How do you know how fast to run in a 5K?
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davemunger
Posts: 1,139 Member
A 5K can be an excruciating distance to race. Do it right, and you're running at the edge of your ability the whole way. Every second of the race, you're thinking you can't possibly hold that speed any longer, and yet somehow you keep going, all the way to the finish.
But if you start out too fast, it can ruin the race and make it impossible to finish. You might be reduced to walking by the end. And if you start out too slow you won't have enough time to make up for it. What to do?
Here's a tip that has worked well for me: Find the best pace you can sustain in a 6*800 workout
About 2.5 weeks out from your target race, do a 6*800 workout. You can do it on the track or on a flat stretch of road using your GPS. Go a little slower than your best guess of your 5K pace. So if you are shooting for 7-minute miles in the race, run your first 800 in about 3:35 (that's a 7:10 mile pace). Give yourself a 2-minute jogging recovery, then run your next one 5 seconds faster. Keep trying to do that until you are no longer able to. Suppose you hit the third one (3:25), but fail the fourth, regressing back to a 3:30. Now just try to hit your best pace for the rest of the workout. If you hit 3:25 for the remaining intervals (6:50 mile pace), you're probably a 6:50 5K runner.
To double-check, just try to do the 6*800 at your target pace the following week (1.5 weeks out from your target race). If you can sustain that pace for the whole workout, then you know your 5K pace. On a relatively flat course, you should be able to maintain that pace for the whole race.
Anyone else have any tips on how to set their 5K pace? Let's hear 'em!
But if you start out too fast, it can ruin the race and make it impossible to finish. You might be reduced to walking by the end. And if you start out too slow you won't have enough time to make up for it. What to do?
Here's a tip that has worked well for me: Find the best pace you can sustain in a 6*800 workout
About 2.5 weeks out from your target race, do a 6*800 workout. You can do it on the track or on a flat stretch of road using your GPS. Go a little slower than your best guess of your 5K pace. So if you are shooting for 7-minute miles in the race, run your first 800 in about 3:35 (that's a 7:10 mile pace). Give yourself a 2-minute jogging recovery, then run your next one 5 seconds faster. Keep trying to do that until you are no longer able to. Suppose you hit the third one (3:25), but fail the fourth, regressing back to a 3:30. Now just try to hit your best pace for the rest of the workout. If you hit 3:25 for the remaining intervals (6:50 mile pace), you're probably a 6:50 5K runner.
To double-check, just try to do the 6*800 at your target pace the following week (1.5 weeks out from your target race). If you can sustain that pace for the whole workout, then you know your 5K pace. On a relatively flat course, you should be able to maintain that pace for the whole race.
Anyone else have any tips on how to set their 5K pace? Let's hear 'em!
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Replies
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I don't have any tips... But this is VERY interesting! I'm going to try it for sure before my next 5K
Thanks!0 -
I like 1k repeats @ 5k pace... I think 90 seconds is better... 2 min is a bit much recovery. I don't like that much... You could also throw in 200 meter sprints after each repeat.. For that I would do : 1k,90 rest/jog, 200 sprint then FULL recovery (~120 HR) then repeat 5 times or 4 or whatever.
I've also always liked doing "flying 600s" after some mile repeats or tempo work..
Essentially: tempo 200, 5k pace 200, All out sprint 200 meters... Repeat 2-3 times.
I always like to throw in 200-400 meter work inbetween everything to work on your speed. You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable!
I've even done 20x 400 meters before.0 -
I'd like to forward you my old cross country workouts :P I'd need to log into my college email somehow... Hmmm..0
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My two most recent races I did with McMillan and some trial and error.
Halloween 5K I started out at 6:00ish, and ended the first split at 6:24, and the next two were 6:43 and 7:22 (got a 21:09). It was a PR, but extremely disappointing doing a positive split.
Turkey Trot 5K I started out at 6:29, then 6:39 and 6:31 (20:10). I had some drama at the start (knocked over a little girl) and had a sharp turnaround on the bike path which killed my middle split, but I recovered on the backside.
I put my "best" recent race in McMillan (10mi at 1:09) and it spit out a 19:58 5K. I think I'm a good for a little faster time, so I'm going to shoot for a 19:30, 6:16 splits. I'm going to use my PT test 1.5mi to test the pace out (9:24 1.5mi).0 -
But yes, now that I'm comfortable doing speedwork, I'm going to give it a shot and see how it helps race predictions. Both of my previous races had zero speedwork. I actually did no speedwork in 2013 aside from races.0
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great information Dave! That has been my biggest struggle. I am getting a little faster because my mileage is picking up, but in my head on race day I am still slow...I get so nervous I will run out of gas that I am scared to push. I'm thinking the only way I pr'd my last 5K was because they shouted go (small race) when I wasn't ready and was still trying to get a signal on my garmin. I walked the first few seconds and then felt like I had to make it up so I took off. I pr'd that race by over a minute! I am terrible at pacing so i will be trying your workout before my next goal 5K!! I have a few smaller races just for fun coming up, but there is one in May I would like to p/r so I will definitely try this out before then!0
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Great info Dave...
Too close to my second 5K so hesitant to switch things up before the race, but definitely will look at this before the next one.
My first and only race was nuts... i vaguely remember the splits going like 7:30 first mile, 9:00 second mile, and then about 8:50 i think. So I really had no idea.
