Do you have any tips for running a 5 k?

Question

Tomorrow night I'm running five kilometers and I'm trying to time myself and I want to get under 30 minutes. I'm fat so I'm slow at running. Does anyone have any tips for me to go faster? I'm 13 btw and I'm running through a trail so there will be hills.

Answer 1

The 5k or 5,000 meter run is 3.1 miles long

A good strategy often used by distance runner is the 2/3rds rule. This is a fancy way of saying run the first 2 miles at a realistic pace that you can handle for you current level of fitness. The last mile should be more of a challenging pace that you can maintain for the last mile.  If you run 9 min per mile up to this you will be at 27minutes, with 200 meters to the finish line. This would put your finishing time at about 28 minutes.   Two minutes under your goal.  

Your posting mentioned hills, so here is some idea on how to run the hills.

Note: Your posting did not specify where on the course the hill(s) are located or how there are or how long the hills are so that was not factored into the finishing time above.

Hills are a fun part of cross country (xc) racing, the can be used to your advantage of the can be a big disadvantage. As a result, the distance runner needs to mentally tough and attack it intelligently. Training on hills is the best way to learn how to run them. However, this the internet we don’t have that option available to us here..sorry.

Run the same pace going up the hill, but shorten you stride and lean into it as you start going uphill. This means that you will need to nee to pump your arms more. When you reach the peak you will be tempted to slow down...don't.

Once you reach the plate (mesa) maintain the same pace. However, if the hill has a downhill portion then try to run down the hill and carry to extra speed onto the flat portion of the course. This will give you an opportunity to further open up a gap on those runners behind you and close on those in front of you.

Good luck

Answer 2

try and allow yourself more time. so if you dont make you wont be as upset

Answer 3

eat alot of carbs tonight like pasta and such.  then tomorow drink a ton of water! i would drink alot of water tonight.

make sure you warmup [10 min jog] and stretch before.

good luck!

Answer 4

go slow on the first mile

develop a breathing pattern which works for you

if you know when a steep hill is coming go slower for about 3minutes so you have recovered a bit for the hill

don't be afraid to stop

drink water - but don't drink to much so you get cramps and cant carry on

if you are going on your own take your ipod so you don't get bored

keep going - you got this far its a long walk home if you don't carry on

EDIT:

for a 5k run, you dont need to over do the carbs, thats for more than a 9mile run you need to pack in the carbs

Answer 5

run at a comfortably hard pace, stay hydrated, be sure to stretch and warm-up beforehand, and try not to stop running.