Smash Your 5K pb | 300+ Sub 20 5k races and parkruns|| 5 Coaching Essentials

In this video John takes centre stage as he goes through the five most important reasons he was able to progress from a 26:40 5k runner to being able to break that 20 minute barrier and go way beyond.

00:00 – Introduction

01:14 – How to Train for Sub 20

03:48 – Fast 5k races

06:17 – Visualising and Race Psychology

09:15 – Dress for Success

10:57 – Getting it right on the day

12:42 – Final thoughts and motivation

The 5K or 5,000 m over the last 20 years it’s grown to be the most popular distance for running races in events both in the UK and around the world for many people it’s an entry distance into organized races having followed a couch to 5K program and for many experienced Runners it is

An ideal blend of strength speed and endurance over the course of my running career I’ve taken part in over 600 running races and events over that 5K dist on road on track and on trail and starting with a time of 26 minutes and 40 seconds over those 600 events I

Progressed to be able to run well over 300 of them in a time of 20 minutes or lower so several of those races were under 19 minutes under 18 minutes and there also quite a few in the 16 to 17 minute bracket so I’ve distilled all the

Reasons I made that progression from 26 minutes 40 down to 16 minutes 27 and picked out my five top tips so that can help you get to a sub 20 minute 5K and Way Beyond so the first and most obvious thing you need to do to be able to execute a sub 25k is to train yourself to be in sub 25k shape so let’s explore that a little more deeply one question that we are frequently asked as coaches is how many

Miles do I need to run to be able to run a sub 205k and the answer is the wind there is no answer we’ve known people run sub 25ks off around 15 m a week we’ve also known people having to train up to 80 m a week to execute a sub

25k so when it comes to mileage our philosophy is run as many miles as you can fit in during the week without getting ill or injured and that will obviously very very hugely due to time availability and other commitments but broadly speaking the more miles you do

In training the greater your chances of hitting your goal 5K time so lots of miles but what should those miles look like what should your weekly training mix be in order to improve your 5K performance simply put I think you need four different types of runs in your

Training mix the first one is a longer run I would build up one run a week until you’re able to run at least 10 miles what we tend to like is a long run off between 12 to 15 Mi when in 5K training the second type of run I think

Is really important is what we call a Tempo or threshold run that will be done slower than your 5K race Pace but at a good sustained effort starting at maybe 20 minutes and working up to around 40 minutes I would also include sessions at 5K race Pace that’s important to

Remember that’s your current 5K Pace not the goal you want to achieve at some point in the future I would start with maybe 10 or 12 400 m repetitions with a minute jog recovery and building up to be able to run 5times 1K at your goal Pace with maybe 90 seconds recovery in

Between and the final type of run I’d advise putting into your training mix is faster than race Pace intervals now these can be done on the flat like where I am now or they can be done on a steep hill where you will reduce the impact on

Your muscles and Joints so four elements in your training Mix Long Run tempo run race Pace intervals faster than race Pace intervals so you’ve done the training and you’ve got yourself into sub 25k shape or whatever your personal Target is but it doesn’t necessarily follow that your goal time is going to be

Achieved there’s four more things things I think are really important to think about in order for you to execute that perfect 5K so the next piece of advice I think is important to pass on is that you need to choose your race or event really carefully not all 5K courses are the

Same they have different elevations some have different surfaces so you need to pick out an event that’s going to give you the best chance of nailing your 5K Target so if you’re looking to hit your sub 25k or faster at a park run there’s a really useful link of fastest UK Park

Compiled by Tim gross I’ve mentioned it before on this channel but go and check that out to see which courses near you will give you the best chance of hitting your target but if 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays isn’t your thing and you want to enter an accredited 5K race here’s

Some that we’ve done recently that we think afford themselves to fast performances so last year we did the sale 5K in Park Manchester organized by sale harus fantastic race and re be cheap to enter Don did a race called the dawn faster 5K clues in the name there five

Laps of a flat cycle track unfortunately it was a hot evening we didn’t get the time she wanted but if you’re looking for a fast course that’s definitely one and one of our favorite 5Ks the no walk in the park 5K in Chesterfield which takes place on the first Saturday of every

Month we did One race in the ovelton 5K summer series The Beauty of that is if you have a go and don’t quite get your time and you live in the area you can go back and have another crack next month and my personally favorite 5K is the

Daram 5K in Norfolk we like to do that every year and we had a crack at good times last summer and if you want a race that really is Fast and Furious look no further than the mid treier 5K they do two events here one in April I believe

And one in August we did the August one last year it really is lightning quick winning times for the men in the 14-minute bracket and for women I believe in the 15-minute bracket so those are some fast UK 5 K races you might wish to look at if you’ve got any other

Recommendations that people watching this video might find useful for a fast 5k course drop them in the comments below to help other people Out so for me there is far more to executing a good 5K than doing some training choosing a race and turning up so the third thing I would advise you to do in order to get the most out of your 5K is to visualize the race you’re

Planning to run really fast at so the first point about visualization is to know what you’re actually visualizing to know your course if it’s a course you’ve run several times in the past absolutely no problem but if it’s one that’s new to you and check out the course if it’s

