How long to get 5k under 20mins
45M. I don't know if I'm considered a beginner, short of doing sports in High School + Military training I haven't really been doing much running.
I picked up running again 2 months ago because I promised my son I'd do a 15km run which passes by our place. This was on Sunday and I completed it in about 1hr 30mins, so this is probably the best benchmark as to where I am.
I want to continue running, the mental and physical benefits I have been having the past 2 months have been amazing. The past few weeks I've been doing somewhere between 25-30km over 3-4 days per week which seems to fit my schedule quite well. I also do strength training for several years now, mainly upper body but I will add more lower body into the mix. I could probably add another day of running for speedwork. I'm not in a rush to get 5k under 20mins but of course I think at some point I'll be too old.
My question is, would it be reasonable to continue on this plan over the next few months, and would it be fair to say that, maybe 2027 summer I could run a 5k under 20mins?
Rough weekly schedule.
2-3 easy runs ~6-8k each
1 long run ~12k
speedwork (likely 400m intervals)
Strength training 1-2 times a week