Ran a 5k, now can barely run a mile? wth?!

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  • time2bhealthy
    time2bhealthy Posts: 211 Member
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    bump for later
  • Charlito1989
    Charlito1989 Posts: 14
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    Have experienced this before, tired muscles, so take a week off and you'll be flying again.
  • karllundy
    karllundy Posts: 1,490 Member
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    Did you run the 5K with your Uncle? Running with someone, I often find I can go farther and faster.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    My pace seems to be about the same. On race day I was at just above 9 mins/mile and when I run alone I'm usually anywhere between 8:30-9:30/mile. Last night when I did the 1.5 I was running around 8:30/mile. So slightly faster but not by much!

    And yeah, I guess I'll chalk it up to race day endorphins, haha!

    In my opinion, going ~30 seconds faster per mile than your race pace is more than slightly faster. :wink: That's finishing the 5k a minute and a half faster. Anyone would be thrilled to take 90 seconds off their PR.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Consider your pace - I tend to run faster when I'm on my own.
    This means I'll get tired quicker.

    I mostly stopped running around December last year and started again about a month ago, but this time with a running club.

    Went in to the bottom group to start (with the fastest people in that group) and was absolutely fine - could have been walking for how tired I felt. However, if I'd gone for a run on my own, likely I'd have been pretty knackered a mile or two in.

    Moved up a bit now and can either stick with the front of the 'intermediate' group or the back of the main 'medium' group.
  • moustache_flavored_lube
    moustache_flavored_lube Posts: 849 Member
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    in order to see improvement in your running you need to run consistently. Attempting 1-2 miles every couple of weeks you will see the same results every time. A single event like a 5k will also not significantly change your fitness.


    So what I am saying is run 3-4 times perweek. Start with some run walk intervals until you can run 20 minutes without stopping. Then build your time until you can run an hour with out stopping.


    Race atmosphere, how rested your body is, hydration, nutrition ... all play a factor. The fact that you were on a cruise probably meant that you had been resting, and consuming more calories than average. This leaves your body able to run farther / faster
  • vikkistarr89
    vikkistarr89 Posts: 122 Member
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    I am the same, before christmas I was doing 10km and now i struggle with 5km. I'm putting it don't to not being motivated, when i run I just feel so bored sometimes. You should change it up, run a different route, or get out the gym and start road running. I find I can run further on the road than on a treadmill, because im being distracted more by my surroundings. In the gym im just staring at my stats counting down to when i can stop.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    Not to burst your bubble, but a lot of "5ks" aren't actually 3.1 miles long. A lot of the run/walks that are for charities can be a lot shorter in actual distance. I wear my GPS for them now and have had some be as short as 2 miles. That may or may not be the case with yours. Also I do think the race atmosphere can give you a boost that you don't see in training. Just keep doing what you are doing and you should be fine for your next race. Maybe give a little of the C25K training a try and just start in the later weeks instead of week 1 since you already have some endurance built up.

    Dude, that stinks! I don't *think* that was the case here, though; I went with my uncle who is an experienced runner (he does races all the time) and he said his time was right on point with his usual 5Ks. He didn't say anything about it seeming short. I hope it wasn't! (Also, they had a marker every 1K, so I don't think they could do that without flat out lying right?) Also, I did C25K a while back. I liked it but I didn't finish the whole thing because I started focusing on weight training more than cardio. I may check it out again for the next few weeks though!
    I did a Halloween 5K last Fall, and afterward, all of the experienced runners were immediately saying "this was longer than 5K". Turns out it was 3.6 miles (the turnaround spot was set wrong after the distance was measured). I agree that your uncle (or other runners) would probably have been able to tell if it wasn't right.
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    Not to burst your bubble, but a lot of "5ks" aren't actually 3.1 miles long. A lot of the run/walks that are for charities can be a lot shorter in actual distance. I wear my GPS for them now and have had some be as short as 2 miles. That may or may not be the case with yours. Also I do think the race atmosphere can give you a boost that you don't see in training. Just keep doing what you are doing and you should be fine for your next race. Maybe give a little of the C25K training a try and just start in the later weeks instead of week 1 since you already have some endurance built up.

    Dude, that stinks! I don't *think* that was the case here, though; I went with my uncle who is an experienced runner (he does races all the time) and he said his time was right on point with his usual 5Ks. He didn't say anything about it seeming short. I hope it wasn't! (Also, they had a marker every 1K, so I don't think they could do that without flat out lying right?) Also, I did C25K a while back. I liked it but I didn't finish the whole thing because I started focusing on weight training more than cardio. I may check it out again for the next few weeks though!
    I did a Halloween 5K last Fall, and afterward, all of the experienced runners were immediately saying "this was longer than 5K". Turns out it was 3.6 miles (the turnaround spot was set wrong after the distance was measured). I agree that your uncle (or other runners) would probably have been able to tell if it wasn't right.

    LOL! So there are two sides to this dilemma! I have found that it is more likely in charity type events where the donation to the charity is the important part and the 5k is secondary. Which is why I try to avoid those races when I can.

