The 5K is the race where runners come to meet. It's the race where real distance runners drop down, taking a break from the usual smorgasbord of 15Ks, marathons, and 24-hour relays to snack on an event that seems nothing more than a sustained sprint. And it's the place where middle-distance runners go up, figuring to grit their teeth and hang for three miles, then streak past all the slow-moving shufflers like cheetahs picking apart a herd of gazelle.

The 5K is where these two distinct groups of runners face off and where a third group, the 5K specialists, are likely to steal the show. Because the 5K specialist knows what neither the mileage junkie nor the speed racer seems to grasp: The 5K is a unique effort that demands a full range of physiological and psychological preparation.

And blending the correct components of that preparation takes more than marking down miles in a training log or recording splits during an interval session. It takes collecting and then putting together all the pieces of the 5K puzzle.

THE 5K PUZZLE

Zen master Yuan-tong noted, "When the task is done beforehand, then it is easy."

I've coached hundreds of 5K runners over the past 25 years, from college All-Americans to middle-aged mortgage brokers to seniors battling osteoarthritis. And those who met their 5K race goal arrived at the start line properly trained in every aspect of the 5K. They had completed their "task" beforehand.

Surprisingly, most runners don't practice this simple concept. Volume enthusiasts assume that big numbers in training logs ensure success in a race that is only 3.1 miles long. Interval warriors pound out 5K-pace repetitions, convinced that all they'll have to do is connect the dots come race day. Both groups arrive at the start line with their task unfinished. Both are missing pieces of the 5K puzzle.

In a puzzle, we start with lots of little pieces, then match those pieces to build small islands (in a landscape puzzle, these islands might be patches of blue sky or a cluster of redwoods), which we then bring together to complete the puzzle.

For our 5K puzzle, we assemble pieces to create these six islands:.

Stride Efficiency

Aerobic Endurance

5K-Specific Endurance

Intermediate Fast-Twitch Endurance

Versatile Race Pace Efficiency

Post-Run Recovery & Injury Prevention

On race day, we join these islands to complete our 5K puzzle. Voila! Our task is done beforehand.

THE PIECES OF OUR PUZZLE

There is an ancient Chinese proverb, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." So does our training program...

It all begins with our stride. Stride efficiency is the single most important element of our future training and racing success. An efficient stride allows us to meet the demands of training without falling prey to injury. And a smoother, longer stride is an essential ingredient of a fast 5K. So how do we improve our stride?

If we wanted to improve as a ballet dancer, we wouldn't throw on a CD of the Nutcracker, then twirl madly across the floor. Instead, we'd do drills to develop proper posture, correct placement, and alignment. We'd improve strength, flexibility, movement skills, and artistry. And we'd train until we could perform individual movements automatically, without having to think our way through every plié or pirouette.

It's the same with running. If we want to improve our running stride, we don't dash madly through the streets, across a park, or around a track. Instead, we begin by developing the parts -- the individual actions that make up our stride. And we do this using two methods:

Technique drills involve variations of movements such as skipping, bounding, and marching. These drills are designed to promote muscle fiber recruitment, improve nervous system function, increase strength, and correct muscle and form imbalances. Click here to see some key drills demonstrated.

Short hill repeats are 40-to 60-meter sprints up reasonably steep hills. Our effort level should be slightly less than an "all-out" sprint -- but just slightly. Also, remember that this workout is designed to challenge our legs, not our lungs. Our legs should feel momentary fatigue as we recruit their full range of muscle fiber, but we should recover quickly. Don't make the mistake of turning this stride-efficiency workout into a fitness session. After each repetition, we walk back down the hill, wait until a full two to three minutes have passed, and then sprint up the hill again. Eight to 10 reps will do the trick.

Of the two workouts, technique drills are better for improving stride. But short hill reps will do in a pinch. A half dozen sessions of either during the first 8-12 weeks of your 5K training (no more than one session per week) should provide 100 percent benefit. Naturally, each session should include a proper warm-up and cool-down.

I tell my athletes, "Run first, train later." When we focus on mechanics at the outset of our program, we set the stage for better overall training in the weeks and months to come.

2) AEROBIC ENDURANCE

This is just a fancy way of saying, "Run long and run often." But understand that long is about duration, not distance. Our bodies are not odometers. Our legs don't know a mile from a kilometer. Or a kilometer from a run to the park and back. Runners who focus on "mileage" miss the point of aerobic endurance training. The point is to keep our bodies working at a moderate level of exertion for a sustained period of time -- not distance.

