the 5k pb thread

DarenF wrote (see)

Stevie G . wrote (see)

5k, out of interest, what's your pedigree/experience, as I see you giving a lot of tips out.

6 weeks seems to be the time a lot of people give for training to come into effect for faster times, so I'm genuinely all ears what you think can make you "quite a lot faster" in a week's time.

Stevie, I think you missed the point somewhat. He's not saying you can improve without training, he's just suggesting little things that might make a few seconds difference to your time and some of them are quite valid, although the stats might be wrong. Tapers, for instance - although what works for one person may be different than another, a lot of runners seem happy to taper for three weeks for a marathon but won't bother tapering at all for a 5k and then they wonder why they haven't got much speed in their legs.

I think in future if everyone checks their 'pedigree' meets with your approval before posting any tips on here then we should all be ok though

I think you must have missed the whole improve by up to 22% through just tapering bit.

That's the bone of contention, as no one at any level improves by that within a week.

The whole basis of these training tips seems to be along the lines of a "get rich quick" scheme.

For the "seasoned" athletes talked about, you might have to rely on the small things to get a slight improvement in performance, but the runners the tips are aimed at simply need to train more.

ps I think it's valid to ask for a bit of background. Giving loads of tips out is lovely, but needs to be backed up

Dear 5krunner,

I started Parkrunning in September at Alexandra Park Oldham, which is quite a hilly course with an average time of 28.54 for all competitors and a 60m net climb.

I have next to no pedigree nor would i consider myself a seasoned runner. I have however PB'd my last eight weekly parkrun's so thought I'd share with you my training plan.

I have gone down from 24.17 on the 8th September this year to 21.13 at the weekend just gone, I'm very pleased with this.

Here are my results:-

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/oldham/results/athletehistory?AthleteNumber=345077

My prior running experience consisted of entering the odd 10k maybe once or twice a year, but since discovering the parkruns i've got a regular weekly yardstick to judge my progress. I'm also involved in some clinical research into short burst training at Manchester University (FXI training), which is done on a bike, the details are here:-

http://www.mmu.ac.uk/news/news-items/1591/

Anyway for what it's worth here is my weekly training routine, I have started having Thursday and Friday off, or at the most a one mile run on each day to allow my body to recover in time for Saturday morning. I've posted similar elsewhere on here but here goes..

Saturday=Parkrun then FXI

Sunday = Weights (not legs)

Monday = 3x1km sprints at 3min20secs per km with 5 minutes rest

Tuesday = FXI

Wednesday = Long slow run 1 hour at 7mph 1% incline

Thursday off or slow 1 mile run

Friday off or slow 1 mile run.

I also eat a bowl of pasta on Thursday and Friday for my dinner and last Saturday on the morning of the race I had a cup of Nescafe Gold Blend approx 1 half hour before the race, although I am not sure I will do this again as it made my legs feel a bit shakey and i felt nervous.

I weigh about 13st 3lbs

Thanks

I'm an off-and-on runner with about 30 years on the clock and am now in my very late 50s. I've always been able to pick up the sport again reasonably quickly after a lay-off of which there have been very many!

In my 30s I just dipped under 40 mins for 10K - once - and then slipped into the low 40s for a few years; my 10K times more or less reflecting my march through my own 40s.

However my latest 'comeback' has been a bit of a revelation. I've only run a couple of races in the last 2 years. I have been training for a couple of months and entered a local (flat-as-pancake) 5K. I would have been delighted with 22:40; I got 20:41. 

I can hardly believe it. I now wonder whether sub-20 is in my grasp? This would put me into a different class.

I think what this shows to any slightly younger guys out there is that you can not only improve in relative (age related) terms but in absolute terms too (I was about a 21:45 5K runner in my late 40s/early 50s). You just have to have a sustained period without injury (not always easy in later years), lose a bit of weight, if applicable, and, well, get out there.

I'm not the running-across-USA-as-an-amputee level of hero or anything - but it just shows the improvement that an ordinary runner can make at a time when the temptation is to put on the slippers! In one run I've gone from someone with a 69% ceiling ranking to a 75%. - something I would have thought was possible.

After all, there's always a new age category to 'look forward' to..............

Any tips on shaving off the 40 seconds much appreciated - we are all still learing and (we hope) improving.............

That was meant to be 'learning' by the way!