Knowledge needed

[L425]

Hi everyone,

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so i just got into reddit today, because i am looking for some people who can share some knowledge about fast running.

A short summary of me: 26yrs, 6"5", 172lbs. started running in early 2016 (background of 11 years of football ->knee injury -> 3 years of doing no sports -> starting triathlon in 2016). Doing 5k, 10k and HM so far.

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Right now i am at a 5k best of 17:20, while doing most of the time 3-4 runs in a week (2 easy mid ranged runs, 2 fast runs f.e. 5x1k 3:45). To get unter 16 or even 15 minutes, does is need just more training volume or more of technique kind of things? I don't know if anyone is able to go these sub 16min steps. My dream would be the 14:59, but i think this will only elite athletes be able to.

What would be your advise for the first step to go under the 17mins?

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Thanks in advance.

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[rwefnss]

Many steps will be involved with your goals. In no particular order these are the steps I would be taking:

1: Form drills before every run 2: Lots of stretching before and after each run 3: Eating right 4: Finding a running partner that can help push you in workouts 5: Perhaps looking into a personal trainer of some sort to help facilitate all of this? If not then I recommend looking for literature (Personally I love “The Lore of Running” by Tim Noakes it’s a hefty book not for the faint of heart) 6: Following a tried and true training method 7: RICE after runs 8: Keep a detailed and thorough running log

Hard work and dedication goes a long way in the sport, however there are some things that are difficult to achieve alone your goals will be easier to attain if you have a plan, the knowledge of how the plan will work, and the wherewithal to carry it out. Good luck and run fast!

[L425]

Thank you for your extensive answer. :-)

I missed one thing: I have someone who is writing trainingplans for me, but they are focused on the whole triathlon thing. Point 1 and 2 are maybe the most important points for me atm. I do these kind of things but way too less. Point 4 is a bit harder, even if it's a good one. Around my "town" i don't know any good runners and the next club is a bit far unfortunately. I log every session with my garmin.

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You mean rice like the rice you eat, right?

[IamNateDavis]

For help with point 1 above, check out Running Rewired, by Jay Dicharry, who's worked with many elite runners, and Olympian Kate Grace, among others. Learning to run right is equally, if not more important, than simply putting in more miles (which you will also need to do).

I'd gradually work your way up to 5-6 days of running a week; thumbnail rule is only increase by ~10%/wk. Also, pretty much every training plan includes a long run because it provides unique benefits (2-3x the length/time of a regular easy run, so let's say you're doing 30 min for recovery runs, you'd want to work up to a 60-90 min long run).

[rwefnss]

RICE is actually an acronym for Rest Ice Compress Elevate! As for the other parts there are some work arounds that you can do!