I always dreamed of running a 5K at a pace starting with a 2 because I thought that running at 3:01 or 3:59/km was average, or something I could achieve without putting much training into it, and that 2:59/km was where things would get serious. Indeed I was not wrong.
When it comes to setting goals (something that I honestly don’t like doing), I believe I am realistic. This one, though, started more as a dream because I was not running at all and had no running background. I had only played football for 15 years and believed that, with two or three years of structured running training, it would be possible to run a 5K in less than 15 minutes.
After one year of structured running (followed by a coach), starting in July 2025, my 5K time dropped from the mid 17 minutes to around low 16 minutes. Indeed, a 1-minute improvement in less than a year was the milestone I was looking for. One minute per year, I thought. It sounds crazy, but with much higher mileage in my second year of training, I believed it could be possible (and I still believe it :D).
The reason I stopped seeing this as my primary goal was my switch to middle distances, such as the 800m and 1500m. As explained in more detail in another article, my training will be structured to improve my PBs in the middle distances. Of course, this means working on my aerobic capacity to support my speed reserve and, with it, achieve better 10K and 5K times. The slowdown in pursuing my 5K goal is not as drastic as it may sound, as I am still trying to increase my volume and include a lot of threshold work, which will be key to improving my VO2max.
I am even more optimistic about this goal now, given the fact that speed is not going to be an issue, and the aerobic component, which is definitely not even close to the necessary level yet, can be trained over the years.
Therefore, let’s try to run a 5K at 2:59/km pace in 2028.