Some of the many shoes that have helped me hopefully go "sub 20"
In the spirit of Eliud Kipchoge's sub 2 hour marathon over the weekend, I thought this "Fast Friday" could be dedicated to a similar endeavour of mine.
This year my running has been centred around bringing back speed into my running. Due to a number of reasons, I had lost focus of running fast and as a result, I had lost a lot of my speed I had worked so hard to get in the first place.
I know 20 minutes for a 5km run is not setting any major records, but I saw it as a starting point, so for this weeks "Fast Friday", I thought I would run through my weekly training plan to get my under 20 minutes.
Wednesday Timed Tempo Run. This training session kicks off my running for the week and usually goes like this. Warm up for 1.4km, run hard for 5km, cool down for 1.4km. The main benefit of this training session is to get my used to running at the speeds I need to on race day for an extended period of time.
Thursday Sprint Session. This is usually an easier session with a long warm up, I will usually do between 6 and 8 sprints that last for about 10 seconds. The point of this training session is to improve strength which will hopefully translate to improved running efficiency.
Friday Medium Distance Threshold Run. I usually run about 9km in distance and it lasts close to 45 minutes. I will run at a pace that is about 75% of my maximum and the hope is that this run will help me improve the speed and efficiency at which my body can clear lactic acid.
Saturday Speed Work. This is one of the more important runs in my week and will usually do it on a treadmill at the gym to make sure I am controlling the speed. I will do either 4 x 1600m or 8 x 800m at a little faster than my 5km pace. This is to hopefully build speed and endurance as well as improve running efficiency.
Sunday Long Run. This run is simply to build aerobic endurance. I am usually looking towards the future to other races coming up in the next 6 months, so I will start to also incorporate runs relevant to other upcoming races in the season as well.
There is nothing really ground breaking about my weekly training runs, but the main point I need to express is consistency and and ensuring you are incrementally improving, week to week. Like I said the race I've been training for is this weekend(October) and it has been a focus for me for the past 10 months.
About the Author
Hey I'm Vince, an Aussie living in New Zealand, trying my best to make the most of the time I have. I work as a Software Engineer but love to run and all aspects of it, including geeking out on the latest science to help get the most out of my body.
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