Think about it. Let's say we decide that 50 miles per week is the optimal volume for 5K training. It would take a 30:00 5K runner approximately twice as long to complete that training as a 15:00 5K runner. Do we really believe that slower runners should train for twice as long as faster runners?

Instead, we focus on time. Whatever our ability, we'll gain similar benefits from 60 minutes of lower-intensity running (65-75 percent VO2 max). Or from 90 minutes. Or from 30.

Long also refers to an accumulation of volume. "Volume" is not a single long run, a single week of high mileage, or even a single season of training. It is a long-term, consistent amassing of lower-intensity, aerobic conditioning.

For our purposes, there are three types of aerobic distance runs:

Short: up to 40 minutes in duration. Short runs aid recovery from hard workouts and add to our overall volume.

Medium: 1 1/2 to 2 times the duration of our short run. Medium runs are "normal" distance runs and provide the bulk of our volume.

Long: up to (approximately) twice the duration of our medium run. Long runs build capillary density, increase mitochondria (our body's cellular power plants), improve stride efficiency, burn fat, expand glycogen stores, and do all kinds of other wonderful stuff.

For the beginner, there might not be much difference among short, medium, and long runs. Don't worry about it. Just make sure to increase the duration of aerobic runs gradually, focusing first on the medium and long runs.

3) 5K-SPECIFIC ENDURANCE

The 5K race demands a unique mix of aerobically and anaerobically generated energy. The only way to prepare our bodies for this demand is to train at 5K effort. We do this by running repetitions. This is the place where most of us make our biggest mistake: We base the pace for our repetitions on the fitness we'd like to have rather than on the fitness we already possess.

If our goal is a 20:00 5K, we want to run repetitions at 20:00 5K pace right now. We want to skip ahead to the glorious conclusion of our training program. Only one problem: We aren't in shape to run goal pace yet.

Remember, we don't run repetitions to practice running faster. We run repetitions to improve the physiological systems that will allow us to run faster in the future. To accomplish this goal, we train 5K "effort" rather than 5K "pace." As our fitness improves, our pace will improve. But our perceived effort will remain the same, allowing us to become well-versed in the effort level we'll use in the race itself.

To avoid the trap of training by pace, we go off-track for our workouts, running on the trails or the road. This eliminates the temptation to check split times during our reps. It also allows us to practice adjusting for race-day variables: weather, terrain, our fatigue level, etc. The ability to adjust for variables is essential to race-day success.

Some runners bristle at leaving the security of the track. Let's face it, there's comfort in a perfect 400m oval and the equally perfect splits we can record while running around it. But that's the problem. Road 5Ks are not perfect ovals. We won't record perfect splits as we dodge runners, climb hills, and make 180-degree turns. Our goal is to become efficient at the race we're training to run, and training on trails and the road is the best way to make that happen.

5K-specific workouts should be run once a week. This is a typical progression of sessions. All reps are followed by three minutes of jogging unless otherwise indicated:

5-10 x 1 minute (2-minute recovery)

5 x 2 minutes

5 x 3 minutes

4 x 4 minutes

5 x 4 minutes

4 x 5 minutes

5 x 5 minutes

It makes no difference whether we're 15:00 5K runners or 45:00 5K runners. Our repetitions last the same amount of time. We're targeting specific physiological processes, not mimicking race distance.

If you're unsure whether you're running 5K effort, try this simple test: As you're running, ask yourself, "Is this an effort I can maintain for an entire 5K?" Be honest. If the answer is yes, keep up the effort. If it's no, slow down.

Still unsure about proper repetition effort? Then here's another guideline guaranteed to keep you within the proper range: Whatever pace you run your repetitions, you should finish your last one feeling as if you could run one or two more. If you're completely exhausted at the end of your repetition session, you ran too hard. Adjust the next week by decreasing your effort. If you're barely winded, then increase your effort the following week.

"But how will I know if I'm on track to meet my time goal?" Many athletes set specific time goals and crave reassurance in training that they're on track to hit that pace in a race.

Two of my athletes, K and M, fell into this camp. Both were 19:00 5K runners. Both wanted to run mid-18:00. Both balked when I explained that we'd be training off-track. They didn't want to waste months of training only to discover that they hadn't improved. I explained that workouts are not races, that training "race pace" on the track has little bearing on what they'd run in an actual race. I also told them that they were limiting their potential. Why train for mid-18:00? Why not train the physiological systems involved in 5K racing and see where the chips fell?

K and M finally agreed. Three months later, K ran 16:40 and M ran 17:50.

