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The 5K time drop 10% per year? (RR: West Vancouver 5K)
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I have been able to drop my swim times about 10% per year. Swimming got easier and more enjoyable with progression. Posture improvements, just grooving the breathing/stroke action. IDK - hard to believe I could barely swim 2 laps back in '12, !

But for running it's been carnage. Beginning from a non-run status, I've stuck with it through injury etc, because running is no doubt the best for overall fitness & health (like running from the reaper). Last year I did 25:40 off the bike, which was just short of my goal time of a pedestrian 25:00.

I started doing a run focus this year and want to drop my 5K PR by 10%.
Today's 5K @ the West Van race was 24:21, on no gels which causes my stomach to burn at high output. Great race event tho, 600 runners. I started too far back behind the 25 pacer and had to move up through a busy field. Had no kick at the end.

Actually today was my first 5K ever, as a pure run race. Pretty sure I'm going to do more races before my May-June-July triathlons. I had no heart issues today :)

I can't match that intensity training alone. Is 10% doable at the age of 60?

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Last edited by: SharkFM: Mar 3, 18 13:02
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Re: The 5K time drop 10% per year? (RR: West Vancouver 5K) [SharkFM] [ In reply to ]
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I think you are setting yourself too tough a yard stick.

A 10% drop in overall time is a mathematically crude measure of improvement. Someone who is far from their potential could make a 10% improvement. For someone close to their potential that 10% might work out to to a time faster than their potential (which would be impossible). Look at it this way. If you improved 10% per year for 7 years then you would be running about 12 minutes at the age of 67. Or ask the guy winning their age group in a top race at 60 if they are going to run 10% faster next year and they might have a pithy answer for you.

I don't know if there is a more sophisticated equation for improvement but if there was I'd imagine it would measure improvement towards potential (rather than overall improvement) as well as taking age into account. When we were teenagers yearly improvement was natural. Now we are older slowing down is natural. If you still haven't met your potential then your time can improve despite being older. But for someone close to there potential then just maintaining their time while growing older would be an achievement.

I mean this in a positive way. Don't beat yourself up over what seems a fairly arbitrary target. I'm no spring chicken and the key to making improvement, for me, is staying injury free. Do that and the times will take care of themselves.
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