Article on 5k strategy -- anyone ever tried these?

davemunger

Since I started too fast in Sunday's 5k, I've been searching around for some tips on how to keep it under control, and found this article:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/103048-tips-run-faster-5k/

Good stuff; I especially like that it offers separate advice for beginners and experts. One tip that was intriguing to me is this one:

A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to breathe out of your nose for the first half mile -- if you have to breathe through your mouth, you've started too fast for your fitness level.

Anyone ever tried this? Had any luck with it?

I was also interested in this one:

When you run up a hill or take a sharp turn in a race, you are moving against gravity and your own momentum. This can slow many runners down. The best way to overcome these challenges and avoid getting bogged down is by inserting a speed burst as you enter into the hills and turns. When you come out on the other side, you'll be farther ahead and moving faster than you would have been otherwise.

Have you tried it? Did it work?

FYI, here's my recap of the Lungstrong 5k from yesterday:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/davemunger/view/race-recap-the-lungstrong-5k-698688

litsy3

I've always done that second one on hills. Nice to see it's an actual strategy!

Nuccia2012

Always done the second, never done the first! Great recap, btw.

JustWant2Run

I always do the second one; I do find that I end up with a faster pace when I do that. I always slow down... The slowed down pace is just faster that way.

Never actually heard of the first one... It's interesting.

davemunger

Yeah, the nose-breathing thing sort of scares me.

I think what I'm going to do is this: I looked up the race results from last year and about 40 people finished faster than my PR. So my plan is to try and line up with about 80 people in front of me. That's WAY farther back than I usually line up, but this is also an unusually fast field. For the first quarter-mile I will try not to pass anyone at all unless they are moving substantially slower than everyone else -- I'll try to match the pace of those around me. Then I can look at my watch and see if I need to slow down or speed up to meet my target pace.