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How to race a 5k? (Read 321 times)

runninggirl30


    I have done 5k distance before usually one per month and I get a better time each month just from running more but I want to actually push myself in the next one.  I'm very weak mentally and usually when it starts to get hard I ease up and I think I can't hold the pace for 3.1.   Any suggestions on how to mentally get over it and do my very best the whole time.  What are some of your racing strategies?  Thanks!


    Latent Runner

      I have done 5k distance before usually one per month and I get a better time each month just from running more but I want to actually push myself in the next one.  I'm very weak mentally and usually when it starts to get hard I ease up and I think I can't hold the pace for 3.1.   Any suggestions on how to mentally get over it and do my very best the whole time.  What are some of your racing strategies?  Thanks!

       

      I would say the best racing strategy isn't implemented during the race itself, it is implemented in training.  Up your mileage, and then once comfortable with longer distances, start dialing up the speed.  Suddenly racing a 5K is much easier.

      Fat old man PRs:

      • 1-mile (point to point, gravity assist): 5:50
      • 2-mile: 13:49
      • 5K (gravity assist last mile): 21:31
      • 5-Mile: 37:24
      • 10K (first 10K of my Half Marathon): 48:16
      • 10-Mile (first 10 miles of my Half Marathon): 1:17:40
      • Half Marathon: 1:42:13

        This is how I (a 50 yr old hobby racer) race a 5k. At the start, I find a pace that feels comfortably hard, which is actually about two minutes per mile faster than my usual easy pace. At the end of 1 mile, it becomes a bit of an effort to maintain that pace. As mile 2 progresses, I have to focus real hard to hold it and ignore the voice in my head that is pleading to back off. At the 2 mile mark, I convince my body to hold that pace  because, after all, there is only one mile left. I spend the last mile generally ignoring every signal my body is sending my brain to slow down and then it's over. I hate 5ks. But I have raced much more of them than any other distance.

        joescott


          I need to dig up that old thread.  Some lady runner posted the best answer to this question ever.  I can't remember it exactly, but this was the gist:  In the first mile go out fast but under control.  In the second mile start to turn up the effort even more, just to the point where it almost doesn't seem safe.  The third mile is all about guts and survival.

           

          *Racing* a 5k is never easy.  You just get faster (and tougher).

          - Joe

          We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.

          stadjak


          Interval Junkie --Nobby

            Speed work on the track (400s - 1mile) and tempo runs really help not only your speed but your mental toughness.  A female american pro runner recently said that it isn't that they have some incredible willpower to push through the pain, it's because they hit close to that level of pain all the time in practice and so they get used to it.

             

            The feeling isn't a surprise anymore -- it's more like: oh, yeah I know this . . . this SUCKS . . . but then it's over.

             

            I found myself retreating mentally to the track during races; measuring out the remaining distance as just N laps or XXXmeters.  The burning in my quads and lungs became familiar, as did the "oh god I have to stop" feeling.  Each interval I got to practice not giving up.  It really made a difference.

            2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do


            Prince of Fatness

              What helped me bring my 5K times down....

               

              • Race them frequently.  In most parts during the warm months there are plenty of 5K races to enter, most of them are not that pricey.  For me recovery was similar to a hard workout so I could have done them once a week or so if I wanted to.
              • Don't wear a watch.  I could not believe how much this helped me.  I am the type of person that a watch will slow down (if I see a split that I feel is too fast I will slow down even if I felt I could sustain it).

              After doing the above I eventually got the feel that I could give no more at the end of the race.  Not fading, but hanging on.  Took a few races but I got there.

              Not at it at all. 


              No more marathons

                When you say you do a 5K about once a month, is that a time trial or an organized race?

                 

                The answer to your question is not really different depending on that, just curious.

                 

                To effectively race a 5K you need to have a reasonable goal time in mind, and then run as even splits as possible for the entire race - which means it will feel harder and harder to maintain the same pace.  In this respect I disagree with MrFinn on the use of a watch.  Once you get into mile two your mind will be telling you to slow down.  Most of the runners around you will be slowing down.  If you can glance at your watch (assuming a GPS with pace) and see that you are indeed slowing down, use that knowledge to run harder and increase your pace.

                 

                Set a goal a little faster than you last effort - make sure the first mile is no more than a few seconds faster than your overall average goal, gut it through mile two, and then give it your all in mile three.

                Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey

                Lordy,  I hope there are tapes. 

                He's a leaker!