There is one exception to the off-track rule. As race day approaches, some runners like to add a couple track sessions (also at 5K effort) to "sharpen" their fitness. This isn't about testing pace. It's about solidifying our stride efficiency at 5K effort. While adding hills and turns and uneven terrain has prepared us for actual race conditions, doing one or two training sessions on a perfectly flat surface helps to hardwire the relationship between stride efficiency and 5K-specific endurance. Two workouts I recommend for this are

16-20 x 400m (100m jog recovery)

6-8 x 1,000m (400m jog recovery)

4) INTERMEDIATE FAST-TWITCH ENDURANCE

Our best 5K effort results from a combination of stamina and speed. And it just so happens that we have a type of muscle fiber that's perfectly suited to this task. Fast-twitch type IIa muscle fiber provides much of the "speed" associated with fast-twitch type IIx (sprinter) fiber, but it also has the capacity to function aerobically.

Bingo! This combination allows us to run faster longer -- the definition of 5K racing.

The best way to train this intermediate fast-twitch fiber is to run long hill repeats. This has nothing to do with whether we'll be racing on hills, flats, roads, or the track. Long hill repeats make us faster -- period.

The first step is to find a hill that's not too steep and not too flat. The incline should be challenging, but it shouldn't chop our stride or require mountain climbing gear. I prefer about a 6 percent grade. This increases the workload for each stride while allowing us to maintain full range of motion.

We use our watches to time the first hill repeat of each week's session. Let's say our rep for that week is supposed to last 60 seconds. We stop running as soon as a minute is up. That's our finish line. We won't have to time the rest of our repetitions, allowing us to focus on correct effort and form. Recovery between reps is four to five minutes, including our jog back down the hill and some walking at the bottom. Less recovery won't give us a better workout, but it will increase our risk of injury and burnout. Remember that we're targeting a specific muscle fiber type that is recruited during a specific range of effort. Too little recovery forces us to recruit the other type of fast-twitch fiber and/or to burn through our muscle glycogen stores.

The correct effort level for each repetition varies depending on its length. As with our 5K-specific workout, the guiding principle is to finish our long hill repeat session with enough energy remaining to run one or two more reps. We want to finish with gas in the tank.

This is typical progression for long hill repeat sessions:

8 x 30 seconds

6 x 60 seconds

8 x 60 seconds

4 x 90 seconds

6 x 90 seconds

Long hill repeats should be run two to three times a month until we've accumulated six to eight sessions. My preference is to alternate hill repeats with technique drills on a weekly basis. If you're already in fairly good shape, you can begin incorporating these reps at the outset of your 5K program. If you're a beginner, wait three to four weeks. Never do long hill repeats the week of a race. Also, on weeks that don't include hill reps or a race, it's beneficial to incorporate a few hills into our long runs. This reinforces the gains we've made.

5) VERSATILE RACE PACE EFFICIENCY

A 5K puzzle isn't complete without pieces obtained from training at efforts above and below our 5K goal pace.

Training faster than goal pace serves two purposes. Physiologically, it makes us efficient at paces that might be required in the race (at the start, during surges, and for our finishing kick). Psychologically, it makes our actual 5K pace feel "slow" -- our race pace feels relaxed since it's less than 100 percent of the effort we've trained to run.

Two faster workouts are:

Track: 16 x 200m at 3K effort, with 200m jog recovery

Park or Trail Fartlek: 8-10 x 30-to 90-second surges at >3K effort, with jogging recovery equal in time to each surge

3K effort isn't meant to imply an exact pace; rather, the point is to run harder than 5K effort but not quite as hard as we'd run during a mile race.

Training slower than goal pace allows us to increase the duration of higher-intensity endurance sessions without overstressing our bodies.

Two examples of this type of workout are:

Tempo Runs

Progression Runs

Tempo runs are one of the great misunderstood workouts of our sport. In his seminal book, Daniels' Running Formula, ubercoach Jack Daniels writes that "the intensity of effort associated with [tempo] running is comfortably hard. [Y]our effort should be one that you could maintain for about an hour in a race." This is what tempo is not: a time trial. To be on the safe side, when preparing for the 5K we should tempo train at an effort approximately equal to half marathon race pace.

Because the 5K doesn't require the sustained endurance effort of longer races, it's OK to break tempo runs into two sections. This gives us most of the benefit while reducing the chance of overtraining. For example:

2 x 10 minutes, with 2-minute jog recovery

2 x 15 minutes, with 3-minute jog recovery

Progression runs begin at our normal distance pace, then drop 10-15 seconds per mile until we can't go any faster (or until we reach 5K race pace). This usually occurs at between 6-9 miles. A Garmin is great for this workout, but it's OK to guesstimate pace while using a watch to trigger each increase in effort.