Near to where you live or if it’s one that’s in a different part of the country and have a search on YouTube somebody’s bound to have made a video of it at some point make sure you know where the Finish area is so when you

Begin that final po P you know how far you’ve got to go so another important but often Overlook point about visualization is to train your body to run hard at the same time of day that your race is going to take place if you’re doing a Morning

Race and all your hard training is in the evening it might be a shock to the system at 9:00 a.m. to have to put in full 5K effort similarly if you races at 7:00 p.m. and you’ve not trained to run hard at 700 p.m. you might find the tiredness

Of a full working day some something that negatively affects your race if you’ve not planned for it also try and visualize what the race will look like all around you for example I did a park on Saturday where there were 34 finishes under 20 minutes so you were guaranteed

To have people running around you and in fact there was a sub 20 minute Pacer which is really useful if you’re going for that time so check out if your race or parkon has won so check out previous race results and see if you are likely

To be running solo or in a good pack at your target 5K time so that’s the externals dealt with now we come on to how you will visualize the internal sensations of your 5K race and as we’re talking 5Ks I’ll ditch my usual adherance to the old imperial system of

Measurement so first kilometer strong and controlled take no notice of what anybody else is doing except of course the sub20 Pacer if there is one kilometer 2 we’re still working hard but we know there is still plenty left in the tank for the next 3 km of the

Race kilm 3 we’re definitely working very now we’re probably up to the heart rate we’re going to be able to sustain for the rest of the race and we can keep it going kilom 4 oh the pain oh the mental torment wondering if you can

Carry on at this pace all the way to the finish and you can kilometer 5 you’re not goosed yet the fifth kilometer is your glory leg your Victory lap where all that work and all that preparation comes together and you nail that time so I’ve been reading a book recently about the

Importance of mental visualization in running success I would certainly agree that psychological planning and visualization can help you nail that fantastic race performance you’ve trained For so the fourth thing that I think is really important in helping you achieve that 5K time of your dreams is to dress for success if you want to run a premium performance you need to be dressed in your premium gear for us that means if

It’s a paid for road race we’ll turn up in our club saw vests and if it’s a park run we have our own saw vests that are non Club branded but we still like to feel the absolute quality that gives you that extra mental Edge when standing on

The start line quick note we’re not sponsored by saw anything we just know that we feel really good as to our clubmates when we pull on that vest we also make sure I have my favorite fitting pair of shorts which happens to be a run hill pair and then the all

Important Footwear now there are several channels devoted to reviewing Shoes on YouTube and I wouldn’t even Dain to try to do so I can just tell you what my go-to trainers are if I want to run a fast 5k so I’m a massive fan of the Adidas

Tumi sen range I’ve got two pairs of sen 8 a pair of sen 9 award last week and I’ve seen some extremely positive reviews about the sen1 too so that’s my go-to shoes if I want to feel my best so what shoes would you reach for if

Running a fast 5k was your sole purpose other minor but overlooked bits of Kit to consider are gloves no gloves if it’s a very cold day you don’t want all your training and carefully laid plans to go to waste because your hands are cold and you find yourself distracted and not

Able to concentrate on executing that fast time you trained for so the fourth thing to do if you want a premium performance is to dress in your premium running Kit so we’ve done the training to get ourselves in sub 25k shape we’ve picked out a good race that we could run a sub 25k on we’ve checked out and visualized how that race May pan out for us and for other people around us but what happens

In that half an hour or so before the starting gun goes can make or break your sub 25k chances you really should be doing a good warm-up using the ramp principle and explain that in a little while the last thing you want to be doing is starting your race with stiff cold

Unactivated muscles if you do so at worst you’re at risk of pulling something and throwing all your chances out the window and at best you’ll spend the first kilometer or so feeling really sluggish falling off pace and mentally not being at the races even though you physically literally are at the race so

A ramp warm-up are for raise your heart rate and body temperature by a 10 to 15 minutes light jog a activate those key muscle groups by doing a ser series of exercises which activate your glutes your hamstrings and your quads these may include lunges squats and squat jumps M mobilize those

Hips do some leg swings side to side forward and back open the gate close the gate if you do so you’ll find when you set off you’ll feel a lot looser and a lot more fluid and pee potentiate perform a series of drills such as fast

Feet strides a skips B skips to get your body primed for the specific motions of running and racing Hard so that viewer is where I metaphorically leave you you’ve done the training you’ve chosen a good race to execute your sub 25k you’ve mentally prepared and visualized for it you’ve got the right kit on and you’ve warmed up properly to stand on not start line ready to perform

So what happens over the next 19 minutes and however many seconds is down to you run the first half of the race with your head run the second half of the race from your heart want it want that performance want that outcome and eventually you will achieve it because

The great thing about 5Ks if you’ve done steps 1 to five properly and it doesn’t happen on any particular day like it didn’t happen for me last Saturday 2010 was my final result I can go again next Saturday if I want with all those good good things in place and ready to roll

Out again so I hope you found something useful in this video if you have please give it that magic like and if You’ like to see more training and coaching tips and how myself and Dawn get on at our races this year and Beyond please consider subscribing to the channel we

Upload twice a week a good variety we think of running related content so until next time keep on keeping on keep on keeping on