runners: advice please

Go slow and run outside if you can. Running on treadmill and running outside are very different..

You need to get outside! You need to learn what pacing yourself feels like before the day of the race! My advice, download map my run or runkeeper apps, set it to tell you your pace every 1/2 mile, and run where you could sing along to the song playing! Keep all your runs at this pace and your distance and speed will increase! My first 5k was 31.24, and a year later running mostly easy miles I ran the same race in 26.30!

My question is: would I be better off to work on running a certain distance and incrementally increasing the distance vs. going the entire distance and work on taking fewer "walk breaks"? Or does it really matter?

I would focus on reducing your walk breaks as much as possible. There are some schools of thought that a walk/ run approach is perfectly acceptable, and I'd agree with that to a point. for a 5K, 30-40 minute session, you really shouldn't be needing the breaks, so try to get rid of them.

Currently I can run about 20 minutes at 6mph before needing to take a break and walk for a while.

I take it from the description that you mea that you run for 20 minutes and then take a longer break, before a short run again?

If that's your situation then I'd suggest run for 15, walk for one, run for 15, walk for one, run for fifteen. That'll take you a lot further than 5km but you break the walk breaks down into easily digestible chunks. In a couple of weeks you'll be able to drop the walk breaks down to 30 seconds, then get rid of them completely. that's much more achievable than trying to get rid of a five minute walk break in one chunk.

I would like to add in some outdoor training, but know I will struggle with keeping pace. Does anyone know of any apps that can tell me how fast I'm currently running or just in general help me keep on pace?

I use Rnukeeper and Endomondo on my phone, both of those provide verbal feedback on pace and distance. Maintaining pace on the road will only come with practice, and the longer you put it off the less opportunity that you'll have to actually refine it.

I'd recommend getting out there as soon as you can.

Like others have said, get off the treadmill.

I'd focus on running the distance outside first and forget about pace for now. Once you get the distance, then concentrate on running father before taking a break.
I don't really recommend working on pace or speed until you have the base to run the distance.
Many people find that even if they can't run the whole distance before the run, being in the run, they end up running the whole way. A lot of people are also faster during races without even trying.

I use map my run app

Just aim to finish and have fun! It's your first and it'll be a great experience if you go into it just aiming to cross that finish line.

Thanks everyone. I've been relying on the treadmill because I have to use the daycare at my gym, I know I'm not ready to run while pushing a stroller. But I've found a few opportunities to run outside. I've used Runtastic a couple of times now and I think it'll work well for me.

What are your exercise and eating routines right before the "race"? (I use the term loosely b/c I am in no way expecting to be competative)

I will have a bagel with pb and banana slices or oatmeal with some fruit/nuts. Best to try this before you do your race though. And I drink 8-16 oz of water. This works for me but everyone is different.

same deal as what a lot of other people are saying. Get outside and change up your route sometimes. I notice it feels like I'm going a lot further and it seems harder when I do a new route that I'm used to even if it's the same amount of uphill/downhill

As many others have said the best prep you can do is to get off the treadmill and get out on to the roads. Not only is it waaay less boring to run outside, be prepared for it to feel harder (it's better, but harder...but this is good!!)! The treadmill takes some of the 'work' out of running because you don't have to propel yourself forwards so much and the bouncy rubber surface also helps you along some. Running on the road is also a lot more variable in terms of gradient so you won't be running strictly at one pace the whole time.

But lots of other people said that already.

As for pre-race preparation, 5K isn't too demanding on your body, so you don't need to worry about tapering your distance, taking a rest week or carb loading or any of that stuff you might do before a loger race like a half or full marathon. If you run the day or a couple of days before just take it a bit easier on the pace, and don't eat anything that might disagree with you the night before! On the morning of the race, just eat your normal breakfast a good hour or two before you start. No need for energy drinks or gels or any of that, just go for it and have fun!

bump - at work will read later. I need the advice too! So thank you to everyone posting :-)

Get outside and learn to pace yourself. Slow your pace until you can run the entire distance and the more you run, the faster you will get naturally. Don't worry about a time goal right now, you need to focus on being able to run the entire distance, which will be far different outside with hills, wind, and temperature. I made the mistake with my first half marathon of training mainly on the treadmill and was not at all prepared for running on the road.

No need to do much as far as eating for a 5k, just don't do anything new, eat what you normally would before a run. PB and banana, oatmeal, toast with pb, etc.