Need to improve 5k time. Any suggestions?

Question

I am 15 and this is my second year running xc. Last year I started the season out with a 25:63 and ended with a 23:59. At the begining of this year I have ran 2 races and both have had a time of around 27:04. How can I get back to my last year's time or better? I go to practices and work hard. Any special techniques that would be good? I would appreciate anything. thanks

I do practice with my team and complete those, but is there anything extra I should be doing? Or speacial techniques?

Answer 1

try just doing some endurance runs

Answer 2

i've been in the same boat as you for trying to improve my xc time, and i'm about the same age. What i did to get better and to drop my time from a 21 something to a 19:22 was a couple of things. 1st off i put in long slow distance (otherwise known as LSD-not the drug!) this means miles of running at a slower pace then normal but not to slack off. for me this was about 10 miles and i did it for a little over about an hour and a half. for you it may be different but i suggest it. Also hill work helped a lot! i'm not sure What your xc course looks like, but i run at Sunken Meadow and it's a high ranked hard xc course so i need hill work. None the less though the hill work has even helped me for track so i suggest it. Finally speed work, at least to me, is important. I suggest doing it once a week and trying to do 800 reps. or above. that means you run an 800 (or 1000 or 1600) take a break, and then run it again. 4 800 r the minimum i suggest, 8 probably the max. for xc our coach normally makes us run 4 repeats of a mile. And finally make sure you do some work on your upper body because at the end of the race you need to use your upper body to swing your arms and make your legs move faster. I suggest not using too much weights though cas that will tighten your body, and you just need to build it.
hope this helps.

Answer 3

I believe that the best way to train for a specific distance is to forget the distance all together and train for time. I find it alot better to run for at least 30 minutes no matter how far I actually go. I then gradually increase the time. I find that this usually improves my 2 mile run time by about 2 minutes in one month of training. Hope that helps

Answer 4

To better your 5K times, try to train at 4 or 5 miles. Twice a week go to the track and do 10x100s with half mile warmups and warmdowns.

Good Luck