I run 5km 2-3 times per week as part of my cardio day at the gym.
I have a routine of setting the pace at 6 minute kilometres initially and increasing every km. For example, the pace in minutes looks as follows over the whole 5km: 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4.
This takes 25 minutes.
If I’m tired, I’ll run the first 2km at a 6min pace, then increase after that, for example: 6, 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5. This takes 27 minutes.
I row and cycle before all of this. I like to end with the run.
I can go faster, but this feels good and the 4 min pace at the end feels great.
I sometimes extend the run a few more km if I’m feeling really good. I almost always set a 30min time limit and run out the final time at a 4.5min or 4min pace.
Anyway, any time I start thinking that I could run a 5km race, I look up the times to reset my expectations.
I suck bad.
And this is treadmill running, not real world running with other humans around me.
For example, according to Male 5k Running Times, here are the scores for someone around my age (I’m 44, below are times for 45):
- Beginner: 34:25
- Novice: 28:47
- Intermediate: 24:38
- Advanced: 21:34
- Elite: 19:19
- World Record: 14:03
The world record is better than 10 min faster. That is so insane to me. A 2:49min/km pace. Not sure I could do that for 10 seconds!
So I’d be better than a beginner, somewhere between novice and intermediate if I used the same kind of pace.
One day I should see if I can maintain a 4.5 minute pace for the full 5km. I think I could.
That would put me at 22.5 minutes, sitting between intermediate and advanced.
In fact, I should time myself and try and hit the advanced time.
I’ll put this on my todo :)