posted Jun-06-2007 05:39 PM            

I'd like to break 20 at a 5k on Sept. 11, so I've still got some time. I'm 22, female, ran track (100 and 200) and played soccer in high school, then stopped doing a lot of exercising for four years. (Hey, college will do that to you.)

Last May I decided to do C25k and ran this same race as my first ever 5k. I kept running them and then also trained for a three-race series in March (5k, 10k, 10 mi) and a HM in April (1:46:36).

Here are my 5k times for the past year:
27:38
25:45
26:26 (I will admit to being hungover at that one)
24:45
21:45
21:29
22:10
20:57

Edited to add...
I've been doing most of my speed work at more like 7 min/mi, so I am definitely stepping that up this summer now that I've acclimated to our lovely 90-and-humid Kentucky summer.

Also, I ran crappy positive splits at my last two 5ks, so I think the big thing for me is going to be finding how to hit that magical 6:30 pace. The last 5k was 6:09, 7:03, 7:45 (including the .1). Not a bad average, but terrible splits. I've ran those two with a friend who is a little faster - I think she ran 20:19 at that last one - and she starts fast, too. So pacing is key.

So I am going to step up my effort on the track workouts and work on pacing. I'm doing my Saturday long runs again (with some fall marathon folks), and am going to add in a biweekly tempo run, too. I'm also running a HM in October (hoping for 1:35).

So that's my story. I have another 5k on June 16, but that may be my last one until September, unless I find one in mid-August.

Suggestion? Tips? I'll keep you all posted!

[This message has been edited by tflightfoot (edited Jun-06-2007).]

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posted Jun-06-2007 07:37 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by angrek:
I think this will do a lot for you. I looked mine up on McMillan's a while back and I was running my normal/easy runs at 9:00-10:00. As I got a month or two out to my Feb race and 20 minute goal I started shifting all my paces towards what McMillian had for a 20 minute 5K. Now that I've hit it (well...if you don't count those 4 seconds..heh) those are actually the times that I use with easy runs 8:00-8:30 and longs at 8:00-9:00.

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Dang...I went outside to run an easy 5 today (I do over 90% of my mileage on a treadmill in my basement. I was aiming for 8:30 miles but I hit mile 1 in about 7:48. Try as I might I could not slow down and was averaging about 7:50 per mile each mile.

I said the heck with it I will run 6 miles and breezed on the last mile in about 7:00 to finish in 46:29. Average mile pace of 7:45 I know that is way too fast but I felt good so I went with it. It is very difficult to run slower than 8:00 mile outdoors but its hard for me to run 9:00 miles on the treadmill.

I loved the 6 miles outdoors...the wind the hills it was great....a guy even stopped me to ask for directions around the 4 mile mark but I wasn't racing this so I took the time to let him know where the library was.

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posted Jun-07-2007 12:01 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by MaineRunner2001:

Had my cholesterol checked May 31: 185 total. Down from 201 last December. It's not a number mentioned too much in regard to improving race times. Getting it below 200 is a nice side effect of consistant running. Wish it was lower.

---

By the way, for cholesterol reading, you want to separate HDL from LDL. For HDL, the higher the better, for LDL, the lower the better. So, it is good to have over 200 if it is mostly your HDL. In fact, that's the case for me. My HDL is very high and LDL is very low. The readings are so good that my doctor told me I wouldn't need to test it for the next 5 years.

------------------
Happy running !

My Profile

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posted Jun-07-2007 08:33 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by MichiganFlyer2:

Dang...I went outside to run an easy 5 today (I do over 90% of my mileage on a treadmill in my basement. I was aiming for 8:30 miles but I hit mile 1 in about 7:48. Try as I might I could not slow down and was averaging about 7:50 per mile each mile.

I said the heck with it I will run 6 miles and breezed on the last mile in about 7:00 to finish in 46:29. Average mile pace of 7:45 I know that is way too fast but I felt good so I went with it. It is very difficult to run slower than 8:00 mile outdoors but its hard for me to run 9:00 miles on the treadmill.

I loved the 6 miles outdoors...the wind the hills it was great....a guy even stopped me to ask for directions around the 4 mile mark but I wasn't racing this so I took the time to let him know where the library was.

