My Running Story: How I Improved My 5K Time by 11% in 98 days
TLDR: In 98 days, I improved my 5K time by 11% (2:37) by improving both my stride length and cadence. This technical article is meant for runners who are interested in data, numbers, and self-improvement.
I hope you can follow in my footsteps and use this analysis to improve your own running. If you have any questions about running, data, or life in general, I’d love to hear in the comments below!
Introduction
On April 22, 2018, I ran the La Jolla 5K at 7:00am in beautiful La Jolla, CA. I finished with a new personal best time 22:16, a 7:10 pace for 3.1 miles!
Ok, ok, so I’m not yet a world class distance runner — in fact I’m far from it. I finished 47th out of 1,109 entrants, and 4 minutes behind a very impressive 14 year old! (Full race results). Nonetheless I am proud of what I accomplished. For all 1,109 runners who completed the 5k and 3,456 who completed the half-marathon, you should be too!
This article is split into five short sections:
- My 11% improvement in 90 days
- Basic Running Math: Stride Length and Cadence
- How to improve your time
- Measuring Stride Length and Cadence with Garmin
- A path forward
1. My 11% Improvement in 98 days (Jan 14-April 22, 2018)
My 22:16 time in La Jolla is an 11% improvement (2:37 faster) from my 24:53 time in the Carlsbad 5K on January 14, 2018 (98 days before).
(24:53–22:16) / 22:16 = 11.4%.
I’ve been able to improve my time by a ridiculous 8:14 (37%) since my first 5K in Loveland, CO in 2016, although that’s not really a fair comparison since Loveland was my first race in years and I hadn’t trained at all.
2. Basic Running Math: Stride Length and Cadence
At it’s core, running a 5K race is simple. The goal is to run 5,000 meters as fast as you can. Put one leg in front of the other, pump your arms and legs, run straight ahead, and follow the course until the finish line.
There are two ways to run faster: 1. Take longer steps, and 2. Take faster steps.
Two key terms for every runner are (1) Stride length and (2) Cadence. Stride length (or step length, see footnote [1]) is the length of each step, and cadence is the number of steps per minute. In the formulas below, Stride Length and Cadence are averages throughout a race.
Finishing Time = Race Distance / ( Stride Length * Cadence )
Example #1: if stride length is 1.000 meters and cadence is 170 steps/min, finishing time will be 5,000 / ( 1.000 *170 ) = 29:25. In this example, you need to take 5,000 steps (5,000 / 1.000) to complete a 5k race.
Example #2: if you increase stride length to 1.100 meters (10%) and keep cadence at 170, finishing time improves to 5,000 / ( 1.100 *170 ) = 26:44 (10%). Here, you only need 4,545 steps (10% fewer) to complete the race.
3. How to Improve Your Time
The below chart shows the relationship between finishing time, cadence, stride length. As you move up and to the right, you get faster!
The curved colored lines show (stride length, cadence) combinations that yield the finishing times shown in the legend. For example, anywhere along the green line will get you a 5k finishing time of 22:00.
In 98 days, I improved my stride length from 1.24 to 1.29 and cadence from 162 to 174. In addition to sticking to my workout plan, I focused on specific drills to improve my cadence: Turnovers and a Walk/Run Progression. For more tips for increasing cadence and running mechanics, here’s a great article from Active.com with Simple Drills to Improve Running Economy.
When I train, I am able to see my cadence in real-time on my Garmin watch, so I know when I need to keep my legs moving faster. This has helped a lot!
4. Measuring Stride Length and Cadence with Garmin
I use the Garmin Fenix 5 watch ($550) and the Garmin Running Dynamics Pod ($70) to measure my stride length and cadence. Below are screenshots from the Garmin app. This will give you a taste of the data Garmin collects.
It’s a lot of data, so keep focused on the average improvements: mile pace (8:02 to 7:10), stride length (1.24 to 1.29), and cadence (162 to 174).
5. A path forward
My 2018 goal is to run the fastest 5k time I can this year. Rather than setting a specific target time, I take an iterative approach, consistently improving and reevaluating. As a former college sprinter at Tufts University who used to fear running as far as 400 meters, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished this year and excited to see how fast I can get. I still have a lot of room to improve!
We’ll see how close I can get to these guys…
My next race is June 2, 2018–40 days away. My goal time is 21:00 (6:46 pace). Ambitious? Yes. Doable? Yes. That is 1:16 faster than yesterday’s race. How can I shave 1:16 off my best time ever?
Here are the four ways I aim to improve for the Rock N Roll 5K, and a fairly arbitrary split that would add up to 1:16 to meet my goal time.
- Prepare better for the course and any hills (20 sec)
- More consistent pace (20 sec)
- Improve breathing to save energy (20 sec)
- Keep hips and shoulders relaxed to save energy (16 sec)
Wish me luck!
Further Reading
Making an 11% improvement in 98 days has not been easy, and I know further improvements will get even tougher— improving takes hard work, commitment, focus, and a strong desire.
To sustain continuous improvement, I recommend five basic principles: 1. Purpose, 2. Commitment, 3. Process, 4. Measurement, and 5. Awareness. With these five principles, you can accelerate every area of your life — personal, business, family, and community. For more, check out “For Runners: How to Get Faster. These Five Principles will Accelerate You.”
Thanks for reading!
~Mickey
Footnote:
[1] Technically, a stride is defined as heel-to-heel, meaning the length of 2 steps. The running literature uses these terms interchangeably. I use stride length in this article to follow the convention of Garmin products I use to collect data.
