I have mixed feelings about 2020. While I do not enjoy being part of a pandemic, having my business shut down or depriving my children of any semblance of socialization, I did enjoy the time we spent together.
Since we only ran a few races, we had extra time to train and I stepped out of my comfort zone. Speed training sounded like something for much younger people. Even my quarter mile intervals improved my 5k time by minutes. My last race of the year, my splits were 7:53, 8:01 and 7:55, significantly faster than any of my times last year. I didn’t necessarily run further, though I tried to mix in some longer runs with regularity.
If you want to improve your 5k time, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of speed work. I dread Wednesdays because I am a lazy runner, but I feel so much stronger when I am done.
Much like 2020, we have to get through the bad to experience the good. Here is hoping that 2021 is better for all of us.