New PR on 5k and 10k
After running a mountain marathon simulation on my trail shoes last week - I picked up my road shoes again and noticed that were overdue as the foam was almost completely gone on 1 side of the heel. I ordered a new pair and decided to use my carbon plates (asics meta speed sky paris) for todays run. While I wasn’t completely sure about the training when I started I just got into my flow very fast. After a few km I realized I would break my 5k pr without any trouble as my heartbeat was still well below threshold.
After km 6 I felt that my goal of breaking sub 40 min 10k would be doable today without having to go all out (remember I am still resting and recovering 😇). Near the end of the run I knew that my other goal of sub 90 half marathon would have been easy if I would continue (as I had a huge buffer from the first 10km) but I decided not to do that today as that would had been too close to last weeks 5.5h run and I also wanted to run it with negative splits instead of just surviving.
The Dutch weather was perfect today 13C, some wind and quite some sun.
Results:
My 5k time today improved with 24 seconds compared to my last attempt. While the difference is quite telling it also cost me way less energy to get there!
My 10k time improved with 4 minutes and 4 seconds. Which sounds crazy but in all honesty I never realy tried for a fast time other than full marathons and an occasional 5k.
What does this tell me:
Mostly my focus on hill work and core strenght last few months has been paying off! Physically I feel stronger than ever and it seems this work also translates to flat road times! Which is exactly what I would hoped as this brings my 2 open time goals for 2026 within reach:
Sub 20 5k = ✅ 19:29
Sub 40 10k = ✅ 39:09
Sub 90 HM
Sub 180 FM
To be continued!
Happy running
That's an amazing time—you deserve it for all your hard work. Best regards.
Thank you! 🙏❤️
Awesome results! 👏🏻
Way to go! Congrats on breaking your 5K and 10K PR, impressive work! 💪
Man what a journey!
This focused and informed training sure takes time off your runs but I am thinking about all of the endurance and health benefits you are getting with the strength! Building muscle does so many things along the way to improvement and I can't think of many better uses of your time.
Do you have a strategy to minimize wear on your joints?
Thanks man!
I try to have a very balanced schedule that gradually improves the basis. While I aim to post 2 times a week of my main training sessions, I run 6 days a week from which 4 are slow (zone 1 - zone 2) to focus on increased blood circulation and general basis - which also helps to strenghten the joints
My strenght work is mostly body weight routines (every day: core + push + pull focussing on volume & harder variations ) kettlebell 2x week - mostly specific strenght building for mountains (unilateral strenght and balancing).
I should benefit from more stretching but the issue there is that you should build that in off season and the last few years I did 3 - 4 marathons a year so not really time to really incorporate that without risking overdoing it 😆
What an incredible breakthrough run—huge congratulations on smashing both the sub-20 5K and sub-40 10K in one go, and with what sounds like surprisingly low effort given your heart rate and recovery mindset. The fact that you took 24 seconds off your 5K and over 4 minutes off your 10K while still feeling in control is a massive testament to the hill work and core strength you’ve been putting in. That kind of transfer from mountain marathon simulation and trail fatigue to flat road speed is exactly what every runner hopes for but rarely sees so clearly. Also very wise to stop at 10K instead of chasing the sub-90 half—honoring your recovery from last week’s 5.5-hour effort shows real maturity as an athlete.
You’re now two for four on your 2026 goals, and with the sub-90 HM and sub-180 full marathon still ahead, this run is the perfect confidence booster. The fact that you had a huge buffer for the half without even trying means that negative-split HM attempt is going to fall soon on a fresh day. Keep trusting your process—perfect Dutch weather or not, these results come from consistent strength work and smart pacing. Happy running indeed, and can’t wait to see the “to be continued” update when those last two goals go down.