Running Your Best Race

How to Run a Faster 5K

The 5K has quickly become one of the most popular racing distances, particularly during the summer months, and is preferred by runners of all levels and abilities. Novice runners usually enter a 5K as their first race. More experienced runners enjoy the feeling of running up tempo for the relatively short distance. And most runners are able to run a decent 5K time with a small amount of training.

The 5K is long enough to be challenging yet short enough to be fun, so although you can race hard for the entire distance, you will recover from your effort rather quickly. But as a young cross country runner, you are probably very interested in improving your 5K times. Many successful coaches and exercise physiologists agree that you can improve your 5K times in a variety of ways and there are scientific studies that support this view. Those same studies indicate that certain training methods are more effective than others in enhancing performance.

The overwhelming consensus of these studies is that you must improve at least one of three physiological factors in order to run faster times. In general, in order to improve your racing time, you must improve in one of the following physiological areas: increasing your aerobic capacity, developing your anaerobic tolerance, and improving your running efficiency. It is important to remember that different race distances are known to place different physiological demands on your body. As such, the appropriate combination of training strategies depends on the distance of the race you are training for. Our intention is to improve each member of the Lady Wolverines 5K times by giving appropriate attention to producing all three training effects.

Increasing Aerobic Capacity

Your Aerobic Capacity is your ability to take in, process, and use oxygen to produce the energy needed by your muscles to run. Since distance running performance depends largely on your ability to process and utilize oxygen efficiently, your aerobic capacity sets the upper limit for your distance running performances. Aerobic capacity is thought by many to be the single most important indicator of distance running potential. More important, although some studies indicate the aerobic capacity is largely hereditary, the reality is that your aerobic capacity can be improved by increasing your average weekly mileage. Studies also indicate that capillary development in the working muscles is enhanced by long, continuous running, so one long run is preferred over two shorter runs. Our aim is to steadily increase your Aerobic Capacity through a series of increasingly longer distance runs while ensuring that your weekly mileage increase during any given week does not exceed 10% of your previous week's mileage.

For example, our goal is to be running an average mileage of between 30 - 35 miles per week during the district, regional, and state meets. So our mileage for the season will increase incrementally.

Developing Your Anaerobic Tolerance and Improving Your Running Efficiency

Increasing your mileage and thereby your aerobic capacity will improve your running performance. However, the secret to optimal performance is finding a balance between the quantity and the quality of your training. In fact, the most important variable in improving your aerobic capacity is the intensity of your training. Intensity is defined as the effort or percentage of maximum effort at which you run. For example, you could run an easy distance run at about 60% of your aerobic capacity. Conversely, you might do a hard distance run at about 80% of your aerobic capacity. Finally, you probably run a 5K race at between 95 - 100% of your aerobic capacity. Research indicates that greater improvements are achieved by runners who trained only two or three times a week at high intensity (95%) as opposed to runners who trained four or five times a week at lower intensity levels (70 - 90%).

Although intensity of training has the greatest impact on improving aerobic capacity, it is extremely difficult to run continuously for very long or very far at a high percentage of aerobic capacity. Therefore, interval workouts have been devised to allow runners to practice running at the desired percentage of their aerobic capacity for longer periods of total time than would be possible with continuous running. The result of increasing the intensity of your workouts is that you will achieve an improved anaerobic tolerance.

This is largely achieved through the use of interval training. In a nutshell, when you run anaerobically, you are in effect "running without oxygen." This means that the energy for running does not come from oxygen as it does when you run aerobically. Instead, it comes from the breakdown of muscle glycogen into lactic acid. This happens when your body needs more energy than it can process and provide through the intake of oxygen. As a result, your body breaks down muscle glycogen in an attempt to provide the energy to run at that pace. The result is that lactic acid forms in your leg muscle which forces your body to slow down considerably. However, as you practice interval training, your body will develop a greater tolerance for anaerobic running and you will be able to run at a faster pace for a longer period of time. You will also be able to run at a higher intensity. Put another way, you will be able to run at a faster pace with less effort.

Benefits of Interval Training

Intervals break running and rest periods into separate blocks.

Proper interval training will allow you to increase your aerobic capacity, develop your anaerobic tolerance, and help you become a more efficient runner.

Over time, you will be able to run a faster pace with less effort

Proper interval training at your current 5K race pace will allow you to practice at your race pace without overstressing your body.

Alternating interval workouts between long and short from week to week will ensure that your body reaps both aerobic and anaerobic benefits.

Coach Holmes and I will utilize two matrixes for interval workouts, the Pace Chart for 5K Interval Workouts, and the Quantity Chart for 5K Interval Workouts. We'll use the pacing charts to design safe and effective interval workouts that enable you to train at a desired intensity (your race pace) for longer periods without overstressing your body.

Running in the Summer Heat

This August, we'll conduct our summer practices between 7:00 - 9:00 am because running in the heat may be the primary threat to a runner's health. Running in hot weather drains your energy at a much greater rate and depletes your stores of leg muscle glycogen much more rapidly than running in more moderate weather. As a result, you can reach exhaustion in extremely hot conditions much earlier in your training runs and races.

Fortunately, we do have a very natural defense to combating the heat. One of the most effective ways to continuously recover from the heat and maintain your training during the summer months is to force yourself to drink much more water than your thirst desires.

How Much Carbohydrate Do You Need?

Many runners underestimate the amount of daily carbohydrates they need when training for the 5K. Research suggests that we need 3.9 grams per pound of body weight. Although complex carbohydrates such as pasta, potatoes, and bread are preferred to simple carbohydrates such as cookies, cakes, and ice cream, both types are valuable in meeting your energy needs for storing and restoring leg muscle glycogen before and after running.