Beginners: Ace A 5K

How tomake your next 5Kbetter than your first

Top tips from a pro on how beginners can go the distance in style

RUNNERS RIGHTLY celebrate themilestone of finishing their first race, but lining up to do it again is just as important. If your first 5Kwas a success, youmay feel moremotivated to train so you can enjoy the experience again and again (and accumulate a collection of race T-shirts and other swag). But if your debut didn’t go well, the upside is you can learnmore froma bad run than a great one. Either way, pick one of these goals to make your second 5K a race to remember.

1. AVOID A SLOWDOWN

If your first race involved a too-fast start, then you probably crashed at the end, which can be very demoralising. To decrease the likelihood of a similar flameout happening again, try taking more frequent walk breaks from the get-go. This will keep your overall pace slower and preserve your leg muscles so you can be the passer (instead of the passee) in the final mile of the race.

2. RUN IT ALL

Many racers (especially newbies) finish just as fast or faster while using a run-walk strategy. Even so, the idea of running a 5K without any walk breaks may appeal to you. To work up to that, once a week, devote a workout to non-stop running. Slow your pace and gradually increase the distance by adding an additional quarter-mile to half-mile each week, hitting your longest non-stop run of three miles one week before your race.

3. FINISH FASTER

If you felt like a million dollars at the end of your first 5K, you may be interested in trying to push a little harder next time. To race faster, you must run faster in training. Try this: once a week, run a series of 400-metre repeats (one lap around most outdoor tracks), walking two to three minutes between each. The first week, run four repeats at the pace you held in your first 5K. Each week, add two repeats and do them all a few seconds faster than the previous week’s. Finish a week before your goal race with 10 to 12 × 400m repeats.

4. BRING A FRIEND

Your first race can be nerve-wracking, but now you know what happens on race day – and that you can finish. You’ll almost certainly enjoy your second one more, but to guarantee it, try signing up with a friend. You can chat, take walk breaks together, and cross the line as a team. If your friend has not run a 5K before, you can mentor him or her to a good experience.