    I agree with the others, if your Uncle seemed to think it was on time with his other 5ks then a shorter course might not have been the case here.
  • kaitlynelkins9
    kaitlynelkins9 Posts: 26 Member
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    In January, I ran my first 5k. I hadn't been planning for it at all; I had been running occasionally, but the farthest I'd ever run was about 2 miles. The run was on a Disney cruise and my uncle told me about it the day before. I still partied it up on the cruise and got plastered that night, then got up on 2 hours of sleep, still drunk AND hungover, and ran the 5k in 27:24. Pretty cool, right?

    If you raced a 5K in 27:24 and that was your maximum effort, then you absolutely should not be running faster than about 10 min/mi on your easy training runs. You are simply running too fast too often. There is a time and place for running fast, but it certainly isn't for the bulk of your training runs. You can do speed workouts, such as interval runs or tempo runs, but I'd only do them once, at most twice, a week since you are still a new runner. Ideally, most of your runs should otherwise be between 10 and 11 min/mi or even slower. If you make a deliberate effort to slow down your pace, you will be amazed at the increase in your endurance. And proper training incorporating easy runs at a comfortable pace with a speed run once a week if you so desire will set you up very nicely for your next race. This is a training concept that experienced runners learn and incorporate in order to meet their goals. And it absolutely works.
  • SASSYnCHICago
    SASSYnCHICago Posts: 98 Member
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    you will be able to do it - just dedicate 3 days a week to running, and a 5K distances shouldn't be a problem. we all have our good running days, and the ones that feel like we just can run at all. practice and consistency is the key. don't start out sprinting, ease into it and your feel much better.
    your lucky you are still young and can do anything the day after drinking! after 30 all that goes away. best of luck
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    Obviously the key is getting drunk before you run.....I'm impressed, I would never have made it out of bed.

    I do find that my legs don't feel as tired when I've got "something extra" in my gatorade. Well, either that or, by the time they start aching, I stop caring.

    But I do think there may be a couple factors coming into play. The first is the mindset. I've always felt differently when I run with people versus running alone. Usually, it's a combination of wanting to catch up with the runner in front of me and avoid being passed by the one behind me. The second is the dynamics. My experience running a 5K is different from running on my own or with only a few people, mostly because of the crowds. I find the higher congestion in a 5K tends to keep my speed down. Add in the "herd" mindset, and it's easier to go the distance.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Come to think of it, some of my best races were ones where I had some alcohol the night before.
  • BEERRUNNER
    BEERRUNNER Posts: 3,049 Member
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    In January, I ran my first 5k. I hadn't been planning for it at all; I had been running occasionally, but the farthest I'd ever run was about 2 miles. The run was on a Disney cruise and my uncle told me about it the day before. I still partied it up on the cruise and got plastered that night, then got up on 2 hours of sleep, still drunk AND hungover, and ran the 5k in 27:24. Pretty cool, right?

    WellI don't know if it was just the race atmosphere or what, but I haven't been able to run that far since! When I got back I went for a run and decided to aim for 2 miles. I thought it would be easy since I had already run 3.1! But nope, after the first mile I HAD to stop, walk for a couple minutes, and then run the second mile. I haven't been running that often since then but every time I do it's the same. Last night I set a goal of 1.5 miles. I did it, and it didn't kill me, but I definitely couldn't have kept going for double that distance!

    I'm signed up for another 5k next month and I'm starting to get nervous. I have a plan - I'm aiming to get up to 2 miles this week, then 2.5 next week, and so on until the week before the race I should be up to running 3.5 miles nonstop. Then the 5k will feel easy, hopefully! But I just don't understand why I could do it before, but not now! Does anyone else find running is much easier during an actual race? I'm so confused haha.

    THATS IS AWESOME!!!! I run a 8k The CHicago SHamrock shuffle every year.......its tradition to to run it HUNGOVER!!!!:bigsmile: I avergae doint thiese 5 miles in 54 minutes....
  • BEERRUNNER
    BEERRUNNER Posts: 3,049 Member
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    ^^^^ in theory im carbloading the night before right!?!??!!:devil:
  • ExplorinLauren
    ExplorinLauren Posts: 991 Member
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    Obviously the key is getting drunk before you run.....I'm impressed, I would never have made it out of bed.

    :laugh:

    I 2nd this
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    Thanks for the tips, everyone! I'll try to slow down my pace when training. I get impatient so running 10 or 11 minute miles sounds just horrid, but I'll give it a shot! Speaking of shots... maybe I will throw in 1 or 2 of those before my next 5k, for tradition's sake :devil:
  • NutellaAddict
    NutellaAddict Posts: 1,258 Member
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    Maybe you were so drunk you thought you were running the 5k but you were actually dreaming...:smile:
  • courtneymal17
    courtneymal17 Posts: 672 Member
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    Dude, I'm impressed haha. I'm not a 'good' runner in any sense, but this weekend I had a 5k on sunday and basically because of another event that happened saturday I got TRASHED sat night before the race....I pretty much ran about .25k lol. IDK how you did the whole thing haha.

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