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Pacing a 5k
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Done lots of races. But never a 5k. Do you go out at goal pace and redline it the entire way, or hold back a little in the first mile to save a bit for the finishing kick? Did a 2 mile tt a few weeks ago in 10:10. Is shooting for 15:59 reasonable?
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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Go as hard as you can and hang on.
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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No

Aim for 16:20 or better, depending on whether your 2 mile TT was truly all out or not.
At least, that's what your equivalent 5K pace would be-per J.Daniels

You'd have to be able to run 9:57 for 2 miles to crack sub 16

https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/

And each mile in the 5K is more challenging-just to hold pace.

hard/harder/hardest

GL
Last edited by: dtoce: Sep 18, 20 19:22
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Re: Pacing a 5k [dtoce] [ In reply to ]
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dtoce wrote:
No

Aim for 16:20 or better, depending on whether your 2 mile TT was truly all out or not.
At least, that's what your equivalent 5K pace would be-per J.Daniels

You'd have to be able to run 9:57 for 2 miles to crack sub 16

https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/

And each mile in the 5K is more challenging-just to hold pace.

hard/harder/hardest

GL

Anecdotally, not sure I could crack 10 for 2 but fairly sure I could crack 16 for 3.1

OP - let it rip, tater chip

Don't go out too hard.
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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I have done a lot of 7k's and also a 5k some time ago.
What I always do is the following:
Do a long warm-up: I jog for about 40 minutes. Time between warm-up and race about 15 minutes.

I divide the race roughly in 3 parts:
1. Start fast but controlled: find a speed which by feeling you think you can hold.
If after 1 1/2 or 2 km you see you are slower than expected you have a bad day: just finish the race and hope for better times.
2. You should have found a rythm at the end of part 1, keep that rythm in the middle part: you should not explode here: hard, unpleasant but still controlled.
3. Just try to keep the speed in the last part: very unpleasant and maybe uncontrolled with an endsprint.

You see I do not stick to a predetermined pace: you will be either too fast or too slow in that case. Feel your body instead.
I always tell myself and it is always true: don't worry you're too slow in any phase, I never have the feeling I did not do enough.

For info: I "only" did sub 19 on 5k and sub 28 on 7k, but I'm 59 years old and weigh 85 kg.
Last edited by: longtrousers: Sep 19, 20 0:08
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Re: Pacing a 5k [longtrousers] [ In reply to ]
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I "only" did sub 19 on 5k and sub 28 on 7k, but I'm 59 years old and weigh 85 kg.

Solid.
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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My fastest 5ks were in races where someone else set the pace. I felt comfortable for, very roughly, half the race then could move on and finish strong. Comfortable meaning running fast but relaxed because someone else was setting the pace. Races where I tried to time trial it always ended up a bit slower.

At my local regular 5k that sort of time would win it most weeks. My point is if you get in the right race you just race and end up with a fast time. What I'd do is look for a good local race that is run often enough and has people fast enough to race you but you have a chance to win.
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Re: Pacing a 5k [jimatbeyond] [ In reply to ]
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jimatbeyond wrote:
Go as hard as you can and hang on.

balls to the wall.

________________________________________________________
Taylor Rogers

2024: IM Hamburg
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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The way to pace this is to run the first 2miles as fast as possible so that you commute to the start line of an open 1 mile race. Watch Mo Farah's London Olympic 5000m and how he closed the final mile was a sub 4 minute mile and the last lap was 53 seconds. Granted, it was an Olympic games so it was about racing for the sprint finish, not time, but you still have to pace to the end.

Roughly every race in running ends with the equivalent of an open 5000m race, followed by an open mile, followed by an open 800m followed by an open 400m. You want to pace each of those segments like you would in the standalone races of those distances but you're just going slower than your open pace.

One good workout I used to enjoy was 12x400m with 100m jogging in between doing the 400's at or 1-2 seconds faster than 5000m pace (so not that tough) then a standalone mile at that same pace. So you end up doing 4 miles at race pace with the final mile at the exact speed as your closing race pace. Arriving at the start line of the 1600m you are a bit more fresh than in your actual race, but its a nice way to break up the pacing.

I have my 55th birthday coming up in a month...ran 16:08 25 years ago (never went sub 16, my military 1.5 mile fitness test was 7:08, so 4:45 mile pace, so was in similar range to you going into this 5km) but this time the goal is sub 22 after 4 years on the sidelines from a disc injury and just getting back to better running this year. I am also 10 lbs heavier than the old 16:08 guy.
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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More recent research may challenge this finding but it still makes sense to me. Have fun!
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Re: Pacing a 5k [dtoce] [ In reply to ]
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Ended up doing 16:21. Course was a bit long though. My watch said I did 5 k in 16:07. My mile splits were 5:10. 5:13 and 5:12. 🥵
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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That’s a great result based on your two-mike trial. Well done. And the best thing is that 5ks aren’t hard to find (pre-COVID, anyway), so you can find more and improve.

