PUBLISHED 02/08/2008
6. Warm Up Wisely
"A proper warmup will improve any performance," says Jerry Cuellar, from Middleborro, Massachusetts. He does a slow jog 15 minutes before the race, followed by a few 50-yard sprints. Warm up on the racecourse itself. "You can preview the race," says Tim Guimond of Evanston, Illinois, and get a handle on where the hills and turns are.
7. Cut Corners
Race in the lightest running shoes that work for your foot type, says Andy Clark of Morristown, New Jersey. Studies show that if you lighten your load by six ounces (swapping training shoes for racing flats), you'll run one to two percent faster. For a 24:00 5-K runner, that's 14 to 28 seconds. "Don't neglect the benefits of drafting behind other runners, especially if you're running into wind," says Clark. "And run the tangents--the shortest distance between two points." Think of creative ways to motivate yourself to go faster. "For every person that passes me after the one-mile marker, I tell myself I have to pass two," says Bob Kaufman of Windsor, Wisconsin.
8. Take It Easy--At First
Even though it's short, it's still possible to start out too fast and run out of gas. "Your breathing pattern may get messed up, and then you have to stop or walk to catch your breath," says Susan Harmeling, race director of the Gasparilla Distance Classic in Tampa, one of the largest 5-Ks in the United States. "Start out in the middle or back of the pack, force yourself to run slower, and wait for that first mile split to determine your race strategy," says Kaufman of Wisconsin. Jim Dolan of Princeton, New Jersey, suggests "running moderately fast at a pace that feels faster than your daily runs, but not so fast that you feel that you'll need to stop soon."
9. Or Start Fast
"At a recent race, I decided to start much stronger than usual and see if I could hold on for the entire race. I beat my previous PR by 59 seconds!" says Taylor of Pennsylvania, who ran 10 5-Ks last year. Starting fast helps you beat the pack in more than one way. "You don't get trapped near the back," says P.J. Van Beurden of Los Osos, California. "It takes a lot less energy to start fast than it does to weave in and out of people."
10. Finish Strong and Celebrate!
"Once the finish line is in sight, kick with everything you've got and leave people in the dust," says Van Beurden of California. The short, concentrated amount of time and distance means the race can be over before you know it. "If you finish using every drop in the tank," says James Vaughan of Twin Oaks, Oklahoma, "it doesn't matter if you're first or 200th, you've already won." And then pat yourself on the back. "It is absolutely necessary to drink a pint of a fine brew afterward!" says Tom W., of Allston, Massachusetts. "What's a race without a postrace party?"
