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When I first began running, the 5K was a perfect distance for me. I was quite unfit at the time and had to spend a lot of the 5K walking at first. To begin with, my time would range anywhere from 35-40 minutes. I definitely thought I could do better. I spent months after months running the same route, again and again, and eventually, I was able to bring my time down to 27 minutes.
After some consideration, there were a few things I could have done to get to my personal best a lot quicker. This article is packed with helpful information that can help you to do the same.
Real Runners Advice
Before we dive into my tips and tricks, here’s what other runners had to say about getting a personal best:
“Something that really helped me was doing a few 10Ks (not worrying about the pace), which put into perspective how much effort I can put into pace without crashing for 5K. So, gently increasing distance and cross-training :)”
– 4buck2cherry0
“Do some longer runs to build a stronger aerobic base and some threshold workout reps at about target pace. As somebody else mentioned already, increasing mileage is key as well.”
-blueKing8
From the general advice I collected, it appeared that runners think it’s better to get some long runs in to help put things into perspective for smaller runs and increase your overall ability. From my personal experience, this is definitely something I believe could help also.
Hey, if you’re interested in learning more about running a 5K I’ve written an entire guide on 5K times, you can find it here.
Strength Train
Strength training is typically ignored by runners because runners tend not to realize all the benefits that can come with it. If you’re training to reach your 5K personal best, keeping the joints around the muscles as strong as possible can reduce the chances of getting injured.
As a general rule, runners looking to achieve a new personal best for their 5K should look to strength train anywhere between 2-3 times a week. Exercises should include full-body movements that focus on the legs and the core. Examples include squats, lunges, and deadlifts.
Rest
When you first start running, it’s easy to want to head out and hit the road every day. You might not like to hear it, but taking rest days from a 5K could actually help improve your personal best.
A study that looked at the link between sleep and athletic performance found that better sleep can result in better accuracy, reaction times, and endurance performance. So making sure you get enough sleep in before attempting a 5K personal best is worth bearing in mind.
In addition to the positive effects that a bit of rest can have on your body, taking rest days can also help you improve a 5K by preventing some pretty nasty problems too. Overtraining is a big problem with runners, especially those who have just started out and may be a little more enthusiastic. Not giving your body the practical amount of time to recover can result in some pretty nasty injuries including damage to the muscles bones and joints. It’s going to be very difficult to run 3.1 miles if you cause damage to any of these areas. But if you’d like to know more about running through injuries and managing pain, check out this article I wrote.
Plan
When it comes to getting a personal best for your 5K, many runners underestimate how much commitment it is going to take to run repeatedly week after week. Having some kind of a plan in place can be great for giving your runs structure and getting them geared towards an end goal.
A good place to start is to try one of the available running programs online that give you set distances and days that you should be running. If you’re somewhat experienced in running a 5K already and looking to push for your personal best I’d recommend something like this training program by Hal Higdon.
If using a training plan isn’t your thing, it’s at least a good idea to make sure you’re setting aside specific times and dates to run. One of the main things that help runners meet a personal best for a 5K is consistency. Making sure that you meet your weekly target can be hard, but by writing down the specific dates and times that you plan to run, it can make it much easier to commit.
Track Progress
To make sure that you are progressing toward getting a personal best, it can often help to track your progress. This will give you a clear idea of whether your times and overall performance are going up, down, or simply plateauing.
As a general rule, if you’re looking to track progress for your 5K personal best, then it’s a good idea to keep a note of all times that you are getting following a run. By taking a note of all three-mile, five-mile, and seven-mile runs, for example, runners can get a much better idea of what sort of time they can expect to get for a 5K.
When it comes to tracking progress, something else runners should bear in mind is that it helps to get specific about the types of runs you’re doing. For example, tracking the time of a five-mile run might be enough. But if you want to get a real clear understanding of how you’re doing, it’s also worth thinking about how hard you’re trying. Is this a hard or easy run? What tempo and pace are you moving at? All these things can help contribute to building a personal best.
Prepare
The great thing about a 5K is that it can generally be run under an hour, so there isn’t a great number of things you need to consider preparing for. That being said, it’s worth keeping the following in mind.
