How do you train for a 5k?

Answer 1

Intermediate distances don't belong to the fastest or the fittest runners, but to the runners with the will to push their body through all the distance to be covered to wear out the competiton and then beat any who are left to the tape. Distance training is essential. If you're not logging 10 to 15 miles a week, you're probably not going be in good enough shape. But you'll have to train a couple of times of week with a watch. Lay out a 5 kilometer distance and them start working on it. Have markers laid out at .5 and 1 k all along the course. You need to start by making a good pass through them and finding times. Then, with these times in mind, start picking up your pace through the full 5 k. The idea is to run "as fast as you can" through the 4.7 to 4.8 k right up to a point near the finish to wear down the competition, then plan a finish strategy that plays to your strengths. If you're a sprinter, you can attempt to rely on your speed through the last couple of hundred meters to net you the win. You just "keep pace" and then blow by the remaining runners to the tape. But there will be other sprinters there, too. And you'll have to know when to begin your run. If you're a 100 meter sprinter, you'll die trying to begin a charge some 200 or 300 meters out - where some runners will begin their charge. If you can't fly through a hundred meters, you'll need to begin your run further out to dilute the effectiveness of the sprinters hoping to bury them so that they can't make up the distance in a final sprint to the tape. Work with your Track and Field coach to develop a "style" and "finish strategy" that will optimize your assets. Good luck.