Beginners and Beyond

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My personal 5k pacing strategy. What's yours? (Read 114 times)


Sloooow.

    My Sunday 5K was probably my most stable one. Most of my discomfort in a 5K is due to the heat. My legs rarely scream at me, my breathing rarely gets ragged. I could push myself more.

     

    First mile, I try to run as fast as a can, "comfortably". 10:00 pace is usually my best bet. My biggest problem is endurance.

     

    Second mile, I usually get a bit of a stomach ache, like a burn.  I usually walk 30-60 seconds in the early second mile. My last 5K I didn't until 2.1 miles. Second mile I spend constantly doing math trying to figure out how much walking I can get away with, lol.

     

    Third mile, I'm more than ready to be done. If it's hot, I'll be furious and upset at the sun for existing. I'll be cursing myself wondering why the heck I live in Louisiana. Louisiana sucks. I'm too hot and I'm going to die. I hate being hot. F*cking sun. Where are the f*cking clouds?

     

    I actually cried after my previous 5K because I was so mad at the sun. I was hot and I felt sick. I need to walk when I'm finished else I feel very faint.

     

    Writing this down makes me realise I really don't push myself during a 5K, I take it as an easy run with the inconvenience of my none existent heat tolerance. My easy run on the treadmill is 11:00 pace and my last 5K was 10:46 overall.

    kristin10185


    Skirt Runner

      Mine is sort of like:

       

      Starting line - Tell myself to not go out too fast

      Mile 1 - Go out way too fast

      Mile 2.0 - Try to ignore that I have to puke

      Mile 2.1 - OMG, how am I going to keep this pace up for another mile?

      Mile 3.0 -  Fuuucccckkkk.

      Post race - Well, that was awesome, when's the next one?

       

      I also get those side stitches (had to stop in my last 5k because of it) but they are getting less frequent.  But I get how awful they are!!

       

      This!!! Just like this, lol. I managed to reign in the first mile a bit at my 5K yesterday though, so it went a little more like this:

       

      Mile 1: Try really hard to run fast, but not like I'm being chased by zombies, bears, wolves and police all at the same time.

      Mile 2: Try to run a little faster, and not die. Allergies act up, feel like I might die.

      Mile 3: Keep trying not to die. Try really hard not to slow down. Get side stitch. Try not to die.

      .1: Run so fast I have no idea how.

      Epilogue: cross finish line and go right off to the side and lay on the grass like a person who is not sane, and don't move for awhile. lol

      PRs:   5K- 28:16 (5/5/13)      10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13)    4M- 41:43 (9/7/13)   15K- 1:34:25  (8/17/13)    10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14)     HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14)     Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)

       

      I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to

      happylily


        McMillan indicates that based on my HM PR, I should be able to run a 20:00 something 5k. For that reason, I choose NOT to run 5ks.Big grin I'm not crazy. lol... But if I ever change my mind, I will try to apply all of the good advice given here. Great thread!

        PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

        18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010

        scappodaqui


        rather be sprinting

          My PR race, I believe, was run like so:

           

          5:40

          6:20

          6:45

          SPRINT LIKE HELL

           

          so I have no business giving ANYONE advice, that was just awful pacing.  I think the idea might be to suffer less in the first mile but more in the third... it's hard for a lot of people psychologically.  I know many who run the first mile super fast and do better than when they run it slower.

          PRs: 5k 19:25, mile 5:38, HM 1:30:56

          Lifting PRs: bench press 125lb, back squat 205 lb, deadlift 245lb

          scissorbill


            If I haven't thought, "I hate 5Ks" by the end of the first mile I'm not running fast enough.  I'm actually looking forward to a 5K with my son as my teammate on Mother's Day.

            scottydawg


            Barking Mad To Run

              My personal 5k pacing strategy. What's yours?

               

              Get behind some Great Legs for motivation, hang on and 'chase", and just try and keep my Old Man Legs moving forward!  Big grin

              "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

              LRB


                My PR race, I believe, was run like so:

                 

                5:40

                6:20

                6:45

                SPRINT LIKE HELL

                 

                 

                That looks painful just looking at it lol!

                scappodaqui


                rather be sprinting

                   

                   

                  That looks painful just looking at it lol!

                  Well, the first mile was downhill and the second 2 were a gradual uphill, which made it... actually, no, that made it even worse.  Haha.

                  PRs: 5k 19:25, mile 5:38, HM 1:30:56

                  Lifting PRs: bench press 125lb, back squat 205 lb, deadlift 245lb

                  BruceD555


                    Being that I've not raced a 5k I guess I don't have a proven strategy ... though mine would probably be a cross between HappyLily & Just B.S. - I don't want to race 5k and why can't they find flat ground for 3 stinking miles.