As a former track/cross country coach, let me add this: We make a note of mile splits, as we should, but how you arrive at the first mile matters a lot. If you get to a 5:00 mile by 2:28, 2:32, it is a lot better than 2:20, 2:40. It’s normal to get out a little hot but if you are dropping off a lot as you settle in, you are on 5:20 pace going into mile two and you’ve got a debt to pay from being too far ahead of pace early.

People who race on a track get it, because they get 400 splits. A lot of road racers don’t and they over commit early.

Do you know how you were doing well before the mile mark?
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Re: Pacing a 5k [DieselPete] [ In reply to ]
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I’m guessing it was very close to a 2:28 , 2:32 and not a 2:20 , 2:40. I looked at my watch at the 1k market and I think I was at 3:13. Should be noted, that I was tailing someone slightly faster than me, so he was setting the pace. I ended up passing him just after the halfway point and beat him by 7 sec
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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Good for you! Well done!
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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Afg53 wrote:
Ended up doing 16:21. Course was a bit long though. My watch said I did 5 k in 16:07. My mile splits were 5:10. 5:13 and 5:12. 🥵

Well done.
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Re: Pacing a 5k [DieselPete] [ In reply to ]
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DieselPete wrote:
That’s a great result based on your two-mike trial. Well done. And the best thing is that 5ks aren’t hard to find (pre-COVID, anyway), so you can find more and improve.

As a former track/cross country coach, let me add this: We make a note of mile splits, as we should, but how you arrive at the first mile matters a lot. If you get to a 5:00 mile by 2:28, 2:32, it is a lot better than 2:20, 2:40. It’s normal to get out a little hot but if you are dropping off a lot as you settle in, you are on 5:20 pace going into mile two and you’ve got a debt to pay from being too far ahead of pace early.

People who race on a track get it, because they get 400 splits. A lot of road racers don’t and they over commit early.

Do you know how you were doing well before the mile mark?

This is why I use kilometers as an american!

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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Afg53 wrote:
Ended up doing 16:21. Course was a bit long though. My watch said I did 5 k in 16:07. My mile splits were 5:10. 5:13 and 5:12. 🥵

Nice job!

https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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Afg53 wrote:
Ended up doing 16:21. Course was a bit long though. My watch said I did 5 k in 16:07. My mile splits were 5:10. 5:13 and 5:12. 🥵

Outstanding. Really well paced.
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Re: Pacing a 5k [xcrogers] [ In reply to ]
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xcrogers wrote:
jimatbeyond wrote:
Go as hard as you can and hang on.

balls to the wall.

These are the correct answers

I have many friends who have "done" marathons (judgement implied) but won't do 5Ks because "they hurt too much"

Then, there is Mike Rossi ...

https://www.letsrun.com/...00-thanksgiving-day/

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: Pacing a 5k [RandMart] [ In reply to ]
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RandMart wrote:
xcrogers wrote:
jimatbeyond wrote:
Go as hard as you can and hang on.


balls to the wall.


These are the correct answers

I have many friends who have "done" marathons (judgement implied) but won't do 5Ks because "they hurt too much"

Then, there is Mike Rossi ...

https://www.letsrun.com/...00-thanksgiving-day/

wow crazy story

https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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Nicely done! Congrats on a solid effort.

5ks are always a fun challenge and a good learning experience. I agree with the hard-harder hardest approach that someone mentioned above; I’ve made the mistake of going too hard too soon an redlining early, and learned from it to have better results later on.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: Pacing a 5k [RandMart] [ In reply to ]
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I was actually saying something like this to a friend before the race. I said that I was more scared of a 5k than a marathon, because a marathon you’re going at a ‘reasonable’ pace for a long time. A 5k you’re redlining the entire way. I also noticed that my biceps were sore near the end. Is this from me being to tense and clenching my arms?
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Re: Pacing a 5k [Afg53] [ In reply to ]
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Afg53 wrote:
Ended up doing 16:21. Course was a bit long though. My watch said I did 5 k in 16:07. My mile splits were 5:10. 5:13 and 5:12. 🥵

Great job! Racing a 5K and racing a marathon are truly different types of hurt. There are some insightful comments on the thread from people who understand the importance of pacing correctly, rather than going 'all out'. You must be very calculated to really lay out your best time.

Congratulations!

And there will be many more races and PR's for you, I'm sure.
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