Run-Down Forums

[mjsbossman]

Hello (Dan), I havnt raced a 5K in a while, but next week on Thursday we have a meet, against an easy team. Last year, as a sophomore, I was on the Frosh/Soph team so I only raced 2 mile races. My best time at the beggining of the year in the 2 mile was 12:45. For one race, my coach let me run with Varsity on a 5K course (the race was in the middle of the season), and my time was 19:50.

Now, this year already my 2 mile time is 10:45, but dont know what to expect in the 5K race! BTW, my next race is on the same 5K course I ran last season. This is going to be our first league dual meet of the season. Do you think a sub 17:30 is our of the picture? This is a flat fast course.

Ok, a couple weeks ago we ran a 5K race on a very hilly course, and I ran it in 20:29. How the hell can this happen to me? It had some mnoster hills, and I did in fact go out way to fast, but some kid who I beat in my last meet (with my 10:45 time) got about 19 minutes flat.

Also, in the past few days of practice, I have had alot of lactic acid in my quads. On Thursday, we did cutdowns like this: 10-10-5-5-4-4-2-2 (minutes), all at 5K race pace, with a 1 minute rest between sets. During those, lactic acid was slowing me down. Is it time for me to to tempo runs? Hill repeats at full speed? Dan please help!

[Dan]

I think you answered your own question about why you ran 20:29. Combining a hilly course with going out too fast and not having much 5k experience is a sure way to hit a bad time.

Assuming your 10:45 and 19:50 are both accurate and comparable (always big assumptions about any cross country or road race), then a 17:30 should be very much possible.

I wouldn't change what you are doing because of one bad race or lactic acid. The latter probably just means you are working hard. You've improved a bunch this season, so give it some time for everything to sink in before mixing it up too much.

Dan

[mjsbossman]

Thanks Dan. I will never run a 20 minute 5K again, on that race I went out fast in the beggining and there were hills in the beggining! Half way into it I had much acid in my legs. On the last hill, I even walked up it

[mjsbossman]

Oh yea, in the FAQ section, I saw that you say running up hills slow does not help. Does this still mean that running up a hill at a 8-9 minute pace wont help? Sometimes at practice we run up very long hills, up to 2-3 miles long. We do move at quite a fast pace though.

What Im saying is what is the effective way to run up hills? Short fast repeats, or long medium paced runs, which is also tough. I must know because I am not the best at racing on hills.

[Dan]

My theory is that hills are only beneficial if you run them aggressively. This does not necessarily mean sprinting. 300m-600m hills are certainly of value. If you are running a hill so long that you run it slower than regular training pace, then it is doing about as much for you as a regular long run.

My preference is obviously for shorter distance and higher quality, but there are many ways to reach the same end result.

Dan

[Adam]

Running hard up moderately steep hills pushes your oxygen consumption as high as it will go. Even if you run as hard as you can on flat ground, you will consume more energy and use more oxygen running uphill for a comparable level of effort. In other words, running hard uphill is the best development for most people's aerobic capacity. However, most people can't sustain running at their maximum aerobic capacity for more than 5-6 minutes. Doing repeats beyond this amount of time has decreasing benefits, besides the fact that you're running slower, as Dan pointed out.

[Dan]

Or you could run 2 mile downhills at roughly your 800m pace... (inside joke)

Dan

[mjsbossman]

Well, today we had a meet against an easy team, and my time was 18:46. Better than last year's 19:50 time. I wasnt even tired though, I was just chiling. On the second mile I got this fat side stich which hurt! It was also very windy, the race was right on the SF Bay, near the Oakland airport.

[Dan]

Side aches are never pleasant. If you can get that under control, it sounds like you should be able to pick up the tempo and get a time you'll be quite happy with.

Dan