Sub 24 minute 5 km

[martinb]

I ran my first sub 24 minute 5 km last night, in 23:55 to be precise.

I've only been running for four months, so this was a bit of a milestone for me. Only 25 days earlier it took me 24:57 to run the same route, so the hill work and weight training I've been doing must be helping.

Looking back through my Runkeeper log, my first 5 km on 5th May took 32:14, and I remember that being a real struggle! Last night felt fast, with my heart rate consistently in the mid to high 160s, but it was a pace I could have maintained for a while longer. In fact, I missed the opportunity for a sprint finish because I reached the 5 km mark a lot sooner than I had expected!

Next goals are to complete my first half marathon in October in under two hours and then my fourth 10 km race in November in under 50 minutes. I've also got my first 5 km race at the start of December, which I would love to complete in under 22 minutes. Marathon next year!

[rtalencar]

I can drive at that speed =).

Nice work.

[weirdquark]

Nice!

[andygates]

Getting harder and harder for the zombies to catch.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

That's awesome! This is currently my running goal (needed to become a Spartan). I'm planning on doing tabatas and building up the distance that I can run at a 8 minute mile pace. How'd you train for it?

[martinb]

Thanks, all.

@CoreyD - I spent four months (Jan - Apr) doing 3-4 20 minute workouts each week on my rowing machine, to build a base level of fitness. And then in late April I started run/walking until I could run without stopping for 30 minutes. After that, I ran 2-3 times a week; typically two short (5km) runs and one longer (8-12km) run. For the past month I have been doing one 10km hill run each week, which I'm finding is resulting in big gains in terms of speed and endurance. Best advice I can give is to just do it - every run adds another layer of fitness.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

How do you hill run for 10km?

[Relic]

Whoot! You obviously put in a lot of hard work there. Are all the races to keep you motivated? (or just because you like them so much?)

Maybe the same question as CoryD... do you do a 10k that is all up and down, or do you have access to one big 10k long hill?

@Cory : I do hill sprints (very potent medicine) where I run for 30 seconds and give myself 1:30-2:00 to get back to the start. I aim to reach the same spot every time and in 6-7 intervals my legs are worthless lumps of jello awesomeness.

[martinb]

@CoreyD - This is my 10k hill run http://runkeeper.com/user/martinbamford/route/1563020 It's got about 200m of elevation gain, which is mostly in the first half of the run, with a particularly steep section just before 5k which I usually have to walk/scramble up!

[martinb]

Thanks, Phylanx. The races are to keep me on track; without them in my calendar I would have too many excuses to let the training slip! My 10k hill run is essentially 5k uphill and then 5k downhill, with a few bumps in between. I need to introduce interval training to my routine to help increase my speed, but my time at the moment is taken up with the need to increase my distance ahead of my first half marathon on 7th October. The furthest I've run so far is 10 miles, so I will need to do this at least a couple more times in September to give me the confidence ahead of the half marathon distance.