Just did my first 5K. I need help for long term goal.

CarsonRuns

Miles, miles and more miles. The bulk of them easy, some of them a little faster.

You don't have to be gifted to run low 20s, you just have to train smart and consistently. My first 5K was around 29 minutes. It took me about 4 years to get to the 22's. It took over 3 more years to go sub 20. At 45 years old, I am consistently logging over 2500 miles a year to get there.

fleetzz

Well, all these comments make me feel like crap. My last 5K I ran at 33 and I thought I did pretty good.

ayalowich

Probably an unfair question, because I started when I was in my late 20's and quickly was in the low 20's, then eventually was able to consistently run in the mid 18's and once or twice under 18. But the premise is still the same. To improve you have to run intervals, get to the track, get leaner and accept that suffering is all part of the deal.

Going from 31 to low 20's is certainly not impossible, but your first term goal is to get into the mid 20's which actually isn't that hard since essentially it is running 8 min pace which just about any fit individual can do.

I had not raced for speed in 5 years and am in my mid 50's now. I finally entered a race after about 10 speed sessions in late October and was able to muscle out a 20:50. At Thanksgiving I was able to run 20:40. My goal would be to get back to the low 20's, but candidly that is going to be really difficult unless I start doing more tempo runs and fartlek. Running fast does hurt. Very satisfying, but it isn't easy.

Remember that improvement initially will come in leaps and bounds and then slows down. Give yourself a year or two. That sounds like a long time, but really isn't.

Capt_Apollo

hey man, you've got a goal, go for it. it'll be tough, no doubt about that.

look at the really fast olympic sprinters, and you'll see they all look like body builders. so don't neglect the strength training. and there is a saying in track: you can only run as fast as you can move your arms. so don't neglect the upper body.

ayalowich

You may prove me wrong, but it is very unlikely that you'll drop your time into the low 20's. Those guys (gals) are gifted athletes with natural talent for running.

That said, you can improve your speed by training specifically for speed. One approach is to run fartleks. This is similar to intervals where you alternate between speeds (part of the time running below your 5K pace, part of the time running faster than your 5K pace). http://www.active.com/running/articles/6-fartlek-workouts-for-3-training-phases

The "gifted" athletes run under 15 min 5Ks, maybe without training and a couple year layoff they would run higher teens low 20's. I would say within a year with training (find a training plan and stick to it OP) there is no reason why low 20's isn't doable.

I am by no means a gifted or even a causal distance runner, I run once every 1- 3 weeks for 2-2.5 miles, and can run 23 min 5K's no problem, so OP it is def doable if you put in the time and effort.

People throw out #'s like this and it is amusing. Anyone who can run a 15 min 5k is not going to run higher teens/low 20's. You simply do not lose that much of your ability save for traumatic injury or enormous weight gain. A 15 min 5k person who gets out of shape would probably still run upper 16's, low 17's.

Age has a lot to do with this. If you are under 40, you are going to be able to run as fast as your conditioning and ability allow in the same general neighborhood before nature starts taking its course. After you enter 40-45 it gets a lot harder, and then after 45 and through 50-55 you just slow down unless one is a freak or has access to PED's.

czmmom

arc918 and CarsonRuns also know what they are talking about. My 5k times didn't improve much until I started training for a15k. Run more miles and your time will come down.

LoveMyLife_NYC

My mile time improved tremendously when I really started strength training. Squats and deadlifts... the stronger I got, the faster I could go, and I didn't even realize it, but running became WAY easier!

Also, my trainer recommended changing up my runs. Some days I train intervals: one minute sprints, one minute jogs. Other days I just run for distance. Practice running longer than the actual mileage of the race. This way, when you run the race, it won't seem like a big deal.

ayalowich

Slowly raise your mpw up to the ~15 mile range. Do what your body is comfortable with.

With 12 mpw, just mostly steady state, I do ~21:00 5Ks. My PR, back when I was 17, is 18:06, but I'm 18 years older than that and 25 lbs heavier (138 lbs then).

