5km

Tim Robbins

What is your number one tip for getting your times for a 5km run?

Pherekydes

Use a stopwatch!

robinph

Just to give a mildly more serious answer assuming that the question was actually about how to improve your times ... Train more... Train slower.

whatnext

Try find a training partner. Makes the slow runs more tolerable and speed work more fun. When it was explained to me that distance and the speed are trained for separately my times started to improve significantly.

Tim Robbins

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117852769#Comment_117852769

I was stuck at 27 mins and did a load of interval training, went back and got it down to 25.

Unknownability

I'd echo what everyone else is saying, when I was trying to improve and all depending on the amount of days you want to run.

Monday slowest miles of the week 5 miles

Tuesday repeats 200/400/600/800/1000/1200 @ faster than goal pace by about 30 seconds.

Wednesday rest

Thursday tempo work something like 1.5k x 3 @ goal pace

Friday easy miles say 6

Saturday off

Sunday between 8-10 miles easy.

darrenheaphy

Exactly, a combination of slow HR training combined with one day of intervals and another at tempo run. Got me down to 18 mins 5k from a 22 min average without it being too hard

Lazare

5k is an endurance event. You need for that to be your main focus. You should be running a min of 30 mpw regularly. If you don't feel you have a solid endurance base spend 12 weeks building it. Pretty much nothing but aerobic running. Some strides peppered in there, and some progression runs, but staying aerobic.

Then target a 5k 8 weeks out. Then it's mostly about improving V02max and LT.

That's your intervals and tempo workouts. Training should still be 80% aerobic though. You're constantly building endurance and you're fine tuning the specific 5k elements.

Basically it's about patience. Do that and you'll smash it.

Omega28

How do you improve your VO2 Max and LT?

Murph_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118115429#Comment_118115429

As suggested above, speed sessions and tempo (slightly slower than LT pace) workouts. And just running more.

ILikeBoats

I'd be a very novice runner, I plod along and run without purpose or plan.

I wanted to improve my 5k time. My PB was 26.45.

I followed the Runners World "Improve your 5k plan" that someone posted in one of the threads. It was a 6 week program, 4 runs a week. A lot were just easy jogs, every Thursday was an interval or sprint session. Longer run on a Sunday.

The first two weeks I was feeling it because I would have only ran twice a week before. Come week 4, I could feel myself being much fitter, enjoying it more, getting in the rhythm.

Week 6 Sunday was race day. Off I went at a quick pace (for me). I knocked 1m 25s off my PB. While it's not amazing in comparison to some, I was delighted with myself. New PB of 25.20

I never thought running slower and a few sprints/fast runs would make a difference but I stand corrected

seamus

Yeah, I tend to try to follow some kind of plan from an app, but I also have periods where my running consists of just getting out and doing a steady run and going home. I've always found that during the latter periods, bringing up the distance from 8 to 10 to 12 to 15k is never an issue, but the pace never varies. I tend to run by feel more than rigidly by the watch, and when all I'm doing is steady runs, the average pace remains fairly constant.

When I follow a training plan and start adding in some speed and tempo training, I notice that my average pace in the steady runs start ticking upwards quite quickly; 2-3s/km faster each week; and you don't even feel like you're working any harder than before.

FinnC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117089#Comment_118117089

Well done. 25min 5km isn’t slow. I reckon it would get you top half of most park runs every week.

Go for sub 25 now!

whomadewho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058207255/5km

Get your self a good watch, You can pick up a Garmin 935 for just over 200 sterling. Do a trial 5km, run as fast as you can for the 5km. Note you time, so you have a base time to work with. When training and trying to improve your time, run to your heart rate, so keep your heart rate in the green zone on your watch. The more you run the fitter you will get and fitter you get the faster you will be able to run. Add in interval training, 1 fast km and then 1 slow km for 6km, this will build up your stamina.

28064212

Run more, run slower. The vast, vast majority of hobby runners will gain far more from simply building up a big aerobic base than any specialised training. If you're not able to comfortably do a minimum of 50k a week, adding more (easy) running will bring more benefits than pretty much any other type of training.

Tim Robbins

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117519#Comment_118117519

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117852769#Comment_117852769

I am down to 24:27 now.

Tim Robbins

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118124044#Comment_118124044

My son still only 11 did a 5km in 20.01 mins. He's only 5km five times, not bad.