Serious Runners - talk to me.

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episodic

Lifer
Feb 7, 2004
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I want to run a 10k sub 40 minute and a 5k sub 19. I'm currently at 46 minutes for 10k. I can do a 5k in 21:20. Difficulty, I'm almost 40. I've been following hal higdon's advanced 5k program with a longer long run to help with the 10k part.

I've been running for a year now.
I'm also a decent road cyclist (covered a 15 mile very hilly triathlon route in 41 minutes flat for instance)

Thoughts?

Genetic limitations? I have large quads big calfs - I have a bicycle sprinter's build almost. Not that I practice sprinting, but to help you understand how I'm built. Small topside. I'm currently 5ft 11in and 172lbs. Im down from 360lbs from 4.5 years ago.
 

SWScorch

Diamond Member
May 13, 2001
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Mileage, mileage, mileage. Your times are pretty good now, but to get sub-40 and sub-19, you'll have to dedicate serious time to training. The Higdon Advanced 5k plan looks pretty good in terms of tempo runs, but you'll need to run more than 3 miles on an easy day, and run more long intervals.

I don't know what mileage you are at right now, but I would say that as a general rule of thumb, most people running those times are doing at least 40 miles a week. You'll want a long run of 12-16 miles probably, and to work up to doing 4-6 miles worth of long intervals (1000s, 1200s and miles) at or about your 5K-10K goal race pace.

Even with your current times, it's going to take a while to reach those goals, so be patient, increase your mileage slowly, do two good workouts a week and listen to your body!
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Mileage, mileage, mileage. Your times are pretty good now, but to get sub-40 and sub-19, you'll have to dedicate serious time to training. The Higdon Advanced 5k plan looks pretty good in terms of tempo runs, but you'll need to run more than 3 miles on an easy day, and run more long intervals.

I don't know what mileage you are at right now, but I would say that as a general rule of thumb, most people running those times are doing at least 40 miles a week. You'll want a long run of 12-16 miles probably, and to work up to doing 4-6 miles worth of long intervals (1000s, 1200s and miles) at or about your 5K-10K goal race pace.

Even with your current times, it's going to take a while to reach those goals, so be patient, increase your mileage slowly, do two good workouts a week and listen to your body!

Actually, I've read recent research that shows decreasing mileage (by about 30%) and taking that time to complete plyometric exercises improves passive running efficiency and improved times by nearly 3%. If I'm not mistaken, that research was done in elite runners - I read it a few days ago. The mechanism identified was the development of cross-bridges between connective tissue (titin) within the tendon, particularly at the muscle-tendon junction. That improved passive stiffness (like making a spring stiffer), which resulted in more energy paid back for the next step. I'll see if I can find the article again.

Research has been supporting more and more that more mileage isn't necessarily better for endurance athletes. It increases likelihood of injury due to fatigue, viscoelastic changes in the tissues, etc.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest the same interventions for someone completing an ultramarathon, but utilizing plyometrics is highly effective for the distances you mention (5k, 10k).
 
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