Triathlete Magazine has a great article on drills to improve 5k speed for sprint-triathlons:
Strides: Do a set of strides before and after each run. If possible, do them on dirt or grass. Run for 20 seconds as fast as you can while maintaining smooth form, and then rest 30 seconds. Do a total of four strides.
Skipping: Once a week, find some grass or a dirt trail and start skipping. If it’s been two decades since you last skipped, start with 2 x (3 x 30 seconds) with an easy one-minute jog after each of the three reps and three-minute jog between the two sets. As you progress, work up to two sets of six repetitions and cut the recovery time in half.
Brick: Because of the importance of the neuromuscular transition from the bike to the run, I like to see people do—at a minimum—one brick a week throughout their training for a sprint event. Two bricks a week is even better. Your run shouldn’t last longer than 20 minutes and should follow this format: Take two minutes to find your legs and then do six 30-second fartleks at 5K race pace with one minute of jogging recovery after each. Use the remaining time to run easy and cool down.
Core: Start in a modified push-up position where you’re resting on your forearms. Keeping your legs, torso and head in a straight line, push your body up off the ground and hold the pose for 30 seconds. Repeat four times. Work up to holding the pose for one minute. Do the plank exercise every other day, year round.
I’m definitely going to start doing planks and side-planks every other day - starting tonight.
This is 29 seconds faster than my run last week. I guess short hair helps you run faster :). Or maybe it’s the new injinji socks I just bought. Ultimately it’s probably my attention to pacing and setting a breathing rhythm.
Today was a strong run and I felt I could’ve even pushed a little faster. It makes me wonder how fast I could run a 5k on a flat track.
Start time: 5.54pm
Temp: 69°
Conditions: slight breeze
Gear used:
This started out as a very strong run with my pace hovering around 6′/km but at 1.71km I started to feel a blister forming on the inside of my arch. I tried to power through it but by 2.30km it hurt so bad I had to stop. I removed my shoe to find a very long blister on the arch of my foot caused by the arch support of my insoles and it didn’t help that I wasn’t wearing any socks. I’ve run in these shoes with these insoles before with no problems but I think I might have tied my shoes a little tighter this time which caused more friction on my arches. So I got sidelined half way through my run.
Start time: 12.39pm
Temp: 98°
Conditions: Sunny, slight breeze
Gear Used:
I pushed myself a little harder today and shaved 20 seconds from my last run. I started off at a faster pace (5′05″/km) than normal, feeling pretty strong but after my second lap around the park I knew I couldn’t sustain the pace so I slowed down to around (6′40″/km). The last .50km was pretty rough since I was starting to get a slight side stitch and I had to really push myself to finish. I still think my form is pretty bad. It’s worse when I start to get tired. I can feel my shoulders hunching forward and I have to force myself to keep my head up and back straight. I’m also running the first 2km entirely on my forefoot trying to adjust to the Pose-style of running but I’m not able to sustain the technique much more than that.
Start time: 12.33pm
Temp: 72°
Conditions: Sunny, light breeze
Gear used:
This is my fastest time yet. In the span of about a month, I’ve decreased my time from 33:36 to 31:47. At this pace it’s going to take me 5 months to hit my 20min 5k goal. That’s not acceptable to me. There has to be a way to accelerate my conditioning.
Start time: 5:44pm
Temp: 68
Conditions: Sunny, windy
Gear used:
