Rhythm & Grit Cory WhartonMalcolm on how not to run a 5K
For a great 3.1-miler, avoid
these common mistakes
THE BEAUTY OF the 5K is that, regardless of where you are on your running journey, it can either be a joyful jaunt around the park or a test of will. With parkruns and 5Ks coming back, I’m going to talk about a few things you don’t want to do in a 5K. I’ve done them all and paid the price.
The worst piece of advice I ever got came just before my first 5K race. I should have had a plan, even if that was just to run at a comfortable pace. But, being the newbie that I was, I listened to someone who comfortably ran under 16 minutes for the distance.
‘No need for water – go out hard and hold on,’ he said. I thought that was succinct and sage. So I positioned myself somewhere in the middle of the pack and waited for the gun.
The pace at which the pack set off was something I was not ready for and hadn’t trained for, but, foolishly, I went with it. I was spent with 4.6km to go – that’s right, 400m into a 5K, I wanted to go home. I don’t think my lungs had ever burnt like that and I certainly had never tasted iron in my mouth before.
What was I playing at? That day taught me some valuable lessons and helped me build a list of things not to do in races, especially the 5K:
• Don’t go to a race without a plan, even if that plan is to just enjoy it.
• Don’t change something on race day that has benefited you during training. For example, if you are used to running with water in training, don’t ditch it at the start line.
• Don’t jump into a pack of runners having no idea what pace they plan to run and don’t be afraid to jump out if the pace is too fast.
• Don’t listen to the advice of others if it isn’t right for you. The advice I was given by the pro would have been perfect – had my aim been to run a sub-16-minute 5K.
• Don’t go all out at the beginning unless you have trained for a quick start; the 5K is a short distance, but you don’t want to be left with lots of work to do and not much energy.
• Don’t forget to do a dynamic warm-up to prepare your body.
• Don’t think that this is the only 5K race you will run. The beauty of this distance is that you can try and try again to get it right; when you do, you will keep coming back.