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The sub-20 5k dread-thread

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SparkyMark Sep 2007 10:30am, 25 Sep 2007 6,637 posts	Quote Pin SparkyMark Phatbutfit - Its where I got my PB. There are a few changes of direction, but its all paved and no steep inclines.
Hills of Death (HOD) Sep 2007 10:31am, 25 Sep 2007 5,419 posts	Quote Pin Hills of Death (HOD) Of course PBF your nearer than I Hyde Park don't know the 5k course however there are undulations in HP in general !!!
The Teaboy Sep 2007 9:07pm, 25 Sep 2007 2 posts	Quote Pin The Teaboy See y'all in Hyde Park on Friday. I'm not quite sub 20 form yet though...
Sep 2007 11:26pm, 25 Sep 2007 22 posts	Quote Pin I've been waiting for a sub-20 thread for a while as its my next big barrier for breaking. I ran a few unofficial 3 milers in 19 minutes last winter. I then got injured and could only manage 20:10 all out in the one 5k I've done this year. Ran so hard my arms went numb. For now I have a track mile race tomorrow and a 10k on Sunday which should tell me if I can shave another 10-seconds at 5k or not. For those wondering if they can knock a few minutes off their 5k - keep at it! I was only running 22mins with a best of 21:40 2 years ago.
Sep 2007 1:34pm, 26 Sep 2007 9 posts	Quote Pin Drunken-Euphoria - how did you manage to shave off the time from 21m40s to 20m10s ? Did you follow a special training plan etc ? I'm at 21m19s (on a fast course) and want to get below 20m. Whether I can really do that next year - I'm not sure. I've only done 2 5k's (both this yea)r and the first one was on a hilly course (22m16s). 20mins would be pretty special.
Sep 2007 9:14pm, 26 Sep 2007 23 posts	Quote Pin festerari - No magic-bullet but reading 'Competitive Runners Handbook' by Bob Glover helped. Loads of advice on pace do easy runs/long runs/recovery runs and various types of speedwork. Following an injury lay-off, last summer I followed the 12 week half-marathon plan and along the way did a few 5 and 10k's in PB's - probably helped by structured speedwork/tempo runs/LSR's. 10k went from 45:17 to 43:38 and 5k from 21:40 to 20:50. I followed the same plan again over the winter for a january half, this time trying to do a rep or two more in each speedwork session and a bit faster in other runs. I also joined a club late last year which is something I can't recommend enough for the variety of running, improvement and socialising you get out of it. Just for a change I'm following a plan from April 2007 Runners World towards a half marathon PB attempt this time around. A marathon and ultra in Spring wiped me out but I managed to get some speed back for my 5k PB a few months ago. Since then I've done plenty of long reps upto 5 x 1000m then 3 x 2000m at 5k pace and tempo runs building upto 6 miles at sub-half marathon pace.
Homer Sep 2007 7:18am, 27 Sep 2007 1,903 posts	Quote Pin Homer Thanks for that DE...going to do the same again this winter?
Rach E Sep 2007 7:48am, 27 Sep 2007 1,324 posts	Quote Pin Rach E Drunken Euphoria gives some good advice. I'm all one for the 5 x 1000m @ 5k pace (or a little faster) to get you under the magical 20 minute mark. I think another big factor here is to do the reps on very short recoveries. I try and do my 1000m and 1200m reps off 60 second (very) slow jog recoveries or I just stand still. FWIW, my 5k PB a year ago was 20:13 and I'd been hovering between 20 and 22 mins since I started running. Injury was the main thing hampering improvement, but after putting in some good base over winter (I did NO interval sessions at all) I reduced my 5k PB to 19:35 at a boxing day 5k. Now, with the addition of speedwork I've reduced it to 18:23 and am chasing the magical sub-18 (why is every minute viewed as "magical" by those who are chasing it?!!). Maybe it'll come at the same race this boxing day?! I think speed sessions will definitely help, but a good base is paramount. There's a lot of talk at the moment that a session of sprints and plyometric drills once a week can also help to knock a fair chunk off your pb.
Homer Sep 2007 8:27am, 27 Sep 2007 1,906 posts	Quote Pin Homer Thanks Rach. I seem to get a chunk of improvement after half or full marathon training combind with a few weeks of speedwork - which I suppose is the base then speed...still a long way to go for me though
Sep 2007 10:35am, 27 Sep 2007 24 posts	Quote Pin Cheers RachE, I was thinking of giving base training a proper go over the winter (I usually just do a few weeks before a training schedule) and you've just reinforced that for me. I'll also cut the recoveries a bit on my intervals next time around.