Sub 25 - and beyond!

Well done Pammie on the SB.  Is Southend a quick course?  Maybe see you at the November 5K Hyde Park race.  Look out for an unremarbable bloke in his 40's abou 5'' 10 and most likely wearing a distinctive pair of orange/amber shoes. 

Well done Daz and AG on your recent parkruns.  I'd happily put money on all 3 of your bettering your times next time out. Happy running!    

thanks for the vote of confidence Geoff i'm off the hook this weekend as I'm away in greece for a long weekend, but the week after I'll be out there again showing Brockwell Park who's the boss (well, showing it who's able to run marginally quicker than a 26 and a half min 5k)

after only managing 4:55/km at last week's parkrun, at lunchtime I did 3x2k, and averaged about 4:40-4:45 - need to keep putting in a few 2k or 1k reps... in amongst my 10M training... and my fell-race training... and my ultra training...

Well done Daz.  Hopefully the reps will see you better your previous parkrun time next time out. When are you planning another parkrun?

Had another go at my local parkrun today. Time not brilliant (21.27) but pretty tough conditions todayi e lots of puddles and mud. Only one runner broke 19 mins today (18.50) whereas in September the guys at the front were well under 18 mins.  Pleased to finish 18th overall and 3rd in my age group both of which are PB's.

Fingers crossed for a drier week next week.

I've got fell races this weekend and next, but might manage another parkrun on 10th Nov...

meanwhile...
4x2M last night:
7:45,8:00; 8:03,8:02; 8:05,8:11; 8:11,8:16
(3mins rest recovery between reps)
struggled to hold down to 8min/Miling in the latter stages, but I've got a bit of a cold atm so that might've had an effect

still think I can go sub-80 at the Preston 10M on 18th Nov...

9 more tempo miles today:
8:25,8:35 (couple of "reminding myself what I'm supposed to be doing" miles), 3min rest
7:55,8:20,8:05, 4min rest
8:20,8:15, 4min rest
8:10,7:50 (quite pleased with these last two)

still struggling to hold down to sub-8, but still got bit of a virus , so hopefully I'm better than this "underneath"
if I can shift the virus over the next 2 weeks I should be flying come race day!

Well done Daz. As you say you should be much quicker minus the virus. Are you still planning on doing a parkrun on 10 November?

No parkrun for me tomorrow as saving my legs for a 10K on Sunday morning. I'm hoping its not as cold as it was for last Saturday's parkrun. 2C with significant wind chill!

Hi everyone, hope it's ok if I join in

I started running at the beginning of this year, never done any running before.  I love it!  My furthest run has been 10 miles but I am slow.

Just started doing the Parkruns as one has started up in my area, so have done a couple of them now.  My PB is 25.14, so hoping to improve on that eventually.

Going tomorrow morning but not sure if I will beat my PB though!

Welcome iluvsaffies.

Good luck with your parkrun tomorrow. This time last year my 5K times were around 24.30 but now done to just under 21 mins (my goal is to go sub 20 mins).

Keep at it and I'm sure you'll see your times tumble. Parkruns are very addictive!

Thanks!  I don't have a clue about speed work.  I have read a lot of stuff but I find it a bit confusing.

Will let you know how I get on today

Well didn't do too well today.  Time was 26.27!  Aaarggh.  Had a really bad run.  It was wet and slippery today, excuses, excuses.....

Hopefully might do better next week.  I was the second female runner in the Parkrun today though.

Ils, well done on being 2nd female runner. Where is your local parkrun?

 I think when its wet and muddy its best not to get to hung about your time. Instead look at the position you finish.

I managed 4 5K PB's in September but that was a mostly dry month and I felt capable of getting quicker each week. Since October its been mostly wet and at the moment I'm happy if I can get within 20 secs of my PB as the gound is now very wet and slippery at my 2 local parkrun venues.

