How to improve your 5km run time

Reis and I have been running Parkrun for a few years now (remember this ol’ Parkrun post?), but this year we’ve been going more consistently. I attribute this to
him being home more and the awesome band of friends that have started coming along weekly too. It has become a real social event and we have breakfast afterwards. You get FOMO (fear of missing out) if you even contemplate not going – it’s great!! Friends are the perfect motivation for me.

Consistent running has done two things this year for me:

1. Brought back my confidence in running and ability to enjoy it free from fear; and
2. Increased the desire to continue to improve my running – which means I now have lots to share with you on how you can improve too!

How to improve your 5km run time

1. Create a Running Training program

It’s important to have planned a diverse training program. You can write it yourself, follow my 5km running program or use apps like this one, which do it for you and will even send you a reminder of what your run is for that day. This weekly program should include one long run, 1-2 sprint sessions, a steady state run and recovery day. I hang my plans on the wall to keep me focused.

2. Weights or body weight resistance training

Add in some resistance training, you can see your local gym instructor for a program or again, use here.

3. Gear

   Clothes:

Wear something comfortable to run in. The less negative thoughts you have on your run the better. Ladies, you do not want to be thinking: ‘I cannot believe the person behind me has to watch my butt outlined by my VPL (visible panty line) jiggle something akin to Miley Cyrus’ twerking efforts.’ This will make you just want to STOP running. Trust me; I’ve been there.

This hilarious shirt can be found on teespring.com

Shoes:

Your shoes should be supportive and replaced regularly, I’ve written a post about this here.

Watch

I recently bought a Garmin watch (did you this ol’ Parkrun post??) and LOVE racing against the clock. Running watches are great as you can your pace and you can set a notification if you run under or over your goal pace.

3. No training the day before your race and schedule recovery sessions in throughout the week:

In a training plan, rest and recovery runs are almost as important as the running! Rest allows muscles to repair themselves, which is what causes them to become stronger. Allowing your body to rest on the Friday for example, gives you maximum energy to run well on Saturday, as your muscles have had a chance to mend themselves. Recovery running sessions throughout the week are also important too to avoid injury from overuse of the muscles.

What have you found helps improve your running performance?