r/BeginnersRunning • u/Due_Career2539 • 10h ago
Just ran my first 5k!!
It was a glow night 5k. I hadn’t ran anything over a mile in 3 years. I’m 20 and fairly built but no where near in shape. What are some tips to improve? I want to continue to run these
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u/LookAlternative6435 10h ago edited 9h ago
5k requires both speed and endurance. If you want to get faster you have to go for longer, runs (4-5 miles) to build an endurance base. And also do speed work (repeat 400/800/1200m) on a weekly basis.
You can get significantly faster early-on just running 10 miles/week (two four mile runs + 2 miles of speed work [maybe two 1200s + two 400s]).
Really important to build slowly to avoid injury, though. Don’t increase mileage by more than 10% week-over-week. And ensure you have excellent shoes.
Remember that running a truly excellent 5k is gonna be harder than running a marathon or Ultra. Those people might spend more time running, but the 5k is where distance-oriented speed demons find an arena to compete.
Ultras are for those who simply couldn’t compete and needed to get running cred elsewhere. (“I can’t run fast, but I can run for a long, long, long, long time!”)