My 5k Running Time

by Eric
(Belding, Michigan, US)

I ran cross-country my freshman year. My best time was a 19:20 for a 5k. My sophomore year I played football instead of doing cross-country.

Then the same year I ran track and I ran the 400(67), 800(2:28), 1 mile (5:19)and the 2 mile (11:15).

Now the last few months I have been running and I have a good base of about 200 miles so far. I have done four 5k runs so far. I got a 19:30, 18:41, 18:39 and lastly 18:38.

I would really like some tips to get my time down to 16:59 by the end of the season.

It may be extreme but trust me I will do whatever it takes, as long as it doesn't cause injuries or death.

Answer by Dominique:
Hi there,

Thanks for your question about your 5k running time. Great to see you have got your priorities right and that death should be avoided. I am a big fan of staying alive as well, so you're in good hands.

Let's cover off on the following:

1. Analysis of race times
2. What type of running to do for a fast 5k
3. Avoiding death and injuries

Analysis of Race Times

What is not completely clear is how fast you'd be on the 800, mile or 2 mile at the moment. Your times are from a little while ago. You might be a bit faster now, or slower. Don't know.

Anyways, when plugging those times into my Race Conversion Calculator and doing some comparisons, I am getting the following:

Your 800m time of 2:28 predicts a 1 mile time of 5:10. Your 1 mile time is 5:19

Your 1 mile time of 5:19 predicts a 2 mile time of 11:05. Your 2 mile time is 11:15.

Your 2 mile time of 11:15 predicts a 5k time of 17:56. Your best 5k time so far is 18:38.

What does this mean?

First of all, you have been doing some serious training. And it is paying off in improved performances in your 5k races / time trials. Also, like mentioned before, maybe your 800m, 1 mile and 2 mile times are a tad faster now. It would be good at some point to test yourself at a fast mile or fast 2 miles for benchmarking purposes.

Secondly, even though the differences aren't that big up to the 2 miles, you can see that your predicted time is consistently below your actual time. On the 1 mile the difference is 9 seconds. On the 2 miles, the difference is 10 seconds. On the 5k, the difference is 42(!) seconds. That's actually quite significant.

And let me tell you, don't feel bad about that. In a way, it's good. We have an obvious issue, that can be fixed. You run out of energy too early. You need to build your endurance as a top priority. That should help you improve that 5k time really well.

For a 16:59 5k there is obviously a lot of work to be done. You can see that your current 1 mile and 2 miles time would have to be significantly faster to even think that 16:59 is possible. But you are young, with serious training you can make big, big improvements in the next few years. Of course, I can't predict whether you get to this goal. But I am sure you'll be able to bring your current 5k time down considerably.

What type of running to do for a fast 5k

I am not sure over which period these 200 miles are measured. It sounds like a lot as one number. But when you start breaking it down and consider this could have been the result of 8 weeks of running or so, i.e. 25 miles per week, then it is good for the average runner, but it is on the low side if you have got very ambitious running goals. So, I'd like you to increase your mileage. I'll get back to this though when we talk about avoiding injuries or death.

Based on the previous observation that you need to develop your base, the focus of your running should be on easy running. This can be slow, steady-state and/or the occassional tempo workout thrown in, but it should almost all be aerobic running. I know that intervals, ladders and all types of other interesting workouts can be more fun and sexy, but you need to get much more endurance first of all. For a younger person with ambitious running goals, I'd like to see you do a consistent long run that gets to 90+ minutes. I'd like to see plenty of easy runs that are in the 5-8 miles range.

It's hard to get much more specific at this point. All I have in info is your race times and 200 miles accumulated over an unknown period. I don't have a magic running program sitting on my shelf, it's very dependent on how much weekly mileage you are doing now, number of days per week you are running, injury troubles in the past, any cross-training activities you undertake, etc, etc.

But, I need to stress again, regardless of all of that, building your base is where it's at. Faster running workouts can follow later.

Avoiding Death and Injuries

So, I have just told you to increase your mileage, do longer long runs etc. Building mileage, even when you are running at a slower pace, has some risks involved. You are putting more stress on your body. So, you need to increase your mileage safely.

Take this as a longer term project. Add 1 mile to some of your runs each week. Build it up slowly. Listen to your body. When it protests, listen to it even more! Take a rest day, rather than ploughing on and you can avoid injuries.

Additionally, a guaranteed way to build more resilience against injuries, and get faster, is to do some strength training. You want to get really strong. It is a great insurance policy against injuries and doesn't have to take ages of time. 2 x 30-45 minutes of weights is great.

Summing up, you should focus on building your base and increasing mileage. This will set you up well to introduce some faster forms of running training later in the season. You do need that faster running, but without a proper aerobic base it is pretty useless. As the race analysis shows, there is a lot of benefit to be gained out of building your base. Combine this with a sensible build-up and strength training and you'll be off to great things!

Hope this helps. Best of luck.
Kind regards,
Dominique