There are many people who run to help stay active or just because they like the simplicity of it. While these reasons to run are exceptional, they just don’t cut it for some people. Others need to feed their competitive side while still doing the activity they love so much. This is where the competitive side of running begins.
Many runners who want to get involved with the competitive side will often start out running local 5 Kilometer races. These are 3.1 miles and are the most basic of all road races since many towns host these at benefits or festivals. Races like these will attract a plethora of runners from your town and from the surrounding areas so be prepared for some stiff competition.
Training for a 5K race is usually pretty simple and involves runs anywhere from quarter mile repeats up to long runs that range from 8-12 miles depending on personal fitness. Typically when training for one, you should start anywhere from 8-10 weeks out and building up the intensity of your workouts week by week. During my high school cross country season, we did all of our pre-season base training in the summer and focused on building up our speed during the actual season. The time period in the first weeks of a training plan is known as the base phase. This is where you build up your aerobic base by incorporating slower runs, but for further distances. The speed phase comes after your base phase and will involve much shorter and faster runs.
The most important part of any training plan is developing a strategy to keep you from getting injured. This can be anything from stretching routines, wearing more supportive shoes, or even just taking some days off when you are feeling pain. I was a prime example of this during high school because I had developed stress reactions in my lower legs my freshman year, but continued to run and made them worse. By my senior year, I still had pain in my lower legs from time to time which really threw off some of my training. The bottom line is that your body needs to be tended to before and after a workout to ensure you don’t ruin yourself.
When you said "Others need to feed their competitive side while still doing the activity they love so much" I agree with you, I use to do Field Hockey in High School. I was so competitive when it came down to playing in the game.
ReplyDeleteDid you actually attend the 5k Mile? If you did how was your experience?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there were different stages when training for a race. I thought it was interesting how you start running long distances slowly, and then move to short distances running faster. Also, you said some races are 8-12 miles long!? What's the longest distance you've ever ran in a race?
ReplyDeleteSome of the training exercises are 8-12 miles long, but there are some races even longer! The longest race I've ran was a 10K, which is 6.2 miles long. It was hard, but I loved it.
DeleteIt seems like you are very involved in competitive running. What is one of your favorite workouts?
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite workouts is a baker's dozen of quarter mile repeats. It's just simply 13 repetitions of quarter miles all set to be run at a goal pace. My goal pace was 75 seconds per quarter, it was very hard but I made them.
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