---

Was your outside run at a different time of day than you normally run? I do most of my running at 5 a.m. and find that when I do get to run in the afternoon or evening my pace is faster at a similar or easier effort. I read something somewhere that your body is most effective at running in the afternoon or early evening, something about body temp and oxygen processing efficiency. No matter what, I say if you feel good go with it just don't get crazy, which it doesn't sound like you did...

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posted Jun-07-2007 10:50 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by joev9:

Was your outside run at a different time of day than you normally run? I do most of my running at 5 a.m. and find that when I do get to run in the afternoon or evening my pace is faster at a similar or easier effort. I read something somewhere that your body is most effective at running in the afternoon or early evening, something about body temp and oxygen processing efficiency. No matter what, I say if you feel good go with it just don't get crazy, which it doesn't sound like you did...

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No it was at the same time right after work.
I ran at 5:30 AM last summer and my times were around 8:20 per mile so I agree its much easier to run in the afternoon or evening. The treadmill is just hard to hit 7MPH for some reason. Running outside seems to be so much easier. It probably helped that the 1st portion of my run was downhill. I think the adrenaline of "people are watching me" also helped me continue the pace which really isn't that fast.

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posted Jun-07-2007 10:59 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by tflightfoot:
Hey all. I haven't gotten to read through all the posts yet, but hope to go back at least a few pages here and there.

I'd like to break 20 at a 5k on Sept. 11, so I've still got some time. I'm 22, female, ran track (100 and 200) and played soccer in high school, then stopped doing a lot of exercising for four years. (Hey, college will do that to you.)

Last May I decided to do C25k and ran this same race as my first ever 5k. I kept running them and then also trained for a three-race series in March (5k, 10k, 10 mi) and a HM in April (1:46:36).

Here are my 5k times for the past year:
27:38
25:45
26:26 (I will admit to being hungover at that one)
24:45
21:45
21:29
22:10
20:57

Edited to add...
I've been doing most of my speed work at more like 7 min/mi, so I am definitely stepping that up this summer now that I've acclimated to our lovely 90-and-humid Kentucky summer.

Also, I ran crappy positive splits at my last two 5ks, so I think the big thing for me is going to be finding how to hit that magical 6:30 pace. The last 5k was 6:09, 7:03, 7:45 (including the .1). Not a bad average, but terrible splits. I've ran those two with a friend who is a little faster - I think she ran 20:19 at that last one - and she starts fast, too. So pacing is key.

So I am going to step up my effort on the track workouts and work on pacing. I'm doing my Saturday long runs again (with some fall marathon folks), and am going to add in a biweekly tempo run, too. I'm also running a HM in October (hoping for 1:35).

So that's my story. I have another 5k on June 16, but that may be my last one until September, unless I find one in mid-August.

Suggestion? Tips? I'll keep you all posted!

[This message has been edited by tflightfoot (edited Jun-06-2007).]

---

Sounds like you are a naturally talented runner/athlete. Cutting so much time so quickly is usually not so easy. You are already in the top group of women in racing right now. You could run some great times it appears.

When you run races or training try to measure out before where 1/4 mile and 1/2 mile marks are so you can adjust your speed accordingly. If you run 6:40 opening mile you will be surprised how much energy you have left and you will have tons of fun passing so many people in the last 2 miles.

Sounds like you got plenty of speed (former sprinter who ran 6:08 opening mile in 5k) as your 5k time 20:57 is much better than your half marathon time should be if you had any ednurance 1:46. You need to build up some endurance I think. You could win a lot of medals. Let that be your motivation.

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posted Jun-08-2007 03:52 PM            

I'm training for another HM this fall, and I'm training with people running fulls around the same time. I'm going to try to stick with their long run distances to help build up my endurance, while working harder at track night and getting back on the tempos.

And what can I say -- I love medals!

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posted Jun-08-2007 04:47 PM               

April 2006 - 29:01
October 2006 - 26:05
March 2007- 24:12 (fairly sure that course was long)

Since March I've upped my mileage from about 15-20 mpw to 30 mpw and climbing. I've got a race coming up on June 16 that I'm confident I'll get under 23 minutes. It may take a bit.

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posted Jun-09-2007 01:15 PM               

My 1st lap I took controlled and ran 1:38 so I was a second or two behind pace but did not panic. I hit 800 meters in 3:14 and 1600 meters in 6:25.

The pace was not too fast and I was visioning a sub 20 finish.