Feel free to look at my Strava profile, all my runs are there. But I've been cold and lazy since my last race in October : http://www.strava.com/athletes/754407

The "gifted" athletes run under 15 min 5Ks, maybe without training and a couple year layoff they would run higher teens low 20's

I ran a race last May where the top 7 guys broke 14:00. The winner came in at 13:37... THAT is gifted. IMHO any man* can get to about 16:00 with lots of hard work. Depending on age, any man under 35, over 35 is when we start to slow down.
In the same race, I finished at 21:27. I was in 583rd place! 70th in my AG.

Any man under 35 can get below 16:00? No they can't. That is just a ridiculous statement

SonicDeathMonkey80

Goals are good. I went from couch potato to 20:10 5K in 11mos/900 miles.However, i also lost all spare weight (178 down to 152) and did some intense crosstraining during the summer. Break your goal up to smaller pieces - 30 to a 20 is lofty. How about 30 to 27 by May?

CarsonRuns

...and then after 45 and through 50-55 you just slow down unless one is a freak or has access to PED's.

Or you started running later in life.

supra_driven

Goals are good. I went from couch potato to 20:10 5K in 11mos/900 miles.However, i also lost all spare weight (178 down to 152) and did some intense crosstraining during the summer. Break your goal up to smaller pieces - 30 to a 20 is lofty. How about 30 to 27 by May?

I have set mini-goals. Right now is set to a minus 30 min time in one month's time. When I said long term, I meant as long as it takes me. Hopefully, it takes me as short as it took you. I'm OK with it taking a couple of years. I'm in no rush, but the mini-goals I set for myself will help me stay on track for the bigger goal. I'm still loosing body fat, so I know I will get faster just on this extra weight being eliminated.

eldamiano

I've never ran a 5K before in my entire life. I remember in high school doing a 1 mile test for P.E., but that's about it and I didn't even finish strong. A little background before I give you the results. I have been exercising for a solid 3.5 months doing calisthenics 3/week and HIIT 3/week. I have two weeks of running and walking around my local park under my belt. Since doing my first run, I did not and have not stopped to rest or walk some of it. I want to be consistent so that I can track my progress. Below is a log of my runs and walks this month. As you can I see I did the 5K (3.1 miles) in 31 min 53 sec. My question is for people running low 20's. How long has it taken you to get to that point and what kind of training do you do for speed? I'm just going to keep logging in those miles to help me improve my cardiovascular performance, but I know speed is going to be my weakness. Any tips and experiences are welcomed.

P.S. The reason I want a good time is because I want to place in the top 3 in my local events. They are usually in the high 10's low 20's. Just a personal goal.

I reckon just keep training and you will just naturally find you get quicker. Does for a lot of people.... and do races. Also use a phone app or a GPS watch so that you can track your runs. You can then see exactly the pace you need to go at to get your PB.

I started doing races in October 2012 and have run about another 12 since then. I love the race day so training for me is hard sometimes but I have a reason to do it. You have to accept some days that you have a cr@p day and cant be bothered, so stop midway through training runs. That is fine.

If you are like me, you will find that by just training (and if you are overweight, losing the weight at the same time) you just get quicker. This obviously does not continue forever. You will hit a stage where PBs seem harder to come by. Then you need to think about speed training. I do this now and also do strength training too.

So yeah, sign up to local races. Also check if you have a Parkrun nearby. I have one near me in the UK, but they are in the US I think as well (parkrun.com I think). Its a free 5k race every Saturday morning. I really enjoy it anyway, and I have taken a fair slice off my PB since I started doing it.

