Fitness Cardiovascular

Tips on Running a 5K

Summary & Participants

Knowing some tips about running your first 5K race can help make it successful.

Medically Reviewed On: August 13, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: If you’re a weekend jogger and you’re thinking about running your first 5k race but you’re a bit hesitant, there are some things you should know.

JONATHAN CANE, EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: Even as a beginner runner, you can do your first race and be at a starting line with national caliber competitors and you're all doing the same race, which you know, your company softball team isn't going to be out in Yankee Stadium, you know, playing in the big leagues. One of the other great things about races is most of the time there's hundreds, if not thousands of people doing it. So you're not going to be last. And, and if you are, nobody really cares. So doing a race, you know, throwing in a 5K just as a way of gauging your fitness, and as a way as you progress of seeing how much faster and how much better you've gotten, I think is a great idea.

ANNOUNCER: So you could still be a casual runner and run a 5k race!

JONATHAN CANE, EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: Ultimately, it's still left foot, right foot, repeat, and you know, just because you've pinned a number onto your shirt doesn't make the process really any different, and it shouldn’t be intimidating to people. Oftentimes, folks are going to be pleasantly surprised about how fast they go, and it spurs you on to do more.

ANNOUNCER: You might be wondering if you need to run a 5k to train for one.

JONATHAN CANE, EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: It's not a bad idea, especially for a relatively short distance like that, to cover the distance in training, by all means. And the other thing that I try and encourage folks to do is sort of start to get a sense of what your goal might be in terms of pace. Oftentimes, the excitement of being in a race, folks go way too fast for the first mile and then are just sort of crawling by the end. And if anything, I'd rather they start a little more conservatively and get faster as they go.

ANNOUNCER: Training days should be added in stages.

JONATHAN CANE, EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: Make it real gradual increments as opposed to going from three days a week to five or six days a week. You know, give yourself a few weeks of training that way to get your body acclimated to it and then add a day, you know, one day per week.

ANNOUNCER: Don’t be afraid of running your first race, you won’t be alone!

JONATHAN CANE, EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: Going out and doing a 5K as your first race, it's a distance that's manageable for almost anyone that's been running for a little while. And even if you have to throw in a walking break or something, if you get into it a little too soon and you have to walk, that's fine. It wouldn't be the first or the last ever to incorporate a little bit of a walk.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.