weekly 5k run, how much will i improve weekly?

michaelabeale
michaelabeale Posts: 2
in Fitness and Exercise
hey, was wondering if i do the local 5k park run http://www.parkrun.com/, every week, how much would be realistic for me to improve every week? my first and only time this Saturday was 43.46, would i be able to improve this by a minute every week, or less or more? thanks in advance :-)

Replies

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    How much other running are you doing?
    If that is your only run each week then you likely won't progress very much.
    Even if you were in a regular running program you might progress a bit quickly at the start but a minute a week for more than a couple weeks is not very likely.
  • Samstan101
    Samstan101 Posts: 699 Member
    That depends on what other training you're doing. 1min a week increase may be do-able for a week or 2 if you're training 3 or 4 times during the week but your improvements will get smaller as you get quicker. If conditions are good (my local park run can get icey and on one stretch you can run into a strong head wind) and I've trained well then I'm knocking off an average of 30s a week over the 10 runs (in 12 weeks) that I've done and my time is now 32:29
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    This by itself won't give a lot of speed gains. However, if you were to incorporate more slow easy miles throughout the week and build your base up over time, you'll see better results. I started seeing huge 5K gains when I hit 25+ MPW. And that's without speedwork.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    hey, was wondering if i do the local 5k park run http://www.parkrun.com/, every week, how much would be realistic for me to improve every week? my first and only time this Saturday was 43.46, would i be able to improve this by a minute every week, or less or more? thanks in advance :-)

    This is like asking 'if i buy a car, how quickly can i get from A to B?' Many variable factors - car, reliability of car, top speed, traffic on road, etc.

    Improving your race times depends on your diet, motivation, training, preparation, mentality....

    Sorry. I bet I sound a bit pedantic but in all fairness, it will vary from person to person. A minute per week is a big ask for anyone so dont get down hearted if you dont improve at that rate., but... Parkruns are great so good luck

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