running more then ever but not improving much

jimjamkk06

hi guys, i am looking for any advice, im running just over 3 years , and my first 5km run was 32 minutes with months and months of training i have got that time down to for 5km 20:15 but i cant improve this any more. for the last year i have tried and tried to break 20 minutes for five km but just cant do it. i have always stuck to 4 days running a week. plan monday rest, tuesday 6 mile last mile steady 6;50 , wednesday rest , thursday 8 mile 8 minute miles, friday rest , saturday speedwork 2 x 3km intervals at 6;40 pace , and 10 mile sunday. i have stepped up my training to 5 days a week with an extra 5-6 mile run. would anyone out there have any advice to someone that have hit the improving wall.or im i trying to much. im 29 years old, dont smoke. or will i just keep believing i can improve.

Firedance

Is joining a running club an option for you? If so I'd start there. I'm sure someone will have some great tips to improve your training but clubs are a super way to improve.

There's also lots of good 5k training plans out there to try. Faster road running is one of the books talked about IIRC

jimjamkk06

im in a running club but even with the speedwork intervals chasing the faster lads isnt pushing them times down. i think i have to trust in my self and believe what im doing is going to click one day. just wondering has any one had this before.

tang1

What's your pacing like for your 5ks? Are you going out to fast and fading towards the end?

jimjamkk06

done a 5km a couple of weeks ago for msb and first mile was 6;18, 6;29 6;18. last 100m took me 1 minute 20 seconds but looked at watch which said distance was 3.17. which mean course was to long, i was abit gutted because i didnt no was it my watch or was it the measuring team ha but i ran my socks off and couldnt have tried harder. its the second year in a row this distance thing has punished me with this race, im doing the tallaght 5km on sunday. i havent done this one before any advice on pacing??

Chartsengrafs

Was the 20:15 a year ago or more recent? Mind me asking are you carrying much extra weight?
Only thing standing out is the 2*3km intervals. Is 3km your shortest interval? If so that's more of a split tempo run. Do you do 300s/400s ever? That's what most rely on to get their leg speed up.

El Caballo

jimjamkk06 wrote: »

hi guys, i am looking for any advice, im running just over 3 years , and my first 5km run was 32 minutes with months and months of training i have got that time down to for 5km 20:15 but i cant improve this any more. for the last year i have tried and tried to break 20 minutes for five km but just cant do it. i have always stuck to 4 days running a week. plan monday rest, tuesday 6 mile last mile steady 6;50 , wednesday rest , thursday 8 mile 8 minute miles, friday rest , saturday speedwork 2 x 3km intervals at 6;40 pace , and 10 mile sunday. i have stepped up my training to 5 days a week with an extra 5-6 mile run. would anyone out there have any advice to someone that have hit the improving wall.or im i trying to much. im 29 years old, dont smoke. or will i just keep believing i can improve.

You have plenty of more scope for improvement. You are still pretty new in terms of running and are young enough to have years ahead of you to make gains. You will often plateau at times so you have to change up the training to make another breakthrough. It looks to me like your schedule is gone stale if that's what you do every week.

Tuesday steady run is probably a bit quick and long as well, if it's a tempo run, you should be better off moving it out to around 7:05 is and keep it at 3-4 miles with a few easy miles each side. That 6 miles at 6:50 pace is a big effort every week and doesn't surprise me that it might cause a plateau.

You might also benefit from changing up your speedwork each week, like running 400's, 600's, 800's and 1000's. 3k repeats at slower than 5k pace doesn't really nail that speed or stimulus especially when done constantly (that is a tough workout). Moving the speedwork to Friday might be a better idea as well just to give yourself some even space between the workout, long run and the tempo.

You could do workouts like this to help break the staleness:

10-12x400m @3k pace
12-14x200m @Mile pace
5-6x800m @3k pace
5-6x1k @5k pace
8-10x 600m @ 5k pace

They are just examples of course that would work into a structure of progressing. Repeats around 2-5 minutes long @3 to 5k pace are great for 5k running. You haven't hit a wall of improvement, you just need to change up the training. When you do the same thing for too long, your body gets used to it.

jimjamkk06

cheers el caballo some really great ideas here. the 6 mile run is 6 mile with last mile staedy so maybe 7;50 pace with last mile 6;50.
what would you class at a tempo run pace and distance????

El Caballo

jimjamkk06 wrote: »

cheers el caballo some really great ideas here. the 6 mile run is 6 mile with last mile staedy so maybe 7;50 pace with last mile 6;50.
what would you class at a tempo run pace and distance????

That would be steady endurance, a good bit slower than a tempo run, nothing wrong it as a steady run. An idea might be to alternate that same run every Tuesday with a 20-30 minute tempo at roughly 7:05- 7:10ish(should be comfortably hard) pace every other week so one Tuesday, you have a tempo and the next week you have a steady run, if you feel like pushing the last mile on that 6 mile run, go for it but maybe not as quick as 6:50 pace.

Singer

jimjamkk06 wrote: »

done a 5km a couple of weeks ago for msb and first mile was 6;18, 6;29 6;18. last 100m took me 1 minute 20 seconds but looked at watch which said distance was 3.17. which mean course was to long, i was abit gutted because i didnt no was it my watch or was it the measuring team ha but i ran my socks off and couldnt have tried harder. its the second year in a row this distance thing has punished me with this race, im doing the tallaght 5km on sunday. i havent done this one before any advice on pacing??

Your watch was almost certainly wrong, this is very common in races, especially those in built up areas.

I think the general gist of changing things up is a good idea. You've made really some good progress, though you could consider extending your long runs and targeting different (longer?) distance races as ways of improving your running.