15 weeks to a faster 5k

Ok, I did it. I signed up for 4 - 5ks over the next 3+ months. Why you ask? I guess because I love a good challenge. This won’t necessarily be an endurance challenge for me, but more a performance challenge. I'm a big fan of setting performance goals. They give me a sense of direction, a benchmark to track progress against, and a reason to push myself. It feels rewarding to dedicate effort towards something tangible and to take pride in my accomplishments. I know I can run 3 miles fairly easily; I’ve been running a minimum of 3 miles 5 days a week for the last year or so. What I haven’t been doing is working on any time goals. I’ve simply been working on building the habit of running consistently and now that I feel like I have accomplished that goal it is time for something new.

Decreasing my 5k time is going to take work. (I’m already feeling a little nervous about it.) I will be incorporating interval training, hill sprints, easier long runs, strength training and mobility work, which are all things I should be doing as a runner anyways. But, without a specific goal in mind I have been able to get away with being lazy and neglecting all of the accessory work running demands.

May 11 will be my first 5k. I’m thinking I will be around the 30 minute mark with that first run, but honestly I don’t know for sure, but I know that it will give me a solid starting point to work from.

Each week with my training I will be adding in sprints, hills and easy runs and working on my nutrition. I know I need to be fueling my days with enough carbs, proteins and healthy fats to give me the energy to push hard during those workouts.

Do you have any fitness goals you're currently working on?