For those of you that are doing 10k..........

[Beads]

Does 5k now seem a bit 'tame'?

After my long run last Monday the plan was Wed short and sharp on the treadmill and this morning a 'quick' 5k (that's meaning 30 minutes or so compared to the hour + of Monday's run, not a 'fast' run).

Well I did those OK, but on this morning's run I had a gremlin on my left shoulder telling me this 5k was hard (what did I say about 'fast'....) but an even bigger gremlin SHOUTING at me from my right shoulder telling me I could go further, just to the next turn around point, go on, and if you get there you can carry on and instead of turning around do the huge loop, you can go further, off you go......

But I stuck to plan (5.3k in 33 minutes). Now off for a shower before I pick Giulia up for the gym.

[dottiemay Graduate]

Absolutely NO!! All my 10ks were tough and took a heck of a lot of determination and effort to achieve, so you'd think that after that 5k would be relatively easy but, for me, for every run, it's all about how I feel on the day and most importantly - the weather!

I find running against the wind to be really energy sapping; I don't like hot weather (I know, sorry...) so can't manage more than 4k as soon as the sun appears as I start to heat up unbearably; sometimes the legs/body/mind just don't want to play.......and so on and so on.

No matter what plans I might have made before I set off, it's only after the first 1k or so that I know what I'm going to do. If I'm feeling strong I set little goals - 5k? check. 35/40mins? check. 6/7k? If I manage that, can I carry on? Other times I recognise that it isn't going to happen today, so aim for maybe a 3k, walk, another 2/3k, whatever feels doable.

But I'm past worrying to be honest - I just go out, run a bit, run a bit more, check the Garmin, keep running to round up either the time or distance to a comfortable number, then stop.

[tygfuz Graduate]

I always seem to get one run a week that is hard. Some days I feel good and enjoy my run and then the next it feels tough. The 10K I did the other day was rough. Don't know if the the hills affected me or/and not having recovered fully from my previous , 7.5 K but I ended up with a bad back. Trying to recover. I have 2weeks before the race so need to listen to what my body is telling me.

[greenlegs Graduate]

Well, having only done one 10k, I'm probably not typical (but couldn't resist a thread about 10k ).

5k still seems a very very long way to me! But then it does still take me 45-50 minutes. I can't imagine it ever seem tame! (Though I'm writing that, just in case, one day, I can look back and laugh at it. Hmmm!)

[swanscot Graduate]

For me, running 5 km can be easy, but it doesn't seem tame, and I don't think about extending it. My current running schedule has one fast intervals run, one long, slow run and one 50 mins tempo run (~8 km) each week, so no routine 5km run. However, I sometimes squeeze in a 4th run in a week and then I restrict myself to an 'easy 5 km'. Because this run is usually a day after one of the other runs I'm not tempted to extend it beyond 5 km, not tempted to run fast.

[Hidden]

I always think 5km is a heck of a long way, and I have now covered that distance in runs many times, but 5km never gets shorter or easier.

And some 5km distances are real nasties compared to others!

[Beads Graduate]

Thank you all for responding. A couple of weeks on and although I have now done more than 10k several times the 5k is still hard enough that I don't think I will get bored with it, or (worse) frustrated when I only have time to fit a half hour's run in.