Did a 10K today horrible conditions. Pi$$ed down during the race and had been raining heavily overnight. As a result loads of puddles! Nearly fell over a couple of times early in the race so decided not to get too stressed about my time which was around 48 mins (my best 5K time of around 20.50 equates to a 10K of 43.16 according to one online calculator so some way off today). Have another couple of 10K races before Xmas so hoping for better conditions and a more respectable time. 

My nearest Parkrun is in Mansfield.

Those times are brilliant!  I can only dream of such times for a 10K. 

It's now really cold here and has been frosty in the mornings, which is worse than rain for slipping lol, so hopefully it might get a little milder for the weekend.

Just ordered myself a Garmin Forerunner 10.  Just been using an app on my phone but I have always had my eye on Garmins and this paticular model looks just what I need.  Nice and simple to use and waterproof!  I get annoyed with using my phone and the app never seems to tell my current running pace so am looking forward to be able to see that.

Hiya

ils welcome

Geoff sorry  for late response Southend would say is a quick course on a calm day give it wind and rain  not so. 3 laps  but i don't mind laps  but each lap is a little run across grass not far  but will slow you down in the wet. i love it

Entered lfotm november  now so will be there. Looking to see i i can do all 12 next year  like i once did. 6 i can doesn't interfere with work the other 6 mmmm can do some  with holiday time but obv not all of them

Thanks Ils. Good luck with your new Garmin. Keep us posted on your parkrun times. Plenty of people here who can advise you on how best to reduce your 5K time. 18 months ago I was running similar times to what your doing and I'm getting on a bit now so big improvements can to be made.

Hi Pammie, I've entered the lfotm 5K in November and hoping to beat my time from September though it seems that they have had to change the course due to a winter fair from end of Nov to Jan. Hope its as quick as the regular one.  Think I've a better chance of a PB here as while both of the parkruns I do are pretty flat both are 2 lap courses with a decent chunk on grass which has been hard going with all the rain.

Won;t be able to make the Dec one as away for a few days after Xmas but will try and do a few next year when I can get the day off.

iluvstaffies - Welcome!
how exciting - a new soon-to-be sub-25-er for the thread

a good session for improving would be four kilometre repetitions
i.e. measure out an accurate kilometre somewhere then run up and down it!
since your current 5k PB is about 25 mins, that's 5mins per km
so try running a kilometre in say 4:50-4:40...
then have a bit of a rest (say about 3 mins)
then run another quick km...
then rest...
then - well, you get the idea!

do one of these sessions once a week
then when you find you can do 4 in 4:40 with no probs, try either:
more reps (5 or 6)
go quicker (4:35-4:30)
less recovery (2:30 or 2mins)
some combination of the above

hope this helps

and by curious coincidence
yesterday lunchtime I actually did 4x1k (for the first time since July  ):
4:15  (2:30 rest/recovery)
4:23  (2:45 r/r)
4:18  (3min r/r)
4:25

I'm going to do Wythenshawe parkrun on Saturday
I should go a bit quicker than the 24:33 I ran 4 weeks ago (4:55/km)
but I'll be surprised if I get anywhere near my PB of 21:51 (4:22/km)

Going to do the Parkrun again tomorrow so will see how I get on.  Am not so young myself either I suppose at 36

Thanks for the advice DazTheSlug, will definitely be trying that out.  Would love to be a sub 25'er lol.  Good luck with your Parkrun tomorrow too.

Good luck Daz & Ils tomorrow. I shall most likley be parkrunning tomorrow at my now regular venue (Nonsuch Park) unless we get the sort of rain we had last Sunday during a local 10K event. Horrid!

I did a reps session eaerlier this week similar to the one receommended by Daz above and a longish run (8.5 miles) on Wednesday and felt pretty good both days.  Has hardly rained at all around here since the deluge last Sunday so a PB definately on tomorrow. Some light rain forecast overnight but hopefully won't screw up tomorrows parkrun too much.