5km in less than 30 mins - any advice?

Let me correct the above because I did not realise you were already down to 31:39

Session B should probably be something like 1km reps at 28min/5k pace off 100 seconds recovery

ie 5 x 1000m target time 5 minutes 36 seconds each.

Whats your bodyweight and height op? Excess body weight is an absolute bugger for slowing down running speed.

In terms of training I would look at alternative workouts between some over distance training and some speed work. So something like

Session A 6k or 5.5k constant pace
Session B 1km reps at 30m/5k pace with perhaps 100 seconds recovery between reps

@Dadalus I would second treadmills - it’s really useful to get a “feel” for a particular pace, and also to work on form. You can also do intervals on them, and I like to do hill work too - the outside hills round me aren’t particularly helpful for running. Some people find treadmills terribly boring but I recommend always going on with a plan rather than just trying to run for x amount of time.

OP: run more, run longer. Add on 10% distance every week (or two) and you should see improvements.

What worked for me, but might be too dull for some, was to use treadmills in the gym to pace myself. So start at whatever pace you can do 5k without stopping, then each time you manage it, put the machine up by 0.1 kph next time. I dropped 5-6 minutes in a few months. Having said that the experts recommend intervals which is kind of the opposite of this, so maybe go with that. Good luck anyway.

I’ve helped put hundreds of runners through our running club Couch 2 5k programme and I’d say that probably 5% do it in under 30 minutes, 5% 30-35, 70% 35-45 minutes and 20% 45-55 minutes. C25k is unrealistic so for the last few weeks of the app we always get people to add on extra minutes.

If your goal is park run then look up the previous results and see what the finishing times are - many people will run / walk parkrun. I’m a leader snd even when half marathon training (4+ hrs a week, 50+ miles a month) I only managed a 33 min pb .

Mix up your training doing intervals, long slow runs , hills, off road etc..losing weight will definitely as will training with someone slightly faster.Good luck !

@Knowitall2112 good luck with your plan! I don't have any specific techniques to share, but would say that to a point even without doing anything specific will come over time- I knocked off 5 mins in 3 months just by doing more running and getting fitter. The other consideration is that if you are hoping to lose 20-25kg I suspect you will get quicker naturally as you get lighter- I certainly run faster when I'm leaner.

I'd join a running club ready for track seasons starting again hopefully in April, really helped me get quicker (both the sessions and doing them with other people).

I did three sessions a week when training properly. First one longer and slower (an hour or so). Second track session (fartleks and similar, different session each week). Third, shorter, faster run.

This is a useful link: www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/a761676/rws-training-pace-calculator/

Sorry I didn't mean to press post, I hadn't quite finished!

... at a glance and can be set to buzz on my wrist if my pace drops too low, to remind me to focus.

Putting all this into practice is a long term project but I am getting closer. Fastest effort so far achieved yesterday!

I am not at your target speed yet but I hope to be there one day.

How long are your legs? Remember that the standard idea of a reasonable distance to run in 30 minutes will have been conceived of by a male who considers that a "normal person" is going to be a man of average height. Sub-30-min 5km are certainly achievable for many shorter women but it's a more advanced goal. Don't feel bad if it takes a while to get there.

The podcasts you have used have worked on your stepping frequency (also called cadence) but the other aspects of speed are the length of each stride and how much muscular effort you put in it to each time you drive force downwards in order to push yourself forwards. You can't do anything to change the physical length of your leg but you can improve your stride length and muscular strength with HIIT and weights work to build up those muscles and get them used to stretching further.

There's also a psychological aspect - I find that if I am not focusing on putting in extra effort, but am just jogging along listening to my music, my pace drops down to something quite comfortable and slow which i am sure i could keep up for a long time but which doesn't cover the ground very fast. I need to be actively focusing on feeling like i am putting in all the effort I can.

I am not familiar with the technology of the brand you mention in your OP - do you have sight of your current pace as you run? I have a smartwatch which tells me my current speed at a glance

You can use sites such as "map my route" to see how far certain routes are near to you - don't pay for Strava just for that

I mix up longer runs with shorter runs and also include quite a lot of hill work and my time is improving.

Interval training is the way to go. Try 5 x 4mins at 80% effort with 2 min recovery in between. Swap out one of your weekly runs for this and see the difference.

Congratulations on all your running so far, you are doing a fabulous job!
For starters, I would just have a little check on a map to see if your stryd foot pods are accurate, search for ‘google map pedometer’ for a free map where you can plot out routes and it will tell you the distance.
Then secondly I would use the map to plot out a route that is 5-6k to run once a week, as per your suggestion with your Stamina training run, just keep going until you have done the distance.
Thirdly - I’m a huge parkrun fan and I’m sure you would be absolutely fine to go to parkrun right now (if they were open), we have all kinds of people coming along including many who walk/run or walk and take an hour to do the 5k. Parkrun are hoping to start up again on 5th June so that sounds like a really great target

I'd start by going longer first, basically keep adding time until you reach 5k no matter how long it takes you, probably about 45 minutes at first, then when you are comfy doing the distance you can start working on gradually bringing your time down. Intervals and speed work have their place but you also need to work on endurance.

I completed C25K in august last year. Since then I was just pootling along but then started using the ASICS Run Master app (others available) and began the ‘win the long run’ training programme. Just a couple of weeks of surges training (30s fast,2 mins slow) and my speed increased significantly almost without trying.
Still haven’t cracked 30mins but definitely improving.

(But for disclosure I can't do a 30 min 5k. At least not round here, where every run is hilly - I'm not sure what my flat time would be)

Intervals definitely help me with overall speed. I don't follow any particular programme. Occasionally instead of a steady run I just do a sprint-walk-jog cycle. It mixes it up a bit and helps with speed.

Interval training works for me. Also doing some longer distance helps.

I can generally do around 30 mins for 5km but have to put my mind to it - focus on cadence and pace. Also helps to have a flat route on roads - most of my running is on footpaths and mud etc slows me down!

@Whoateallthechocolate that's a good idea! Also @fellrunner85 @FellRunner94 I'm also a fell runner but not in username!

As pp have noted doing "splits" will increase your general speed (ie run as fast as you can for 1m then jog for 1m and repeat, adjust the timing as necessary).

You also need to build your distance stamina so that you actually cover 5k. As others have said a 30m 5k isn't bad at all. I think the fastest I've done is 25mins and I'd been running regularly for a year.

I'd alternate runs between ones with splits (keep these to 30mins) and ones based on distance but slower so that you get used to running the full distance.

You might also find running up hills useful to increase your speed but it depends on the geography of where you live as to whether that's easy to do or not.

If you're running for 30 minutes why does it matter how far you're going? Unless you aren't getting your heart rate up enough, distance is irrelevant.

I've been running for years and my fastest EVER was just under 29 mins and gosh I found it hard!

I improved my speed by doing C25k again but the second time around I used my "normal" running speed as the walk speed and then went faster in the running bit. I had to repeat some weeks a couple of times as running "fast" practically killed me. A friend has sped up recently by doing her normal speed but going further for most of her runs (7k+) and adding in some hill training so a normal 5k on a flattish route feels really easy.
Technique can make a real difference too. Are you running efficiently?
I never got below 33 mins and haven't run for 4 years now

I found I had to plan and regularly run a route that covered 7km, that got me moving further and faster. then before I knew it I could run 5 km at a decent pace because my stamina was better. I would ditch the running to a beat, just runs