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

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.

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.

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.

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

I'm not sure I agree. I don't think people who run in the low 20s are exclusively naturally gifted athletes. I run that and I highly doubt I am naturally gifted

I ran my first 5k in April 2013 (30:00), and only ran sporadically until this last summer. After a few weeks of training, I dropped my time to 24 minutes. My PR now is 23:47 (October 5k).

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

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've only been on here a few days, but she ^^^ definitely has the best running advice. I agree that the best thing to do is add to your miles. I ran my first 5k ever last spring in around 30 minutes, and it wasn't until I started running more consistently a few months ago that I was able to drastically lower my time. Focus on adding mileage, and then add some speed work in after that. Good luck!!

Aw, thanks. :flowerforyou:

And yes, I agree with other in respect to your goals. If you had set your sight on a 15 minute 5k, I might give it a sideways glance, but low 20s is practical. Also, you never know until you try.

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.

I've never run a sub-20 5K, the closest I came was a 20:42, but, I'll echo your point. It wasn't until I started training for a half-marathon and started including real speed-work that my 5K and mile times really started to drop. Most of my speed work was tempo runs with the occasional intervals workout thrown in.

And, in my opinion, the weekend LSDs to build stamina are what pushed me over the top for gaining speed on sprint runs.

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've only been on here a few days, but she ^^^ definitely has the best running advice. I agree that the best thing to do is add to your miles. I ran my first 5k ever last spring in around 30 minutes, and it wasn't until I started running more consistently a few months ago that I was able to drastically lower my time. Focus on adding mileage, and then add some speed work in after that. Good luck!!

Aw, thanks. :flowerforyou:

And yes, I agree with other in respect to your goals. If you had set your sight on a 15 minute 5k, I might give it a sideways glance, but low 20s is practical. Also, you never know until you try.

You're welcome :happy:
Now if I can ever get out of the 23:00s, I will be thrilled

BTW, I'm doing these runs in a fasted state (20+ hrs). I have been doing intermittent fasting for almost 2 months now. I don't know if running on full reserves of glycogen will benefit me, but I'm hesitant to try it because I don't want to hit a wall and not finish strong. Any body else running while on ketosis mode? I've read some articles here and there about doing it the way I do it, but I want to hear from real people and their experiences.

Depends. Are you just fasted, or on a full glycogen depletion?

If just fasted, no problems. I don't usually eat anything before running. You may find your energy flagging, and if so, then you will have to play around with nutrition.

Glycogen depletion/ketosis is a different story. I do a full depletion before carb loading before a marathon, and I can tell you, the runs during that phase are not fun. I can jog, but speed work is a huge challenge, as those quick bursts rely more on glycogen than steady-state long runs.

In short, I would not recommend any sort of intensive running program on a keto diet.

I'm not on a keto diet, but I am glycogen depleted at the end of my fast. At least that is the readings I'm getting from my test strips. So you are saying that running on ketones would be beneficial for longer steady runs and running for speed would be ideal on glycogen stores? It's just that I don't want to eat at night to make sure I have full reserves of glycogen and I don't want to wake up super early to make sure the carbs are digested in time for my run. I make time in the early morning to exercise as I don't have much time after I get my day started with all the other life activities.Regardless, I will experiment and see what works for me. Thank you for insight.

Its not that running on ketones is beneficial for a long run, just that its more doable than for speed runs. Its still pretty miserable to run any distance at any speed while depleted :laugh:


I tend to just eat a banana or something to top off the stores a half hour before running. I know a lot of people who will wake up around 330, eat, and then go back to sleep before running in the morning.

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.

Wow. Sounds like the people up north may be more competitive than the North Texas people in the south. You know everything is bigger in Texas and that includes its residents. lol.

Boston is pretty deep competition wise, but that race is the BAA 5k, two days before the marathon, so they get a lot of top tier athletes in town. The winner of the 5k was from Ethopia...
Most the other races around here, 20-22 is fast enough to podium in the 25-35 men range, and top 10 overall.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?