Nervous for my first 5k

futuremalestripper

I agree with all the other posts. Take it slow at the start, you don't want to burn yourself out. Seeing everyone running will make you unsure of your speed at first, so although you may be training at a given speed/pace, you'll probably be influenced to run faster thinking that's your proper pace. Go slow at the beginning and then once that first rush is over, get into your groove. Also, in my first race there were multiple waves - if that's the case, you may want to find out when your wave starts. I had to wait 2 hours from the listed start time for my wave... it sucked. I brought a water bottle - don't. They will have probably 2 or 3 tables with water along the course so you can grab one on the go (or at least they should). Bring as little on your body as possible. If you bring a phone, bring a ziploc if it's cloudy. By the time my wave started it was pouring down rain and people were freaking out about their phones getting wet, me included. Eat light and energy packed food the day of and don't try anything risky. One of my running partners tried some takeout that didn't sit well with them and they were miserable for the race. Relax and have fun. Also, keep track of your own time if you can. When I ran, lightning was so bad that we had to stop 100 feet in front of the finish line which is where the sensors were to track our time. I never got to find out what my time was. Good luck!

Oh, and don't exercise hard the day before your race.
If you train on treadmills, try to mix in some outdoors running to get used to the feel and the distractions.

ShoeZilla

Listen to some fast paced music you love and don't think you have to keep up with anyone!!! Slow and steady finishes the race! Oh and Breathe!!

beckyinma

set YOUR OWN pace early, stick with it, and walk when you need to. Don't bother yourself with what everyone else is doing, set your pace, and just finish, you can ALWAYS get better at the next one. My second is tomorrow, and I just want to do better than my last, not everyone else.

verapamil

Thanks everyone! You guys have been soooo helpful! I'll be proud of myself as long as I finish and know that next time I will do better. For what it's worth, I do run outside now and since I live in Seattle, it's a good amount of running up and down hills. Tomorrow's course is near the water though so it should be flatter. I'm looking forward to seeing how well I do when there's no hills to deal with and I can focus on the pretty water instead of my jello-like legs. I think we (me and my friend who is going with me) are probably going to try to do interval running since we're not quite to the point of knowing our pace and how not to push too hard too soon. I was thinking maybe 2 min running and 1 min or 90 seconds of walking. I'd be happy if we did that all the way to the finish line. It's gonna be hard to sleep I'm so excited!

ironmanwannabe

so how did it go?