Montarosa456

So it's definitely doable, and I think men would have an easier time of it, as well. You don't need to be naturally gifted to run in the low 20s. Just a hard worker

This is so true – Sometimes it’s hard to accept that some people are just natural runners and find the flow to run faster easier than others but anyone can change with time.
I was at your sort of time for years – Then when I pushed harder and got comfortable a little faster and ran longer my times improved. I think that you should get really comfortable at 5/6miles at your 3.1mile rate and it’ll make a huge difference.
Try and focus on the mental side of things whilst training ‘Hey I ran 29.53 – I’m sub 30 and I’m awesome’ and 'I'm okay I can run a bit faster - I think I'm puffed out but really I'm not' rather than ‘I’m so much slower than Mr XYZ he must be really natural’. Try not to let other people and their super fast times get you down..There are sooooo many factors!
Look after yourself, sleep well, fuel well, lift weights and accept the highs and low’s..Better nutrition/training completely changed my fitness ability.
I’m aiming for 21/22minutes and I know it may take a year or so to knock those 4 or so min's off but I’m wiling to work, work, work to do that..and trust me I used to feel completely puffed out after a 30min 5km so if I can get a little faster anyone can!
P.s
Also previously mentioned - We have Parkruns here in the UK and they are excellent for improving times if you have something similar in the US make yourself a regular!!!!

scorpio516

hey man, you've got a goal, go for it. it'll be tough, no doubt about that.

look at the really fast olympic sprinters, and you'll see they all look like body builders. so don't neglect the strength training. and there is a saying in track: you can only run as fast as you can move your arms. so don't neglect the upper body.

That's all well and good for SPRINTERS. 5000 meters isn't a sprint. It's squarely middle distance. Cadence isn't slowing anyone down.

World class/Olympic 5000 meter runners DO NOT look like body builders



Mo Farah there has run a 12:53 5k...

eldamiano

So? What does Mo Farah know about running?

WriteRunWrite

So? What does Mo Farah know about running?

I don't know, we should ask Al Sal...

Capt_Apollo

hey man, you've got a goal, go for it. it'll be tough, no doubt about that.

look at the really fast olympic sprinters, and you'll see they all look like body builders. so don't neglect the strength training. and there is a saying in track: you can only run as fast as you can move your arms. so don't neglect the upper body.

That's all well and good for SPRINTERS. 5000 meters isn't a sprint. It's squarely middle distance. Cadence isn't slowing anyone down.

World class/Olympic 5000 meter runners DO NOT look like body builders



Mo Farah there has run a 12:53 5k...

agree to disagree

CarsonRuns

hey man, you've got a goal, go for it. it'll be tough, no doubt about that.

look at the really fast olympic sprinters, and you'll see they all look like body builders. so don't neglect the strength training. and there is a saying in track: you can only run as fast as you can move your arms. so don't neglect the upper body.

That's all well and good for SPRINTERS. 5000 meters isn't a sprint. It's squarely middle distance. Cadence isn't slowing anyone down.

World class/Olympic 5000 meter runners DO NOT look like body builders



Mo Farah there has run a 12:53 5k...

agree to disagree

Mo would eat Usian's lunch in a 5000. Of course, in the 100m it would be the opposite. Two world class athletes, totally different disciplines which require a different kind of training.

Phaedra2014

Hi, congrats on the goal.

In order to get to a near-20 5k, you're going to have to put in some training. I didn't run a sub-20 5k until I had trained for a 3:15 marathon.

First, since you're a new runner, just start adding miles. Increase your total mileage by 10% each week. Run at an easy pace (one during which you can carry on a conversation). After you have been running comfortably for 3 months or so, then you can start adding in speedwork (a common noob mistake is to start speed work too early, which leads to injury. First you need to build up your aerobic base).

After you have been running for a while, here are some workouts you can try
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/speedwork-for-every-runner/167.html

You will have to be comfortable running a lot more miles than 3.1 in order to cut the time off, its no easy thing to do.

Also, make sure you have properly fitted running shoes.

I needed to know this so thank you for posting. I am one of those recent runners and new to running 3.1 miles. I keep wanting to do more and faster but just don't have the endurance for it as yet. Your reply will help. For now, I'll just focus on mileage and then learn about running drills for speed.

ayalowich

...and then after 45 and through 50-55 you just slow down unless one is a freak or has access to PED's.

Or you started running later in life.

If you are referring to me, I started running when I was 28. Otherwise I am not sure what you are saying here. Someone who starts running later in life wouldn't have comparable times to judge against so sure they aren't slowing down, but so what.