Lap 5 was over in 8:01.
Lap 6 completed in 9:39.
Still right on pace and I was fighting to get 10 laps done as I felt the last 2 would fall into place if I could get that far on pace.

As I completed lap 7 the fire went out of my belly and my heart sank. I just gave up. That quick it went from I am going to do this today to I cant do it. I hit 3200 meters in 12:58 but it was over thats for sure.

I hit 4000 meters in 16:28 and 4800 in 19:58. Completed 5k in 20:48. I was out of gas and it wasn't my day. I thought I had it this was a hard race and hurts to fall so far short.

I am going to try next week to do this in the evening and see if it makes a difference. I do not lack speed for sure just endurance. Longer runs is going to get me there and it shouldn't be that much longer.

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posted Jun-09-2007 02:03 PM               

Mile 5 it just hit me. I had same effort but was fighting to stay below 7 min pace. Amazing. I had to push to get back to sub 6:45 but by that time it was too late. That pushing got my HR way up more. I pushed very hard mile 6 but all I could muster was 6:42 pace and then gutted it in. I figured the extra warmth cost me 30 seconds which would have put me under 41 minutes. Can't control the weather. Try again with temps in 50s without too much humidity.

------------------
Todd

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posted Jun-10-2007 06:56 PM            

Friday night I thought I'd jog up to the nearby track, about 1200 meters away, knock out 2 miles at 7 min/mi, then jog home.

It was 8:30 p.m., and it was still 83 degrees. Disgustingly hot and humid.

So I jog up there, jog an easy lap for a nice mile warm up, then get going. I ran 1:42 the first lap, then 1:47, 1:47, 1:47. Then I said to myself, this is terrible, and did a 400 recovery. Then did two more laps at 1:47, then jogged home. Just too hot.

But, I'll admit, doing it on the track kills me. I think I'd be better off just on a measured course -- I went to the track because I thought it would be easier to monitor my pace. Man, it was boring!

Clearly, I did not run long distance track. =D

Getting back on my long runs; did 8.5 miles yesterday in 1:13. I'll probably start posting on this thread on Sundays, just to post what I've been up to.

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posted Jun-10-2007 07:51 PM               

------------------
My User Profile

"Keep on Running"
Bob

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posted Jun-11-2007 10:26 PM               

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Big AND Fast is hard to do but I'm trying

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posted Jun-12-2007 07:58 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MichiganFlyer2:
Completed 5k in 20:48. I was out of gas and it wasn't my day. I thought I had it this was a hard race and hurts to fall so far short.

---

Hey man, some days you have good days, and some days you have workouts.

Stop and think about it for a second though. You just picked a day at random and tried to PR your 5K. You didn't taper or do any taper workouts. (that I read about anyway..) You probably didn't prepare mentally and you weren't racing against anyone else, just a clock on a track. Hell, it could have been any number of things from the things above to just not paying attention to your nutrition because you thought you were just doing a workout that day or that you did a hard workout in the day or two before. No reason to get down, 20:00 is just a stepping stone. You'll be past it before you know it.

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posted Jun-12-2007 08:59 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by danimal97tj:
Hi. I'm new here and also looking to get under 20 for a 5k. I am a male 6'0" and weigh 235 so I'm a biggn. But I am not so slow for my size I am finding out. My biggest issue is pacing on long/recovery runs. It's just hard to run at 9:00 pace. Patience is not my forte. But I am getting better at it. I have a track workout tomorrow of 6x400's. Last 5k I did was on March 11th and I came in at 21:15. What should be my target times on 400's? Also I have a 20 minute tempo on Thursday that depending on how I feel I may try running it at 5k pace which would put me right at 3 miles I think. I have lost 15 lbs since that 5k on March 11th which is one of the reasons why I feel like I should be able to hit 20:00 flat now. Any advice? Oh yeah and obviously with my weight I know I need to really pay attention to my knees. Any advice to give on injury prevention would be appreciated but I understand that there is another forum for that. Thanks in advance. Peace

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Welcome. I'm in the low 190's right now (pretty solid...not losing much more than 3 or 4 more lbs..) but all last year I was running at 205. Just back off and slow down if you feel anything tweaking. My knees hurt the most the first year when I was up around 215 or so but after 2 1/2 years of running I haven't had any more knee problems. (Had a lot before I ran and during that first year.) Got ankle problems but mostly pre-existing stuff. As for your pace question, put your current 5K time in the calculator in the link below and that should help you find your correct paces.