Varied pace work should be introduced four to six weeks before our 5K race. Faster work can take the place of the weekly drills or hills session. Slower than goal pace work can substitute for the 5K effort repetitions. Always make sure to subtract one hard workout from your weekly schedule before adding one of these.

6) POST-RUN RECOVERY & INJURY PREVENTION

One of the biggest mistakes we runners make is to call it quits on our workout once the running part is finished. We figure we've done the work, so what can it hurt to skip the stretching, injury prevention exercises, and icing?



Answer: It can hurt a lot.

Running depletes muscle glycogen, generates minispasms in our muscles, triggers inflammation, and leaves us dehydrated. The most important 15 minutes of our workout is the time we spend post-run counteracting these effects. In order, we need to incorporate:

Glycogen replacement and rehydration

Stretching

Injury-prevention exercises

Icing

Glycogen replacement and rehydration is easy. We simply consume 300-500 calories of carbohydrates, washing them down with lots of water. Bagels, bananas, and sports bars are great sources of carbs. Or choose chocolate milk or a sports drink to get a combination of carbs and fluids.

Static stretching has gotten a bad reputation in recent years. Done before running, it can reduce strength and even cause injury. Post-run is a different story, however, as stretching releases pesky muscle spasms that can lead to pain and inflammation.

Injury-prevention exercises are geared toward preventing and rehabilitating conditions like plantar fasciitis and iliotibial band syndrome. Towel toe curls and foot orbits can reverse many cases of plantar fasciitis, while a revised hurdler's stretch can sometimes erase iliotibial band pain in the space of a minute. These exercises and stretches should be incorporated into our post-run routine on a daily basis. Click here to watch a video of a good post-run routine.

Icing is the silver bullet that makes our sport possible. We need to ice each and every sore spot that could potentially progress to injury. And we need to begin our icing within 15 minutes after completing our run. This is truly a case of a stitch in time saving nine.

COMPLETING THE PUZZLE

Finally, race day arrives. We step to the start line injury free. The gun goes off, and we immediately fall into a pace that matches the 5K effort we've been practicing for weeks. Our stride is effortless as we blend aerobic endurance with speed and strength gained from the hills. We make adjustments in our effort level based upon feedback from our bodies, a method we rehearsed during all those repetitions on the roads and trails. And when finally the finish banner comes into view, we call upon our fartlek-trained fast-twitch muscles to carry us to the finish line, then cross at the exact moment we reach 100 percent effort.

There's no part of the race for which we're not prepared. There are no surprises awaiting us. We completed our task before race day. We assembled all the pieces of our puzzle. Our race is no longer a test. It's show and tell. It's graduation. It's a foregone conclusion. It's a celebration.

Best of all, the race itself now adds to our overall fitness, locking our puzzle pieces into place. We can look forward to improved 5K performances in our next races. And as an added bonus, the same training that's prepared us for the 5K has also prepared us for races like the 10K -- even the marathon! That's right. Since we've focused on improving the essential aspects of training -- from stride efficiency to muscle fiber recruitment to aerobic endurance -- rather than simply adding miles to our training logs, we've emerged as better overall runners: fitter, faster, and more efficient.

5K TRAINING PROGRAM

1) BASE-BUILDING PHASE

Use this two-week pattern of workouts several times before your racing season starts.

Day AM PM Monday 5K Effort Repetitions Tuesday Medium Run Wednesday Short Run* Medium Run Thursday Technique Drills/Short Hill Sprints Friday Short Run* Medium Run Saturday Long Run with Hills Sunday Short Run, Medium Run or Off Monday 5K Effort Repetitions Tuesday Medium Run Wednesday Short Run* Medium Run Thursday Long Hill Repeats Friday Short Run* Medium Run Saturday Long Run Sunday Short Run, Medium Run or Off

2) RACE PHASE

Follow this schedule before your key 5K races of the year to reach them rested and raring to go.

Day AM PM Monday Tempo Run Tuesday Medium Run Wednesday Short Run* Medium Run Thursday 16 x 200m (3K effort), with 200m jog Friday Short Run* Medium Run Saturday Long Run Sunday Short Run, Medium Run or Off Monday 20 x 400m (5K effort), with 100m jog Tuesday Short Run* Medium Run Wednesday Park or Trail Fartlek Thursday Short or Medium Run Friday 20-minute Run or Off Saturday RACE Sunday Short Run, Medium Run or Off

* = optional workout

Pete Magill holds three American age-group records and is the oldest American to break 15:00 for 5K, which he did at age 47.

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