Did you do anything to improve on 5ks other than running 5ks? My 5k time is around 35min forever, I run every now and then and recently signed for a public 5k run but I don't see myself improving my pace. (It took years until I could run 30 minutes non-stop and at least I didn't lose this over the years, but I'm slow...)
Yes. I didn’t run 5ks and I didn’t try to run fast. I heard the buzz phrasey “to go faster you have to go slower” for like 2 years and totally disregarded it.
I used to run before this latest bug, like a year ago, but I hated it. My only goal was to do a sub 30 minute 5k and I trained for like 8 months with 0 progress and was so dejected I quit. I would show up, run at a 10 min pace for as long as I can, repeat. It felt like shit and I didn’t get better. My growth happened when I just ran 4.5 mph until it was the _bad kind_ of uncomfortable (this is too much stress on my shins vs my legs muscles are building lactic acid). After two weeks, I upped the pace a tiny tiny bit. I spend most of my runs fighting with myself to slow down.
The science behind it is something something aerobic base and running economy. I’m absolutely not an expert, but anecdotally I’ve never had my life improve so much in such a short amount of time by just _running slower_
Get your weekly mileage up. If you are running 4+ times a week, and making your standard run 8 or 10ks if possible (or at least doing it more often), you will fly past 35 mins for a 5k without even trying in only a few weeks.
Consistency is the biggest factor for improving running. Run at a pace and distance you can handle every day, then do that consistently. Every day, ideally. It doesn't matter if that's 10 minutes for 1km, just as long as you're being consistent.
