Runners, Advice please

evansproudmama

First plese dont be rude, sarcastic or a troll I just want honest opinons/advice/real life experiences- I'm currently jogging a 5k at around 40 minutes however I've just been informed about a 5k race comming up that will benefit my sons soccer league and it's a month from now. I could run it for fun but my competitve nature makes me want to place. They are handing out medals (gold,silver and bronze) for each age division and the results from last year show the fastest times @ 20mins, 23mins and 25mins.. If I trained hard do you think it's to much of a dream to think I would b able to shave my time in half in 4weeks? The race course is close to my house so It's not impossible to run it everyday if I wanted to.. comments? advice?

melaniecheeks

Honestly? I really don't think it's going to be possible to make such a MASSIVE change in that space of time. By all means do the run, especially if its for a good cause. And maybe work on bringing your time down to 35 minutes firstly, and then to 30 minutes (which is a really good time for a 5 k - I'm working on getting my 10k time down to under an hour, but it's a tough challenge)

Good luck!

dsanderbrink

Ya I agree with Melanie thats huge not saying it cant be done but pretty crazy. If your serious about cutting your time you need to get your nutrition dialed in, it will help huge! I find that is 85 percent of the problem for most people. What does a typical day look like food wise?.Your training will need to be pretty intense. A lot of runners are doing interval training. Try getting on a shake for the nutritian part.I have some recommendations if you want them. Hey if your on Facebook look me up David Sanderbrink! I love helping out.

Fred4point0

I'm not sure how much you can improve on your time. There are so many factors involved...the weather, your training, injuries,nutrition to name a few. Some things you could do to increase your speed and endurance are to run twice or three times the distance several times a week. Include some cross training with weights. Speed work on the treadmill. Subscribe to Runners World Magazine...some of the world greatest athletes give some good advice. Great idea of running the course. It will make you familar with course and possibly improve your time as well. Finally, dream BIG!. NO ONE CAN HOLD YOU BACK BUT YOU. I recently ran my first marathon and now I'm training for my second with the hopes of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. People think I'm crazy but it's all I dream about. One of the greatest gifts that's absolutely free is the the gift of DREAMING! I hope you run that race and smash those others times. If nothing else...you will have a new PR!

SwindonJogger

Knocking off 15Mins in 4 weeks? Unlikely, but who knows, race days are very different to training days. It took me a year to knock 5 mins off my 5k best. As has been said, high intensity intervals would be my suggestion over a 5k distance for improving time. The best of luck to you, let us know how you fare.

BrianSharpe

It's impossible to say with certainty without knowing a lot more about your running background, what's the fastest you've ever run a 5K? Can you run 10K? (The reason I ask is that it relates to aerobic capacity - I've had a couple of running coaches suggest that until you can run 10K you shouldn't really be focusing on speed work for a 5K ; my PB for a 5K is 26:07 and that put me 76/502 in my age group & gender)

Based solely on the information from your post I'm going to have go with highly unlikely. Even if you are a naturally gifted athlete getting back into shape making that kind of improvement in that short a time would take a miracle. I'd love to see you prove me wrong!

Katbody10

I'm not sure how much you can improve on your time. There are so many factors involved...the weather, your training, injuries,nutrition to name a few. Some things you could do to increase your speed and endurance are to run twice or three times the distance several times a week. Include some cross training with weights. Speed work on the treadmill. Subscribe to Runners World Magazine...some of the world greatest athletes give some good advice. Great idea of running the course. It will make you familar with course and possibly improve your time as well. Finally, dream BIG!. NO ONE CAN HOLD YOU BACK BUT YOU. I recently ran my first marathon and now I'm training for my second with the hopes of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. People think I'm crazy but it's all I dream about. One of the greatest gifts that's absolutely free is the the gift of DREAMING! I hope you run that race and smash those others times. If nothing else...you will have a new PR!

This .. It is possible .. what works best too is going on the track .. doing your "jog" and then doing wind sprints .. alternate half the track with sprinting as hard as you can back to your jogging pace for the next half ..

You do need to make sure you stretch after your runs and drink lots of water .. don't over stretch before the run .. hop/jogging in place before you start your run to work your cardio up is better than stretching. But be sure to walk off the run/jog afterwards. Remember .. you're jogging usually .. these people are running it .. like marathoners.. they have a good solid pace that they consistently hold ..

LorinaLynn

Go and do your best. Do it again next year and do better.

Expecting to shave THAT much time off is setting yourself up for disappointment... and an injury from overtraining.

FWIW, it took me about 7 months to go from a 30 minute 5k to 25 minutes.

Bevkus

Blunt...a 40 min 5k is pretty darn slow, even for a recreational runner while 20 mins is pretty darn good.

Push yourself

ixap

If I trained hard do you think it's to much of a dream to think I would b able to shave my time in half in 4weeks?