                  Remember the feeling you have 5 minutes after your race is done, when you are kicking yourself for slowing down, not starting that kick at the half mile instead of the last quarter,  not giving just a bit more on the final quarter mile.  With all that said most of your time is lost or gained in the second mile, when we give in to the desire to ease the pain, or push through it.

                   

                  I need to start running some races, it's been a couple of years since I really ran a race, not just go out with the idea to finish one.

                  runninggirl30


                    Still Bluesky-  I run an organized race every most months.  I've never done a time trial mostly because running against other runners pushes me to run harder than just running against myself or even the clock.  I've never really set an actual time goal in my 5ks probably because I don't have a GPS watch (YET!!) and I never know how fast I'm going.  Thanks for the tips!  I think the biggest obstacle is my mind and that little nagging voice that says "what the heck are you doing?  You're going to die!"  Hopefully that voice gets quieter the more I "practice".

                      Agree with stadjak - can't see your log, so don't know if you already are, but you need to practice 5K effort. You can't run easy all month, then hop in a 5k and hope your body/mind knows how to handle it. So working in some intervals, fartleks, whatever once or twice a week at 5k effort is essential.

                       

                      Personally, I'm also with potatohead on racing without a watch. If I see a split that's "too fast" I freak out and slow. If I see a split that's "too slow" I freak out and cave. I haven't raced any distance with a watch in over 2 years. But that's race day mental stuff that comes WAY after the stuff above. And that'll be different for different folks.

                       

                      Train to understand what 5k effort feels like. That's what's important.

                       

                      Oh, and for the training part - you know, the important stuff - yeah, a watch is helpful.

                      Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                      We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
                      JPF


                        Remember the feeling you have 5 minutes after your race is done, when you are kicking yourself for slowing down, not starting that kick at the half mile instead of the last quarter,  not giving just a bit more on the final quarter mile. 

                         

                        I like this.  Also applies to wimping out in workouts.

                            With all that said most of your time is lost or gained in the second mile, when we give in to the desire to ease the pain, or push through it.

                           

                           

                           

                          thats it for me exactly !  at that point it is more of a mental than physical challenge especially if there are no spectators helping you along.      I have to focus on form (takes my mind off of how hard it is) & constantly remind myself that I've gotten through this many  times before & survived & will survive this one too & it will be all over soon.  in fact the faster you go the sooner you will be finished.  constant self reminders about "trusting your training"  help too, assuming you have put in the work

                          robin from maine


                            I have done 5k distance before usually one per month and I get a better time each month just from running more but I want to actually push myself in the next one.  I'm very weak mentally and usually when it starts to get hard I ease up and I think I can't hold the pace for 3.1.   Any suggestions on how to mentally get over it and do my very best the whole time.  What are some of your racing strategies?  Thanks!

                             

                            Standard training includes intervals to get used to the pace (and upgrade fast twitch fibers) and long slow distance, for strength (but also mental confidence). At that point, you might want to do a warm up jog prior to the race. It takes me 2 or 3 miles warm up to run my fastest, so I do a 2.4 mile easy jog at home before I drive to the race.


                            King of PhotoShop

                              Someone already said this earlier but in a different way, so let me just add to it as it makes sense for me tactically.  In races like the 5 and 10K, at just after 2 miles and in the 10K at about 4.5 miles, if you are running with a pack of people, it means you have slowed down, because people just do. This should be a warning to you.   2+ miles into the 5K and you see you're hanging with others?  Pick it up and pass them now.  To me, that's tactical rule number one.

                               

                              Rule number two, at 2 to 2.5 miles you know you feel like crap. Anyone who doesn't feel like crap at that point is probably not running hard enough.  A useful mental message I give myself is, "This feels awful, but the good news is that it's likely not to get any worse.  I can hold this for another half mile (or whatever)."  It is important to keep saying this to yourself and not let any negative thoughts invade your mind.

                               

                              Rule number three, and this one is a piece of cake.  Don't tell yourself, "Go faster" when your mind is fighting you.  Instead say to yourself, "Knees up!"  Whenever I slow in a race, I can get the speed back again just by focusing on form, as follows:  Get your knees up, keep your head up and shoulders back and use your arms back and forth directly in front of you, not across your chest.  If you don't believe this, go and do it on the track where you can verify the times.  It works always.  You posed an interesting question.  Good luck to you and let us know how you are doing. Spareribs


                              #artbydmcbride

                                Spareribs is a wealth of information and experience, you should listen to him!

                                 

                                Runners run

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