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

As for the patience, well, that just takes time.

------------------
Boomer

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posted Jun-12-2007 10:06 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by danimal97tj:
Hi. I'm new here and also looking to get under 20 for a 5k. I am a male 6'0" and weigh 235 so I'm a biggn. But I am not so slow for my size I am finding out. My biggest issue is pacing on long/recovery runs. It's just hard to run at 9:00 pace. Patience is not my forte. But I am getting better at it. I have a track workout tomorrow of 6x400's. Last 5k I did was on March 11th and I came in at 21:15. What should be my target times on 400's? Also I have a 20 minute tempo on Thursday that depending on how I feel I may try running it at 5k pace which would put me right at 3 miles I think. I have lost 15 lbs since that 5k on March 11th which is one of the reasons why I feel like I should be able to hit 20:00 flat now. Any advice? Oh yeah and obviously with my weight I know I need to really pay attention to my knees. Any advice to give on injury prevention would be appreciated but I understand that there is another forum for that. Thanks in advance. Peace

---

How many miles per week are you running? A 9:00 pace should be good for easy runs given your 5K pace. (It's right where mine is) Most of your miles should be around this pace, in my opinion (give or take a bit depending on terrain, temps, etc)

In the heat recently, I've been pushed up to 9:20's or even higher (I train with a HR monitor)....which is tough to do, but necessary. Today the temps were in the mid 60's and my pace dropped 40 seconds per mile given the same HR as last week, which was nice.

I'm doing 1 mile cruse intervals and some 880's for speedwork. (not including tempo runs)

As for your knees....hard to say. I started last year at 240 (6'2") and I'm down to ~195 right now. I haven't had any knee problems, but generally have never had knee problems of any kind. I do a *lot* of easy running though. 1100 miles this calendar year so far, probably 97% of which are below 75% max HR. I have just started doing the speedwork above, and also some tempo paced miles as well.

OH...hah...almost forgot. Go here and plug in your 5K time: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

Then it will give you a great breakdown of workout speeds below the race predictions at different distances. Very handy to have!

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posted Jun-12-2007 11:52 AM               

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posted Jun-13-2007 11:31 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by angrek:
Hey man, some days you have good days, and some days you have workouts.

Stop and think about it for a second though. You just picked a day at random and tried to PR your 5K. You didn't taper or do any taper workouts. (that I read about anyway..) You probably didn't prepare mentally and you weren't racing against anyone else, just a clock on a track. Hell, it could have been any number of things from the things above to just not paying attention to your nutrition because you thought you were just doing a workout that day or that you did a hard workout in the day or two before. No reason to get down, 20:00 is just a stepping stone. You'll be past it before you know it.

---

I picked Saturday to run a handicap race with my buddy. He was attempting a sub 32 and I was attempting a sub 20 so I lapped him 3 times. I wasn't running alone but there wasn't much help either. I did taper as I didn't run the two previous days. I had a 9 mile run 6 days before this race and ran 10 X 400 in 90 seconds four days earlier.I think I was mentally prepared to beat 20, I just had no energy or drive after 7 laps.I was a little down but I read the comment about the temperature being a little high. I dont think it was hot but I think the sun being at a high angle made it worse. I started my run just before noon.

This week I ran 10 miles in 90 minutes on Sunday. Yesterday I attempted a track workout (1st I wanted to try a 5:45 mile) but it was 85 degrees too hot and I was sluggish. I wanted to do 8 X 400 on the track in about 90 seconds. Last week I ran them on the treadmill. Well I started my 1st lap somewhat slow so I picked it up after 100 meters thinking 90 seconds is pretty fast. I had something left for the last 50 meters but held back thinking no reason to overdue it on the 1st interval. Well I glanced at my watch as I ended my lap and it read 80 seconds! Once I stopped running that lap I felt sick and tired. My pacing is way off outdoors. I ran a couple 200 meters and one more 400 meter interval but I was so tired I basically jogged the rest of the time.

I need to work on pacing as I want to keep trying these 5k track workouts weekly to try and beat 20.

