I'm fairly new to running, having run now for about 14 months with a 2 month break somewhere in the middle!

Last year I trained to run a 5K. With an all out effort I managed to run it in 26:24 with about 2 months of training. I then ran another with a fair effort at 28:30. Those runs were in August and Spetember of 2007. (The all out effort left me feeling pretty faint so I decided to approach the later run with less enthusiasm!)

Recently I did the sport relief 3 mile run and recorded a time of 22:30! BUT... not one of use thought that it was actually 3 miles! More like 2.5 ish.

For the past month or so I've had my sights set on running a 5K personal best in the summer. Since I ran 26:24 last year I would really like to get under 25 minutes this year. I have 7 weeks.

I would like to know - What's the best way to train in the next 7 weeks to improve enough to achieve this?

At the moment I train 3 times per week (5k) and sometimes one long, slow (12k) run on the weekend. I manage 5K anywhere between 26:10 and 28:30 when I run hard in training. Of my 3 5k runs, one is run hard, the others moderate.

I will have 3 goes at the same race this summer, in June, July and August. So please give me your suggestions, and if I use them I'll report back here and ultimately let you guys know what time I got! If it doesn't go well the first time, I'll have a month to improve before the next...

i would suggest...

- shortening your long run and make an effort to do it every week...

- doing a speedwork session

so in a week maybe do:

1 x 8k
2 x 5k
1 x 5k (fartlek) or 1 x 3k (tempo)

good luck !

I would also suggest doing some speedwork in place of one of your 5km runs.

It might also be worth checking out this program on the Runner's World site.

Thanks Grant. I thought maybe just repeating 5ks often maybe wasn't the best way to go. I'll try what you've suggested.

Thanks

Also thanks to revenged, I meant to say I'm going to try what he suggested. I'll try it for the next 7 weeks and let you know if I got under 25 mins! Thanks.