                     

                    For reference, my 10k strategy has been:

                     

                    Mile 1: Run 15-20 faster than goal pace (I'll just bank time and be able to push through the pain, I'm sure of it)

                    Mile 2: That's a stupid place to put a hill, OK, 10 seconds slower than mile 1 but that's OK, I'm still faster than pace

                    Mile 3: Drop another 5 seconds on pace ... Another stupid hill! Who designed this course ... I wish I were doing a 5k, I'd be turning right there and could kick to the finish

                    Mile 4: Stop looking at Garmin ... Gasp ... need air ... can't move faster ... why me ... stupid wind ... I hate 10ks!

                    Mile 5: I'm an idiot ... why am I doing this to myself? Just kill me now ...  step into traffic ... must stop pain

                    Mile 6: Gasp, gonna find ... gasp ... race director ... stupid hills ... gasp ... must reach end ... kill RD ... gasp ...

                    Finish: Finish line is soooooooo far away ... can't stop, must end pain

                    Train smart ... race smarter.

                      My 5k race strategy is to run with as little mechanical feedback as possible. No watch, no garmin. I’ve been lucky at the last four races to not have split times called or displayed. This just simplifies everything – you race enough, or do enough work at race effort to get to know what race effort feels like. There’s no governor on your wrist. You just get to go out and lay down the effort and see what happens, not reacting to clock (until maybe you can see the finish clock near the end). There's no talking to yourself about what that last mile was (too fast? too slow? too hard?). The whole conversation is - this is race effort, keep going, it's over soon. Stay in the present. I've been really happy doing it this way. Thinking about ditching watch for all distances.

                      Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                      We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
                      thekl0wn


                      Pigtail Connoisseur

                        Pace depends on previous racing/training.  But based on effort, the first mile is done at a pace that I know will make me hurt later.  Mile two is trying to maintain that pace.  Mile three is spent hating life.  End goal being to maintain that mile one pacing set forth.

                        Something witty

                        LRB


                          Well, the first mile was downhill and the second 2 were a gradual uphill, which made it... actually, no, that made it even worse.  Haha.

                           

                          Oh okay, that makes sense.  It looked like a blow up but it wasn't.  That's one of those course things that we have no control over.

                          Slymoon Runs


                          race obsessed

                            Mine is sort of like:

                             

                            Starting line - Tell myself to not go out too fast

                            Mile 1 - Go out way too fast

                            Mile 2.0 - Try to ignore that I have to puke

                            Mile 2.1 - OMG, how am I going to keep this pace up for another mile?

                            Mile 3.0 -  Fuuucccckkkk.

                            Post race - Well, that was awesome, when's the next one?

                             

                            I also get those side stitches (had to stop in my last 5k because of it) but they are getting less frequent.  But I get how awful they are!!

                             

                            This but no side stitches...

                            MrNamtor


                              ok here's my deal. I'm so vain (even though i look like a middle school gym teacher when i race) that the last thing i want to do is puke at the finish line. I don't even want to look like i'm dying or anything like that. One reason is that I look bad enough when i run and another is that as an old guy, i don't want people to think I'm having or about to have a heart attack.  So i play it cool. I probably leave 30 seconds to a minute on the field as a result but for me, it's worth it,

                               

                              1 st mile -  let all the people who are starting out too fast pass me.

                               

                              2nd mile - I actually practice passing people when I'm training (really, I'm good at it) so I pass a lot of people.

                               

                              3rd mile - I pass even more people. (Alright, keep in mind that the people that are actually faster than me are people i never even see, so I'm just passing all the people who started out too fast, and there are a lot of them)

                               

                              last .15 mile (or whatever that last fraction is) I always have a good kick left so I pass people like 20 yard before the finish line. I'm sure this pisses a few people off and makes for really bad finish line pics, but that's how i roll.

                               

                              Yes I'm an ass. I'm trying to work on being less of one though, but so far that's my style.

                              MrNamtor


                                My PR race, I believe, was run like so:

                                 

                                5:40

                                6:20

                                6:45

                                SPRINT LIKE HELL

                                 

                                so I have no business giving ANYONE advice, that was just awful pacing.  I think the idea might be to suffer less in the first mile but more in the third... it's hard for a lot of people psychologically.  I know many who run the first mile super fast and do better than when they run it slower.

                                 

                                awful pacing but awful fast too!

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