any words of wisdom before my first 5K?

Options
2»

Replies

  • parabuds
    parabuds Posts: 6
    Options
    Good luck to you :)

    My advice as a fellow racer;

    Keep hydrated before the race but don't gulp down loads in one go.
    Have good food a few hours before like porridge or almonds for energy.
    Try to run more on your toes as you can really damage your knees if your using beginner standard running shoes
    Don't go bolting off to keep up with the 15 minuters, you'll run outta puff.
    Warm up with light jogging then stretch and keep moving till the start so your body stays warm.
    During the race don't panic yourself else you'll tense up and using means stiff body parts like shoulders and it can really ruin your race.

    And remember YOU WILL NEVER BE LAST. When I did my first race I drank an energy drink before hand, puked half way round and still managed not to be last. Don't worry about other people, it's your race, your PB to beat. You'll soon get the buzz :)
  • 294Rich
    294Rich Posts: 171 Member
    Options
    Stay loose, and don't go off too fast! Try to enjoy it!
  • blackNBUK
    blackNBUK Posts: 58 Member
    Options
    Lots of good advice here!

    My suggestion is to find out what the course is like before the event. If you find out whether the course is hilly or cross-country before hand you won't have any nasty surprises on the day it's self.
  • GuybrushThreepw00d
    GuybrushThreepw00d Posts: 784 Member
    Options
    One big mistake alot of people make on race day is they try to jet out of the start box in their excitement, remember to start slow and you can increase you pace more as you fall into you grove and make awesome time that way

    Best advice ever.
    I picked up a really nasty injury after killing the first 3km of a 10km race.
    Normally i do 5min 30s kilometers... for the first 3km i was running 4min 15s. My pace slowed after 3km and at 6.5km i couldn't run anymore. I pretty much had to walk to the finish (Still finished in 1hour 6min).
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,157 Member
    Options
    Thanks again to everyone for the support. It means a lot.

    Did the race this morning. It was a bit humid with some recent rain and it seemed someone plotted a course that was all uphill. :mad:

    I tried not to start too fast, but of course it happened, I tried to slow it down. The mind games won this round, not seeing the people ahead of me was hard and I was hoping I wasn't last. Turns out I was 52 out of 57 (tiny race my subdivision runs every year to raise money for children's cancer research). I walked a bit and was hoping not to have to, but that was my fault. Anyway, it was 42:27 and I'm happy with the time. It was a good experience and I'm going to continue to work on more regular running and see if I can get better.

    Thanks again :drinker: :flowerforyou:
  • morning_joy
    morning_joy Posts: 1,063 Member
    Options
    Congratulations and thank you for posting this thread. I am walk/running my first 5k tomorrow and I needed the advice. Thank you again and I hope you did great today!
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    Options
    Congrats to OP
  • dinos
    dinos Posts: 1,390 Member
    Options
    Uphill course and you improved your personal best by four minutes, almost by 10% !! Hell, I'd be jumping up and down with joy.
  • jennifergant103station
    jennifergant103station Posts: 3
    Options
    My biggest mistake on my first 5K was wearing a new running outfit - I spent a lot of time pulling my pants up and my shirt down. :grumble: Wear something you know feels good and is broke in a little!

    Good luck!
  • AliciaStinger
    AliciaStinger Posts: 402 Member
    Options
    I realize this is an older thread, but I also wanted to say thanks and congrats.

    I'm doing Couch to 5K, and my first 5K is in under five weeks. I was looking for advice, and figured someone had to have started a thread for this, and I'm glad I found this one. I got a really nasty respiratory cold/infection thing two weeks into C25K and am now a week behind on training, which means that the day of my 5K will be the first time I run the full distance (unless I skip the third day of each week, which is what I've been doing so far - but I'm not sure this will be as effective as the levels get harder). We'll see what happens!

    Congratulations on your first 5K. I hope you're doing well!
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    Options
    I kno this is an old topic but someone may read it who is doing their first race.
    1. Dont start too fast. I wear a GPS watch and set it to alert if I go too fast or slow.
    2. Dont eat/drink things before/during that you dont usually do in training. I.E. gels, energy bars, energy chews, etc.
    3. Wear shoes/clothing you normall do.

    4. HAVE FUN! Dont worry where you finish. Unless you walk the whole race you wont finish last!!!
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,157 Member
    Options
    Congratulations on your first 5K. I hope you're doing well!

    Wow, seems like ages since I posted this. Great advice to reread again.

    I slacked off from the running after the race in September. Last month I started back by turning my daily 3+ mile walks into running the first mile, then doing 0.1-0.3 mile intervals the rest of the way. To my surprise (and delight) I'm running that first mile in the 11 minute range. I think a lot of it is that I kept walking all winter, about 75 miles per month. So in April I ran 16.5 miles which is a lot for me. I'm continuing that - just got in and set a new personal record of 10:45 for that mile. I was pushing it a bit and had to seriously talk myself out of stopping twice but really wanted to go under 11 just once. :glasses: I like the idea of the intervals, kind of a HIIT workout - not that my high intensity is ever going to be that high - and I'm going to keep doing this for a while, hopefully finding it easier and then making the distances longer.

    To any newbies - give it a shot. I never thought that I, at 50, would be running at all, let alone a mile in 11 minutes.

    \
  • ViperAlexHusband
    ViperAlexHusband Posts: 6
    Options
    Just stumbled across this thread which was great timing. Am doing my first 5K this Thursday night, and have picked up some valuable advice, so thank you to everyone who added advice.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    Options
    The momentum of the folks around you will provide the push you need to run faster; enjoy the run, focus on the 'why' not the speed. Listen to your body, and if you walk, who cares? People run 22 minute 5k's and they'll walk at times. So walking is fine; again enjoy it!
  • ViperAlexHusband
    ViperAlexHusband Posts: 6
    Options
    Just a quick update, finished 44th with a time of 0:24:04 (only 1 minute slower than my personal best on the treadmill)
  • Eric_DeCastro
    Eric_DeCastro Posts: 767 Member
    Options
    didn't realize how old this thread was. sorry.

Categories