When you say you are currently "jogging" a 5K in 40 minutes, are you "jogging" just for fun (not at all trying to challenge yourself), or do you refer to it as jogging because it's what you consider a slowish pace but you are making a fair effort? If you are jogging and haven't really tried to run a 5K fast, you'd want to do that and see where you really are right now.

If where you really are is about a 40-minute 5K at your near-best effort, yes, sorry to say it's pretty much impossible to knock that time in half in 4 weeks. I have spent the last 6 months training in hopes of knocking one minute and forty-five seconds off my 5K time for this year, just for some perspective (trying to get from 24:15 to 22:30). When I was just getting back into shape after having the second baby (having been sedentary for a year or so, really lost most of my fitness), I was able to knock the seconds of faster than that of course, but not THAT fast. I found I could speed up by about 30 seconds per mile for each month of training during the first few months of return to serious effort.

LoraF83

I can understand having a competitive nature, but that would be pushing yourself really hard if you are currently running a 40 minute 5K (and that's your best effort). I started running in April and I had a 13 minute mile. My first race in May I finished in 37.5 minutes. I trained hard all summer and I ran a 5K in September - 33.3 mintues. I was estatic to shave 4 minutes off my time in 4 months.

Just go do it and have fun! Slowly work on improving your time and maybe next year you can place.

Mokey41

I've been running for 2 years now and my PR for a 5K is just a hair under 30 minutes. That was for a race and I sprinted the last bit to get that time (nearly puked). Most days I can't match that and I try to better my time by seconds on each run. My only recommendation would be to do HIIT to try and increase your speed but I really doubt you can halve your time. My daughter is a 30 year old athlete that has to really push for a 20 minute 5K. It's something most of us will only ever dream of!

rdianemu

I respect you ambition but I would be surprised if you could improve that much in that short of time. I have run off and on for years and have run several 5Ks, a couple half's and one marathon. In the beginning you do get faster quicker but it is really hard to near impossible to improve that much. Just run for your on PR and don't worry about others and have fun.

RunnerInVT

Go out and run a 5k as fast as you can right now. Then see how your time is...it will give you a clear idea of where you are. Good luck and have fun with it!

LindsayE007

It has taken me a full year to shave mine from about 35 minutes to 27 minutes. It's possible but I can't imagine doing it.

70davis

Go enjoy! Keep training

70davis

Go enjoy! Keep traing

katrinkap

I've been running since i was 25 so i do not have a ton of experience but i do know, nothing beats the feeling of crossing the finish line.

Work hard and cross train. Make your goal to finish in under thirty. Let me know how you do!

timboom1

It has taken me a full year to shave mine from about 35 minutes to 27 minutes. It's possible but I can't imagine doing it.

^^This is really what you should be looking at in terms of improvement, but not in 4 weeks.

The 5k is a short race, every 3 minutes improvement is basically 1 min/mile faster than what should be near to the fastest you can run short of a sprint, this type of improvement is no small feat. It is also very much the case that as you get faster, additional improvement takes much more training than previous improvement.

Basically, No it is not realistic that you will get that fast that soon, but is is very realistic that you can see some real dramatic improvement over the next 12 months if you put in the training that improves your fitness level.

SomeoneSomeplace

The best way to increase your speed is interval training

Go to a track sprint at 100 percent as fast as you can for as long as you can (I aim for 1/4th a mile but never make it haha) jog to recover the sprint again, maybe you can do 100 meters at a time? So 100 meter sprint, 100 meter jog, 100 meter sprint etc until you feel like you're going to puke. And believe me you will! I love long runs but hate speed days! They're a lot harder.

I HATE speed days. I can run a 5K in about 28 minutes my hope was to get my time down to 25 minutes before my race on the 27th but it's just not gonna happen.

I've never done an official race but I hear the fact that you have extra adrenaline from it being a race and being with other people often makes you run faster.

billsica

that is going to be near impossible.

Start working on interval training to get your speed up, like mad. Your going to have to work on your steps moving faster.

Then put that all together for a 5k.

sub 30 minutes is hard and fast.

Pretty much at 23 minutes you should feel like your about to die at the end.


Just enjoy the 5k instead... you will have way more fun.

mmk137

this is my experiences.

The 1st time I ran 5km it took me about 40 mins. That was a year ago.
In august this year I ran my fast 5km at 23.46mins.
I have only just been recently working on speed. I was previously working on distance. Working up from a 5km in April to a 10km at the end of May, then working up to a half marathon in July. After my half, I decided to concentrate on speed, with speedwork and hill work, and temp runs, and now the speed and time has come.

You have a few options.
1. train hard, and then hate running because of it.
2. train to get a sub 35min time instead and have fun.

If it were me I'd go 2. I'd hate to kill something I enjoy so much.

redhousecat

if you are dead set on trying, maybe you could get some coaching to improve your form. At a 40 min 5k, your form is much different than it would be at a 25 min 5k. You are changing from a jog to a run.

RunXstrong

Set a more realistic goal. Also have a higher appreciateion of people who train well enough to run those times. Is that rude?