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posted Jun-13-2007 11:53 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by danimal97tj:
Hi. I'm new here and also looking to get under 20 for a 5k. I am a male 6'0" and weigh 235 so I'm a biggn. But I am not so slow for my size I am finding out. My biggest issue is pacing on long/recovery runs. It's just hard to run at 9:00 pace. Patience is not my forte. But I am getting better at it. I have a track workout tomorrow of 6x400's. Last 5k I did was on March 11th and I came in at 21:15. What should be my target times on 400's? Also I have a 20 minute tempo on Thursday that depending on how I feel I may try running it at 5k pace which would put me right at 3 miles I think. I have lost 15 lbs since that 5k on March 11th which is one of the reasons why I feel like I should be able to hit 20:00 flat now. Any advice? Oh yeah and obviously with my weight I know I need to really pay attention to my knees. Any advice to give on injury prevention would be appreciated but I understand that there is another forum for that. Thanks in advance. Peace

---

I'm about a 16:45 5ker, and my target 400s on a track are usually around 70, trying to finish the 5th or sixth sub 70. I would suggest that running 82 to 83 second quarters with a 200 meter jog between each one in about 60 seconds a piece. I don't know how fast you aim for your quarters now, but I think that two speed work outs week along this regiment would definitely get you the speed you need to go sub-20. Good Luck!

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posted Jun-13-2007 11:55 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by danimal97tj:
Hi. I'm new here and also looking to get under 20 for a 5k. I am a male 6'0" and weigh 235 so I'm a biggn. But I am not so slow for my size I am finding out. My biggest issue is pacing on long/recovery runs. It's just hard to run at 9:00 pace. Patience is not my forte. But I am getting better at it. I have a track workout tomorrow of 6x400's. Last 5k I did was on March 11th and I came in at 21:15. What should be my target times on 400's? Also I have a 20 minute tempo on Thursday that depending on how I feel I may try running it at 5k pace which would put me right at 3 miles I think. I have lost 15 lbs since that 5k on March 11th which is one of the reasons why I feel like I should be able to hit 20:00 flat now. Any advice? Oh yeah and obviously with my weight I know I need to really pay attention to my knees. Any advice to give on injury prevention would be appreciated but I understand that there is another forum for that. Thanks in advance. Peace

---

I'm about a 16:45 5ker, and my target 400s on a track are usually around 70, trying to finish the 5th or sixth sub 70. I would suggest that running 82 to 83 second quarters with a 200 meter jog between each one in about 60 seconds a piece. I don't know how fast you aim for your quarters now, but I think that two speed work outs week along this regiment would definitely get you the speed you need to go sub-20. Good Luck!

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posted Jun-13-2007 12:58 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MichiganFlyer:
I picked Saturday to run a handicap race with my buddy. He was attempting a sub 32 and I was attempting a sub 20 so I lapped him 3 times. I wasn't running alone but there wasn't much help either. I did taper as I didn't run the two previous days. I had a 9 mile run 6 days before this race and ran 10 X 400 in 90 seconds four days earlier.I think I was mentally prepared to beat 20, I just had no energy or drive after 7 laps.I was a little down but I read the comment about the temperature being a little high. I dont think it was hot but I think the sun being at a high angle made it worse. I started my run just before noon.

---

I sit corrected. Your taper actually looks about like what I've done the last couple races. Long 11 miler the Sunday before and then 400's Monday-Thursday (4,3,2,1) 75-90 seconds (I'm not so good at pacing and tend to go faster than I need to...) + a few easy miles, Friday off, jog lightly saturday with a couple striders and race sunday. I used to take the day before off or two but then someone on the board here talked about switching the days off so you were running the day before your race. I thought about it and usually my first day back from a day or two off isn't my fastest. Usually a little sluggish so I figured I'd give it a shot last race and the legs felt really good race day. Dunno. Probably a personal thing though.

Speaking of heat, boy, the heat and sun here kill me sometimes. I run at lunch and yesterday here in Tampa it was hot and humid and I was dying. Today it's overcast, cooler, and a little drizzly. I pretty much had an easy jogging (ok, not _really_ jogging...but not hard) pace and wound up faster than yesterday. Sometimes I run good on hot days, sometimes I don't. Takes me about a mile to figure out whether I'm going to die or not. heh I have really got to get back to running in the mornings anyway so I can put a few more miles in than what I can squeeze in at lunch. See if I can move my miles from the low 20's to the 40's and see what that does for me.

Anyway, I'm just babbling now. I tend to do that when I start talking about running.

