improving my time

[afczulu]

completed c25k in December and been doing lots of park runs since then along with at least a few 5ks every week in the gym on the treadmill. my time hasn't really come down that much and with 10+ 5ks under my belt it still feels hard work...first PR was 29:59 on 7/12 with a quickest of 28:10 to my last PR on sat which was 29:10.

I jogged 6k last night on the treadmill in 35 minutes....I feel really slow and ploddy. I want to get to 24:something and don't expect it overnight but when I did C25k a few years ago I went from 28 minutes in my first run to a pb of 26 mins without really trying.

How do I improve my 5k time?

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

Congratulations, I would NOT say that your 5K times are slow, all sub 30 minutes, that is not slow, many people, including myself on this forum dream of a sub 30 minute 5k.

Good time that, 29.59, that's just a sub 30 minute 5k by one second. 😊 🏃🏾.

That 35 minute 6K on the treadmill works out also at around 29.59 for a 5K.

I understand why you wish to get faster, perhaps through time and not running

too often your times will get better.

[LeeU Graduate]

Start doing long slow runs, work you way up to an hour at a much slower speed than what you are currently doing, this will help build your stamina, intervals are also good.

As AlMorr says, none of your times are slow, I have a target of a sub 40 minute 5k, I'd kill for a sub 30 minute 5k time!

This link is for a sub 30 minute 5k but it has other links in for anything down to a sub 22 minute:

runningfastr.com/5k-trainin...

[Speedy60 Graduate]

Sounds good to me!

I've been told the best way to improve time is to include the odd hill and interval running. I enjoy intervals but I don't enjoy hills.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your graduation.

You may find this guide to post C25k running helpful healthunlocked.com/couchto5... as it includes the advice to slow down if you want to get faster.

Slow running builds strength and stamina. Running flat out on every run is the sign of an inexperienced runner.

You have only just graduated, so you need to be patient.

My parkrun alltime PB came two and a half years after graduation and was only a couple of minutes faster than my first.

[Roxdog Graduate]

That sounds pretty fast to me!

[islandrunner Graduate]

Interval training has been improving my running times. I've also started adding some hills to one of my runs.

I'm a lot slower than you, but doing intervals on the treadmill has been steadily improving my overall pace.

[afczulu Graduate]

just as an update.....I did a few more park runs and 5k after this...was still on and around the 29 min mark. I started doing long runs once a week (4, 4.5 and 5 miles) and dropped the 5k. apart from the PR's. Then two weeks ago ran a 27:20 and last Saturday did a 27:08. So just wanted to say the long run really worked for me rather than multiple 5ks and intervals. thanks for the advice