find a really good pre-workout, up the dose until your heart feels like its going to explode in your chest and your face is going to melt off, run as fast as you can until you throw up or pass out. Repeat the process until you get really fast or die. OR- just bang the hot 20 year old chick and go back to lifting enormous weights like a real man. I prefer the latter option myself.
Hal Higdon has good training plans and advice for first-timers.
Intervals are great.
You could pick up arm wrestling as well and then pick a fight with the person complaining about how they cheated and build up your speed by quickly running away, as you’ll never run as fast normally as you would if someone is chasing you.
I really don’t get the whole interval training advice ITT.
The guy wants to train for a 5K which is almost exclusively aerobic in nature.
You guys are telling him to train his anaerobic system by doing interval training.
WTF?
Not saying that anaerobic training is useless for a 5K but priority should be absolutely given to other things.
^anaerobic exercise i.e. interval training is useful in the sense that it will help your speed over the 5km distance. I like to do individual 1km pieces at a faster pace than my 5km pace
Strictly speaking this is still aerobic exercise but my experience is definitely that interval training helps with 5km pace
I personally think anything over 1mi gets boring, so intervals are fun to me. Granted, for me running is more of a challenge than a session of enjoyment even though I’m a natural runner.
If you’re training to run from nothing, then you should run. Once you’ve got a decent pace, breathing pattern, happy place to go to (because running more than 100 meters at a time is torture), HIIT can definitely help. All I have is anecdotal evidence though.
When I ran frequently, a 7:30 mile for 3-5 miles was a good pace for me. I eventually got into CrossFit and pretty much stopped running more than a mile at a time. The gym (box) I went to utilized a literal fuckton of HIIT, specifically Tabata intervals of box jumps and squats. After a few months of those intervals twice a week, I ran a charity 5K in a personal record of 19:47. I then ran the following 1 mile “Fun Run” in a personal record of 6:07. I felt great afterward, which was and still is remarkable to me because I consider running a miserable chore.
This gives a breakdown of what some of the results from Tabata intervals can look like. Your mileage may vary.
Again, I think it is fair to assume from the OP that the TS does not run currently. Hence, the appropriateness of “running” before thinking about anything else. Call me crazy.
Going back to this original OP, most runners understand the abilities of other runners. She probably wants you to come along more for fun and to support the charity (5k runs are usually charity events) than actually laughing at you for a negligible time. The first thing to really get past in running is the mental barrier of continuing a pace for X amount of miles. You’re going to hit several mental walls which you should be used to working out for 2 hours a day. If you have a 6 pack, you’re lean, so you should be fine. If you’re going to be training for 3 mo, it is good to have the right equipment, so you might want to stop by the running shop and get on one of those video treadmills recording your stride for them to assess your running form to buy the proper shoes (not that the shoes will matter a lot in 5k performance, but you don’t want to be prone to injury due to improper shoes in training). Have fun with it, start out easy the first week or 2, but focus on consistency in getting to the gym (or track, outdoors) 5-6 times a week to run. Even if you just go in one day and run a light 1mi, its fine. The amount of distance in training is debatable, but consistency is key for your body and mind.
[quote=“Isaiah_53_5”]
Second that. It is one of the best things I did, recently got some new running after being filmed with several different shoes and it has completely improved my running experience
ITT is 100% right, a fast 5k will be more anaerobic than aerobic, particularly over the final mile. I trained for actual distance for years and had a friend run pro 5k’s. He did more intervals than anything. Also the distinction between anaerobic and aerobic is not as clear as you might think. Most ultra marathoners do a lot of weight training (high rep), the point with anaerobic training like intervals is to increase your ceiling pace and overall running efficiency so that your 80% effort (which is your aerobic effort) pace is increased. In addition, intervals as I described above in my first pace can be aerobic in nature as well. You’re being simplistic in overly compartmentalizing things.
Btw–while I am by no means a “good” runner, and never have been, I do have some practical advice from when I was training for boot camp (17 years ago).
Distance first, speed second. That is, if you’re having trouble finishing the full three miles, just work on going as far as you can. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to go the full three miles (albeit at a snails pace).
Once you’re able to do the full distance, then slowly but surely work on speed.
And for reference, the Marine Corp Physical Fitness Test includes a three mile run (which is virtually identical to a 5k).
For males, a perfect score is 18 minutes, while 28 minutes is the max. (My best ever was 22:20.).
For females a perfect score is 21:30, and max is 31:30.
So if you can run a sub-18 5k, you’re as physically fit as a “perfect” Marine, which is pretty dadgum good, IMHO.
Women are never going to earn equal pay at that pace.
most people can’t just go out and run 5k after a long period of inactivity. if he ahs to run a race in 90 days, the intervals will probably keep him the most focused and training at a higher intensity; which will benefit him at this short time frame. Ultimately which program is more effective is down to personal preference and behaviour.
And to most serious runners, the 5k is pretty much a sprint…
I’m by no means a running expert, so all I’ll add is to not fall into the mindset of thinking that how productive your workout was is dictated by how hard you went. Progress is about time spent in the proper zone. If you’re not in good shape, this could literally mean not even a jog. So a 1 hour brisk walk >>>> killing yourself for 15 mins and calling it a day. The idea being that at that same BPM you’ll go from a walk, to a jog, to a run, etc. Jack Daniels (insert whiskey joke) changed the way I trained in that regard. I turned my intensity way down, and my duration way up.
This is for building endurance/ aerobic capacity though, if aesthetics/ fat loss is your goal I’d say you should still stick with HIIT. Just my $.02.
Guy says he works out two hours a day and has $10M a year in muni interest, I think he’ll be fine from a base perspective.
I think anyone can go out and run 5km without any practice. Might not make it within a fast time but I think anyone is able to do this sort of distance in a gentle jog
Maybe, but I believe that you are wrong. A 5K will never be more anaerobic than aerobic.
Also I think that you may have it upside down : in order to raise the ceiling that you are talking about, one must train aerobic and not anaerobic.
Don’t ask me for my credentials because my PR on a 5K are a pathetic 24’45 (lol I know), but what you are writing contradicts pretty much everything that I have ever read on the matter, except in MMA circles, where HIIT and squats are supposed to be the answer to everything, including hunger in Africa and cancer.
Not sure what you read on the matter. Like I said, I watched a friend of mine train to professionally run 5k’s while running everything from 13 mile to 50 mile races myself. Given that, I’m 100% sure I’m not wrong.
But don’t trust me (although you should) ask runners world:
http://www.runnersworld.com/ask-coach-jenny/run-a-5k-faster-with-these-five-fun-workouts
The difference is we’re talking about a guy who works out 2 hours a day and wants to run a FAST 5k, not some slug POS off of a couch that is worried about finishing a 5k.