish then aim faster next time?
  • steph2strong
    steph2strong Posts: 426 Member
    Good idea about the race, i'm going to look into that now.
  • ariceroni
    ariceroni Posts: 422 Member
    That is a pretty good 5k time, especially if it was just a time trial and not a race! Maybe a good next goal would be to average under 7 minutes a mile? (under 21:45). My favorite workout for 5k training is 12x400m at current 5k pace, with 200m of recovery jog between. I also think it's good to log a mile or two each week at your goal pace so that you get used to how it feels. I'll do something like 1-2 miles warm up, 1 mile at goal pace, 1-2 miles cooling down. As the mile gets easier, I'll bump it up to 2 at goal pace. These two workouts, along with easier recovery runs and a longer run each week helped me cut my 5k PR from 24:39 to 21:07 in ~6 months.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories