How to Run a 5K...???
Discussion
The Moose said:
T-13 days
Just finished today’s effort.
Gave up on the C25k stuff and instead tried to complete 5k as quick as possible.
Really struggled - found today very hard. Thinking back, I had a no breakfast and a poor lunch. Obviously a GU 5 mins before heading out wasn’t sufficient
So today my 5k time was 38:57. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I went on to do a little over 3.2 miles.
Pace
Mile 1: 11:51
Mile 2: 13:50
Mile 3: 11:45
Mile 0.2: 12:57
Records
400m - 1:57
1/2 mile - 4:19
1k - 6:09
And of course my first time completing 5k in this manor - 38:57.
I guess that is something to work from. Feel really bad having just finished and come back to..
“Why do people do this for fun!!”
You really need to build up with shorter efforts. Don't worry about your times at this stage.Just finished today’s effort.
Gave up on the C25k stuff and instead tried to complete 5k as quick as possible.
Really struggled - found today very hard. Thinking back, I had a no breakfast and a poor lunch. Obviously a GU 5 mins before heading out wasn’t sufficient
So today my 5k time was 38:57. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I went on to do a little over 3.2 miles.
Pace
Mile 1: 11:51
Mile 2: 13:50
Mile 3: 11:45
Mile 0.2: 12:57
Records
400m - 1:57
1/2 mile - 4:19
1k - 6:09
And of course my first time completing 5k in this manor - 38:57.
I guess that is something to work from. Feel really bad having just finished and come back to..
“Why do people do this for fun!!”
Ps. You are not challenging any records yet
MC Bodge said:
The Moose said:
T-13 days
Just finished today’s effort.
Gave up on the C25k stuff and instead tried to complete 5k as quick as possible.
Really struggled - found today very hard. Thinking back, I had a no breakfast and a poor lunch. Obviously a GU 5 mins before heading out wasn’t sufficient
So today my 5k time was 38:57. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I went on to do a little over 3.2 miles.
Pace
Mile 1: 11:51
Mile 2: 13:50
Mile 3: 11:45
Mile 0.2: 12:57
Records
400m - 1:57
1/2 mile - 4:19
1k - 6:09
And of course my first time completing 5k in this manor - 38:57.
I guess that is something to work from. Feel really bad having just finished and come back to..
“Why do people do this for fun!!”
You really need to build up with shorter efforts. Don't worry about your times at this stage.Just finished today’s effort.
Gave up on the C25k stuff and instead tried to complete 5k as quick as possible.
Really struggled - found today very hard. Thinking back, I had a no breakfast and a poor lunch. Obviously a GU 5 mins before heading out wasn’t sufficient
So today my 5k time was 38:57. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I went on to do a little over 3.2 miles.
Pace
Mile 1: 11:51
Mile 2: 13:50
Mile 3: 11:45
Mile 0.2: 12:57
Records
400m - 1:57
1/2 mile - 4:19
1k - 6:09
And of course my first time completing 5k in this manor - 38:57.
I guess that is something to work from. Feel really bad having just finished and come back to..
“Why do people do this for fun!!”
Ps. You are not challenging any records yet
What shorter efforts do you mean?
The Moose said:
Thank you for the words of encouragement pgh and Mr King.
How many days before the race should I stop running to be at my best? How about 13...
What should I be doing those last few days?
Obviously I need to plan my diet for the day before as today I am dead.
I would not run the day before the race but 2 or maybe 3 days before I would go out for 15 minutes maximum to remind your legs they need to run. How many days before the race should I stop running to be at my best? How about 13...
What should I be doing those last few days?
Obviously I need to plan my diet for the day before as today I am dead.
Diet - eat what you have eaten before other runs where you have felt good. no new foods
It is a race so given you have jumped the C25K program, I am guessing that you are competitive by nature, so the rule of go out at a comfortable pace and pick it up as much as you can. Better to chase people down that be overtaken
The Moose said:
MC Bodge said:
The Moose said:
T-13 days
Just finished today’s effort.
Gave up on the C25k stuff and instead tried to complete 5k as quick as possible.
Really struggled - found today very hard. Thinking back, I had a no breakfast and a poor lunch. Obviously a GU 5 mins before heading out wasn’t sufficient
So today my 5k time was 38:57. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I went on to do a little over 3.2 miles.
Pace
Mile 1: 11:51
Mile 2: 13:50
Mile 3: 11:45
Mile 0.2: 12:57
Records
400m - 1:57
1/2 mile - 4:19
1k - 6:09
And of course my first time completing 5k in this manor - 38:57.
I guess that is something to work from. Feel really bad having just finished and come back to..
“Why do people do this for fun!!”
You really need to build up with shorter efforts. Don't worry about your times at this stage.Just finished today’s effort.
Gave up on the C25k stuff and instead tried to complete 5k as quick as possible.
Really struggled - found today very hard. Thinking back, I had a no breakfast and a poor lunch. Obviously a GU 5 mins before heading out wasn’t sufficient
So today my 5k time was 38:57. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I went on to do a little over 3.2 miles.
Pace
Mile 1: 11:51
Mile 2: 13:50
Mile 3: 11:45
Mile 0.2: 12:57
Records
400m - 1:57
1/2 mile - 4:19
1k - 6:09
And of course my first time completing 5k in this manor - 38:57.
I guess that is something to work from. Feel really bad having just finished and come back to..
“Why do people do this for fun!!”
Ps. You are not challenging any records yet
What shorter efforts do you mean?
I was being facetious. You asked how you were doing speed-wise.
At this stage you are (understandably) fairly slow -assuming you you are an able-bodied person of young-to-middle age.
Look at the times and age, gender etc. on the Park Run website
I've just finished week 6 of c25k and having read this thread I thought I'd do my first 5k tonight after work to see how I fare.
I pulled a muscle in my calf at the halfway point, stopped for about 1 minute. I also had to stop to to tie my shoe lace.
My time was 33:14. I'm happy with that given that 6 weeks ago I'd never ran once in my life and given that I also stopped maybe 3 times to catch my breath and take a drink of water.
Also, 10 months ago I was 20kg heavier than I am today!
I pulled a muscle in my calf at the halfway point, stopped for about 1 minute. I also had to stop to to tie my shoe lace.
My time was 33:14. I'm happy with that given that 6 weeks ago I'd never ran once in my life and given that I also stopped maybe 3 times to catch my breath and take a drink of water.
Also, 10 months ago I was 20kg heavier than I am today!
manracer said:
I've just finished week 6 of c25k and having read this thread I thought I'd do my first 5k tonight after work to see how I fare.
I pulled a muscle in my calf at the halfway point, stopped for about 1 minute. I also had to stop to to tie my shoe lace.
My time was 33:14. I'm happy with that given that 6 weeks ago I'd never ran once in my life and given that I also stopped maybe 3 times to catch my breath and take a drink of water.
Also, 10 months ago I was 20kg heavier than I am today!
Good effort.I pulled a muscle in my calf at the halfway point, stopped for about 1 minute. I also had to stop to to tie my shoe lace.
My time was 33:14. I'm happy with that given that 6 weeks ago I'd never ran once in my life and given that I also stopped maybe 3 times to catch my breath and take a drink of water.
Also, 10 months ago I was 20kg heavier than I am today!
I'm intrigued at how you had never in your life run before, though. Not even as a child, during sport or to catch a bus?
All this focus on speed i'd switch it to upping the distance to 10k , this opens up a lot more races/events for you to do.
Most of the memorable runs i've had , have been really scenic coastal runs when the weather/scenery all play ball on race day.
My fastest 10k/halfs have all been like 1 night stands , turn up run fast and by the evening you've forgotten about it .
Build your mileage then look for races in locations your interested in , and enjoy it .
Most of the memorable runs i've had , have been really scenic coastal runs when the weather/scenery all play ball on race day.
My fastest 10k/halfs have all been like 1 night stands , turn up run fast and by the evening you've forgotten about it .
Build your mileage then look for races in locations your interested in , and enjoy it .
MC Bodge said:
Good effort.
I'm intrigued at how you had never in your life run before, though. Not even as a child, during sport or to catch a bus?
ThanksI'm intrigued at how you had never in your life run before, though. Not even as a child, during sport or to catch a bus?
haha, yeah sure i ran for the bus as a child, i rode a bike in my early teens quite a bit, didnt do much sport at all.
In my adult life id been to the gym on and off. I started to play badminton once a week about 6 months ago, but thats it!
boyse7en said:
The Moose said:
So today my 5k time was 38:57. I have no idea if this is good or bad. I went on to do a little over 3.2 miles.
Define good. Its slower than my children's park run (5k) time, but quicker than you could have done it last week...
The thing with sports is that for virtually all of us there are loads of people faster and loads of people slower. This can be down to many things: time available to train (i.e. priorities in life), genetics, nutrition etc. This is especially true these days, where the fastest people are having their technique analysed with computers and experts using slow motion cameras, advanced sensors and all sorts of things (I did this with swimming for three years and it was fascinating. I gained a vast amount of speed and endurance with no traditional training at all). For me this variation and the knowledge that there are millions ahead and millions behind me puts the emphasis on enjoyment above all else. For sure, part of that is your speed, but with regard to speed, most of us find enjoyment from setting our own goals and then working towards them. Mo Farah's times are a source of wonder for me, but they'll never be goals or aspirations, that's just ridiculous!
If you're doing 38min 5k, perhaps your goal could be to get under 30?As a footnote, Garmin record all their customers' times anonymously and provide the data so you can compare with others. If you go to the Garmin Connect app on your phone and click on 'More' then 'Insights' you can see all this data. As is to be expected, with running, swimming and cycling the times are all Gaussian type distributions - the mean for running is about 5min30s/km, with the Gaussian skewed quite heavily so it tails off gently for times slower than that, but tails off rapidly as people get faster, with only a thin sliver on the graph visible for times faster than 4min/km. Standard deviation looks to be between about 6min/km and 4min30s/km (so as you can imagine, there's a vertical cliff beyond 4min30 down to 4min/km). Surprisingly, changing times between 'all' and my age group of 40-44 doesn't seem to change that. The important thing to note is that many of these runners will be training for 10k, 20k or even further, and they're all bundled into that one graph.
So, the 5k was last Sunday!
I have felt that I was struggling to pace myself properly on the training runs I had done so I picked someone during the race and tried to stick with them. The pace I ran at in the group was no different to the pace I did the last training run (where I ran about 0.7 of a mile, walked 0.2 and ran the last 0.1). Really interesting that I was much faster on my own.
Anyway, I ran for 1.5 miles - I wouldn't be surprised if that was the furthest distance I had ever run. Granted, not at an Earth-shattering pace, however I am still really pleased with that! Heck, if you had told me 3 and a half weeks before that I was going to be able to run for 1.5 miles without stopping then I would have thought you were nuts!
After that, I did a combination of quick walking and running.
Anyway, I ran across the finish line, feeling like I had just won the London Marathon, picked up my medal (gold of course) and went to check my time. Imagine my surprise and elation when the time was showing as 30:07. I ran 5k in 30 mins and 7 seconds?
Well, no. As it turns out, this was one of the worst organized events I've seen - it started badly and went downhill from there. They started us in the incorrect direction (we were supposed to run N but instead ran S). Anyway, the volunteers did a reasonable job...until the 3rd from last who sent us the wrong way, cutting the course down to 2.8 miles.
My adjusted time turned out to be 34:53. Not as good as it sounded initially, but could have been worse I guess!
My knees are still sore - I suspect a combo of running on tarmac/concrete and being a touch (*ahem* 40lbs) overweight doesn't help. I can't help but think if I did this more regularly it would cause me joint issues in the future.
I am keen to do one more run on my own at a preferably slower pace and see what my 5k time actually is!
Thanks for the words of support as I went along!!!
I have felt that I was struggling to pace myself properly on the training runs I had done so I picked someone during the race and tried to stick with them. The pace I ran at in the group was no different to the pace I did the last training run (where I ran about 0.7 of a mile, walked 0.2 and ran the last 0.1). Really interesting that I was much faster on my own.
Anyway, I ran for 1.5 miles - I wouldn't be surprised if that was the furthest distance I had ever run. Granted, not at an Earth-shattering pace, however I am still really pleased with that! Heck, if you had told me 3 and a half weeks before that I was going to be able to run for 1.5 miles without stopping then I would have thought you were nuts!
After that, I did a combination of quick walking and running.
Anyway, I ran across the finish line, feeling like I had just won the London Marathon, picked up my medal (gold of course) and went to check my time. Imagine my surprise and elation when the time was showing as 30:07. I ran 5k in 30 mins and 7 seconds?
Well, no. As it turns out, this was one of the worst organized events I've seen - it started badly and went downhill from there. They started us in the incorrect direction (we were supposed to run N but instead ran S). Anyway, the volunteers did a reasonable job...until the 3rd from last who sent us the wrong way, cutting the course down to 2.8 miles.
My adjusted time turned out to be 34:53. Not as good as it sounded initially, but could have been worse I guess!
My knees are still sore - I suspect a combo of running on tarmac/concrete and being a touch (*ahem* 40lbs) overweight doesn't help. I can't help but think if I did this more regularly it would cause me joint issues in the future.
I am keen to do one more run on my own at a preferably slower pace and see what my 5k time actually is!
Thanks for the words of support as I went along!!!
Nice one , you've done your 5k race next step bung on another 5 k so you have more choice with 10k races.
Re pace keep a eye on your watch so you can tell if the person you've caught up with is going faster/slower than your target speed .
Re your knees quite often the problems not actually your knees but a tight ass/hips pulling on your knees , get a foam roller and get rolling , also consider doing some of your runs off road as it's softer than tarmac.
Re pace keep a eye on your watch so you can tell if the person you've caught up with is going faster/slower than your target speed .
Re your knees quite often the problems not actually your knees but a tight ass/hips pulling on your knees , get a foam roller and get rolling , also consider doing some of your runs off road as it's softer than tarmac.
egor110 said:
Nice one , you've done your 5k race next step bung on another 5 k so you have more choice with 10k races.
Re pace keep a eye on your watch so you can tell if the person you've caught up with is going faster/slower than your target speed .
Re your knees quite often the problems not actually your knees but a tight ass/hips pulling on your knees , get a foam roller and get rolling , also consider doing some of your runs off road as it's softer than tarmac.
Don’t think anyone has ever told me I’ve got a “tight ass” before. Thank you Re pace keep a eye on your watch so you can tell if the person you've caught up with is going faster/slower than your target speed .
Re your knees quite often the problems not actually your knees but a tight ass/hips pulling on your knees , get a foam roller and get rolling , also consider doing some of your runs off road as it's softer than tarmac.
Congratulations. Shame the course was wrong but a good achievement. Parkrun is free and weekly in lots of locations so could give you another chance as early as this Saturday.
The sense of achievement you should cherish and I hope that you enjoy the sense of well being and keep running. A sub 30 would be a great medium term target and most people who exercise 3 times a week say they feel better (and lose weight)
Wish you all the best and come and join us on the PH running thread in the sports section. Runners of all speeds in there
The sense of achievement you should cherish and I hope that you enjoy the sense of well being and keep running. A sub 30 would be a great medium term target and most people who exercise 3 times a week say they feel better (and lose weight)
Wish you all the best and come and join us on the PH running thread in the sports section. Runners of all speeds in there
Edited by The jiffle king on Thursday 22 March 08:08
egor110 said:
Re your knees quite often the problems not actually your knees but a tight ass/hips pulling on your knees , get a foam roller and get rolling , also consider doing some of your runs off road as it's softer than tarmac.
Mine was hip flexors are tight, pulls the IT Band on the side of my leg and knackers my knee. Seems to be ok for the minute, but think I'm going to look into some yoga or something as my flexibility is shocking..
OP, congrats on the first one, get another one booked as soon as possible, helps keep the motivation levels up. I found after I did my marathon, because I had nothing to train for, the running tailed off, and I'm pretty much back at square one - looking to book a half for September/October to get the motivation back.
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff