5.6K is 2 weeks away - Questions

[IAmCharliemouse]

Now I have just graduated from C25K, I want to continue running and consolidating but I have a short-term goal. There is a 5.6k charity run, one of the big motivators for me to start C25K, in two weeks.

So, what is my best approach?

My pace is fairly slow, about 3.5k in 30 minutes.

So, should I stay with the 30 minutes and hope to increase pace in the next 2 weeks of runs? Or should I steadily increase duration to say 35?

Then, what about the race itself? I thought that maybe I could run for 20, walk for 5 and run for another 20ish. Does that make sense? Or am I better doing the running together? I would love to be able to run the whole distance - that would be great, but my guess is that the risk is too high.

(I did a Parkrun on Saturday by walking for 5 minutes, running for 30, walking for 5ish and running for the last 3ish. That was my best pace ever, which I put down to the novelty of the whole thing and the group spirit.)

So many questions...

[SaskAlliecat Graduate10]

I really like your plan of increasing up to 35 minutes and your race day plan of 20/5/20. Of course, most important is to take in the day and really enjoy yourself that day. Do what you need to do on the day to enjoy it, even if it means walking for longer or more often.

[UpTheStanley Graduate10]

You might try walking for a bit longer at the start on Saturday (8 mins maybe?) then aim to run the rest (35 mins?)

If that goes well, try for 40 mins nonstop on Monday or Tuesday, and a gentle 20 mins on Thursday - before running the whole 5.6 next weekend! 😀

Best of luck 👍🥂

[IAmCharliemouse Graduate10 in reply to UpTheStanley]

Hmm thanks. That's a thought. Infinite options...

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

Congratulations on your graduation . As you are still a novice runner, I’d forget about pace for now IAmCharliemouse, take it slowly, and enjoy the day. As you say, you should be consolidating those 30 minute runs right now, but you took the right approach on your first parkrun.

The advice given is that you shouldn’t increase your total weekly run time/distance by more than 10%, so don’t be tempted to increase all your runs in the week and only do a short run, say 20 mins, the run before your race.

Your idea of running 2 lots of 20 mins sounds good to me. You will want to run over that finish line. Have fun. 🐭