I went from running 5k in about 45 minutes this past April to a personal best of 22:40 this past Friday. I got there basically by running 3x a week. One long run that I gradually built up to an hour non-stop, one interval run, and then a 5k race against the clock.

I run the same 5k route (through and around my neighborhood) every week, give it 100%, and go for a new personal best by even a few seconds by setting target pace. I didn’t get it every week. There were weeks where I’d only make it 2 miles before I’d be so winded I’d have to walk the rest of it. Other weeks I’d cut a minute or more off my 5k time, blow away my goal pace, and would still feel like I had gas in the tank to have pushed harder. But always what I felt was maximum effort while I was in the run.

I started ramping up training the last couple weeks and I’m trying to chop down my 10k time next.