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posted Jun-13-2007 01:25 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by PATMAN:
I'm about a 16:45 5ker, and my target 400s on a track are usually around 70, trying to finish the 5th or sixth sub 70. I would suggest that running 82 to 83 second quarters with a 200 meter jog between each one in about 60 seconds a piece. I don't know how fast you aim for your quarters now, but I think that two speed work outs week along this regiment would definitely get you the speed you need to go sub-20. Good Luck!

---

For someone trying to break 20, running 400's in 82-83 makes no sense--NO sense at all. Come to think of it, anyone capable of running quarters at this pace with only 1-min recovery jogs would be running under 20 already. I'm not saying that it's not okay to run them a little faster than I do, but not by a lot. I rarely run anything under 95 per quarter during training, and usually go slower. My last eight 5k's have all been under 20. You only need to run 6:25 pace to break 20. When I was younger (40's) and could run sub-17 for 5k, my 400's were usually run in 77-82 range. Imo, your race times, while good, don't support training at 4:40 mile pace. Sure you can do it, but is it optimal?

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posted Jun-13-2007 01:32 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PATMAN:
I'm about a 16:45 5ker, and my target 400s on a track are usually around 70, trying to finish the 5th or sixth sub 70. I would suggest that running 82 to 83 second quarters with a 200 meter jog between each one in about 60 seconds a piece. I don't know how fast you aim for your quarters now, but I think that two speed work outs week along this regiment would definitely get you the speed you need to go sub-20. Good Luck!

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I must politely argue this.
I think 82-83 is a little too fast for 19:59 5k runner (which we don't know if he is in sub 20 shape yet)

You are telling a runner who wants to run a 5k to try to run 82-83 second quarter miles. That is about 5:30 mile pace or 17:00 five k pace. I understand you think he should run a little faster but I don't think he needs to do this for a full quarter mile. I am saying this because 5:30 per mile pace is almost a full minute faster pace than 20:00 5k pace.

I ran 10 X 400 meters in 86-90 seconds (average probably 89 seconds) last week with 90 seconds rest between each. It was a very hard workout. My best 5k time is 20:22.

Tuesday I tried to run a bunch of 400 intervals on the track and ran a poor paced 80 on the 1st effort which nearly killed me.

So yes we probably need to see 11mph pace somewhere but only for 200 meters at the most. I would think if I want to run a 6:27 mile pace in a 5k that my 400s would be around 6:00 per mile pace on the repeats. Thats still a healthy 27 seconds per mile faster pace than my 5k race speed yet will not burn me out.

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posted Jun-13-2007 02:06 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MichiganFlyer:

I I ran 10 X 400 meters in 86-90 seconds (average probably 89 seconds) last week with 90 seconds rest between each. It was a very hard workout. My best 5k time is 20:22.

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Still too fast and unnecessary. Also, I think you'd do better by running longer reps. My workouts before best 5k in past year (19:35) were:

5 x 1600 start at 6:57, work down to 6:45
3 x 1600 @ 6:33
5 x 1000 @ 4:02
5 x 1000 @ 4:06

All while being coached by Tinman. He says:

"It is an illusion to runners that running at or faster than race pace is needed to improve in races. A total illusion!"

It took a leap of faith, but he is absolutely right

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posted Jun-13-2007 02:52 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Jim24315:
Come to think of it, anyone capable of running quarters at this pace with only 1-min recovery jogs would be running under 20 already.

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I'll have to look at my garmin but I'm pretty sure that I fit into this category last year. I was toying with the idea of speed work and was just testing the water to see what I could do. I ran 6 x 400 all 70-75 (I think one was a 68) and my 5K time at the time was 22:00 flat. I attribute it to asthma, lack of endurance/aerobic base, only running around 20 miles a week and maybe just being a better short distance runner with decent power. (ex: 2 days later I tried 100's and I think I did 20 x 100 mostly 14's and 15's (1 or two 16's and a 13) with maybe...10-20 seconds rest? I'd have to look...but I felt like I could have done those all day long though) I've always wanted to ask someone what they thought about the disparity between my 400 and 5K times (Heck, McMillan's 5K time for a 14 second 100 runner is 16:28 and I train for the 5K, not the 100...) and what I should do with my training. Just seemed like I should be much faster. Figured the answer I would get would be to 'run farther' so I didn't ask.

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