I have a 5K in two weeks and I'm gonna try to hold an 8:00 pace throughout. After I see how it goes, I would like to lean a little bit on the more experienced in here to see where my next moves should be.0 -
I definitely need to work this out, so I might be trying your suggestion soon.
I've never negative split a race and would really like to do that. The closest I've come was holding a steady pace on my half-marathon, and that's my favorite race I've run!
On my fastest two 5Ks, I ran the first two miles around 7:00 and then the third one at 8:00. I was planning on starting at PR pace (~7:20) on the next one, but after my recent 5-miler (8:30), I think even 7:45 pace might be ambitious. I was able to hold 8:00 for 2 miles, but then was closer to 9:00 for the last 3.0 -
My two most recent races I did with McMillan and some trial and error.
What is McMillan?0 -
Mcmillanrunning.comMy two most recent races I did with McMillan and some trial and error.
What is McMillan?
Great site -- it allows you to enter you PR at any distance and it will predict how fast you should be able to run at another distance. So if you can run a 30-minute 5K, then it will tell you how fast it expects you to go in a 10K (provided you have actually done the training for a 10K!).0 -
My two most recent races I did with McMillan and some trial and error.
What is McMillan?
McMillan is a great fortune teller, but a dirty liar when it comes to predicting FM times haha0 -
Hi - I'm new to the group and very curious about it. I didn't start running until I was 45 and my best 5K was 30:07 ( I think). I have never trained which is probably why I injured my knee, was out for 3 months and put on 50lbs last year. I've lost about half of it, I'm 6'2, and turning 50 this year. My goal weight is 190, I've run three halfs, I'm not fast, but I think if I beat that 30:00 minute mark, I'll be ready to rock some races this Fall. I'm actually doing the C25K app so I don't injure myself again. Thanks for listening.0
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In for the knowledge and any suggested speed work.
I like running ladders at track practice (running club hosts it Spring-Fall)
1600m
1200m
800m
400m
400m
800m
1200m
1600m
The shorter the distance the faster the speed, the second of each distance should be equal or faster pace. (Example the second run at 1600m should be no slower than the very first run at 1600m). It requires a lot of attention to self pacing. Distances and paces can be altered to suit your needs. Recovery laps in between; again speed and distance can suit preference.0 -
Thanks - I'll need to try that. I really disappointed myself in a 5K last fall. I took off way too fast and ended up walking the final mile. There was a big hill at the end that I had run up a few times in training to get myself ready for it and instead had to walk it. I knew was going too fast early on, too, but couldn't check myself back in. Too much adrenaline going at that point. I also had no idea what pace I should be running so if I had a set number in mind maybe that would have helped.0
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I have always been bad at pacing the 5k. Almost as bad when I ran the 400 in high school. There is no time for comfort.
I haven't run one in a while so I tried today ballz out ending 27:13. I was definitely running at the edge. It felt good but I much prefer longer distances where i can relax into a pace.
This was a great experiment for later races this summer because I started out too fast. Since it's a short distance I just went with it but if I did that with a 1/2 I would die.
EDIT: it would be very difficult for me to predict any longer race time off of a 5k because the strategy is so different IMO0 -
I want to do a 5K in a couple of weeks, to see if I need to change my training paces. My last 5K (23:00 and a PR) was at the beginning of march on a very windy day. I'm pretty sure I'm faster than that now, since I've started speedwork and I'm more comfortable with faster paces.
I read in McMillan book that 10-14 days before the race, you can do: 2x 2400 @ what you think is your 5K pace with a 400-600 recovery jog in between. If you can do the workout, you should be able to keep that pace on race day.
Anyone ever tried it ?0 -
My two most recent races I did with McMillan and some trial and error.
What is McMillan?
McMillan is a great fortune teller, but a dirty liar when it comes to predicting FM times haha
I actually lol at that. 0 -
I want to do a 5K in a couple of weeks, to see if I need to change my training paces. My last 5K (23:00 and a PR) was at the beginning of march on a very windy day. I'm pretty sure I'm faster than that now, since I've started speedwork and I'm more comfortable with faster paces.
I read in McMillan book that 10-14 days before the race, you can do: 2x 2400 @ what you think is your 5K pace with a 400-600 recovery jog in between. If you can do the workout, you should be able to keep that pace on race day.
Anyone ever tried it ?
I haven't done that one, but I did his predictor workouts for the 10K (final one being 3 x 2 miles at Goal Pace) and I actually ended up exceeding my goal.0 -
My head hurts now reading all this. I will just stick to my marathon training for now and think about all this shorter race stuff after the new year when my full is over. Interesting read tho.0
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I want to do a 5K in a couple of weeks, to see if I need to change my training paces. My last 5K (23:00 and a PR) was at the beginning of march on a very windy day. I'm pretty sure I'm faster than that now, since I've started speedwork and I'm more comfortable with faster paces.
I read in McMillan book that 10-14 days before the race, you can do: 2x 2400 @ what you think is your 5K pace with a 400-600 recovery jog in between. If you can do the workout, you should be able to keep that pace on race day.
Anyone ever tried it ?
I haven't done that one, but I did his predictor workouts for the 10K (final one being 3 x 2 miles at Goal Pace) and I actually ended up exceeding my goal.
Nice to know! I think I will try the 5K predictor workout next week at the pace for a 22:30 and see if I can actually aim for a faster goal or not 0