- Running Essentials- There are a lot of items runners can carry to make them safer and help their overall performance. There are so many that I’ve written an entire article about them which you can find here. Depending on the conditions you’re running in, you may consider carrying essentials such as this Compact First Aid Kit and waterproof clothing such as this All-Weather Running Hat
- Water- Is crucial for runners. However, if you prefer to run without the extra weight, you may get away with completing a 5K without carrying water. I wrote an entire article on running with water which you can find here. As a general rule, if you’re running a 5K then it might be a good idea to drink around 120ml of water every 15 minutes. Carrying the extra weight of water is certainly something that can affect your personal best. For that reason, I’ve written an article on the best ways to carry water, which you can find here.
- Decide Where To Run- The location that you run in can have a big impact on the time you expect to get for your personal best. On average running a mile on a trail generally takes longer than a mile on a road. This is usually down to the different conditions and terrain that you’ll be crossing over. Just like how running on the road can give you a different time for your 5K when compared to running on the sidewalk. Picking the same route and trying to run the same conditions is the best way to give you the most accurate time for your personal best. If you want to know more about how to decide where to run, check out this article I wrote.
- Correct Clothing- Wearing the proper running attire won’t make you faster. But wearing the wrong clothing for your run will slow you down. Wearing baggy clothing, that absorbs water and is too big for you is going to make you a lot slower than running clothes that are light, durable, and can wick away sweat and water.
Visualize
It sounds a little cringy, but visualizing completing your 5K with your all-time personal best is a great way to ensure you make something happen. Mental toughness is a big part of running that often goes overlooked. In recent years, professional athletes have worked closely alongside leading psychologists and a lot of findings have pointed to the fact that visualizing positive outcomes of a race increases your chances of reaching this goal.
Some of the most successful athletes even go as far as to try and incorporate all their senses into the end goal, meaning not only do they visualize how a positive outcome will look but also how it will sound, smell, and maybe even feel.
Visualization can also be a pretty good tool for runners to predict how they can overcome any negative obstacles in a race. For example, I usually find a 5K the most difficult when I have run 4.8KM. This is because I generally choose to run my 5KM in miles and this is the point where I know that the three miles are up and there are only 0.1 miles left to run. By visualizing myself being able to push through this obstacle, I found it a lot easier to reach my personal best.
Use Pacers
In a practical sense, keeping track of your pace is excellent for breaking down your run into smaller chunks. Many professional athletes use pacemakers when attempting to break world records. The 5k World record holder, Erihu Aregawi, who completed the distance in 12:49, used pacemakers to help achieve the record.
In professional settings, this is done with other runners who specifically mark the pace for a runner at the start of a race so that they can avoid overexerting themselves. For those of us who aren’t lucky enough to have a team of runners behind us, the next best thing is to use a pacer. Pacers that track your average pace per mile are brilliant for giving you a quick idea of how you’re performing.
When it comes to finding a pacer, I’d recommend using a running watch like this Garmin Running Watch, which is also specifically designed to help track heart rate, calories, and intensity for runners.
Eat Well
It seems like a given right. I’m no nutritionist, but I do know that your body gives out what you put in. The sorts of food runners should be eating to achieve a personal best include whole foods, plenty of carbs, and vegetables. For a better idea of the kinds of foods, you should be eating, check out this article I wrote on the 9 best foods for runners.
When it comes to a 5K, the good news is that you aren’t likely to run out of glycogen stores, so bringing a snack with you isn’t usually needed. That being said, making sure you eat plenty of carbs the night before your run is likely to give you all the energy you need to perform at your best.
Workouts
There are several different workouts runners can consider doing to improve their overall speed for a workout and, in turn, finish with a much better time. The following are just a few great examples:
Hill Sprints
When it comes to getting a personal best for your 5K, the big benefit to hill sprints is that they can increase your overall stamina. In addition to this, hill sprints have also been linked with reducing injuries, increasing stride power, and building mental toughness.
For an easy step by step guide on how to perform hill sprints, check out the video below:
Interval Runs
Similar to hill sprints, interval runs are a great way to improve overall stamina as well as time efficiency. By throwing yourself into fast runs, whilst also giving yourself time to recover at a slower pace, runners can get used to running faster without overexerting themselves. For a guide on how best to perform interval runs, check out the video below:
Increase The Length Of Your Runs
After asking other runners, I can assure you that it’s tried and tested advice. Increasing the length of your runs is brilliant for increasing your stamina and overall capacity. For example, if you’re able to run a 10K in around an hour, this should give you a pretty good idea of how long it will take you to complete a 5K run.
The simplest way of looking at this is that the longer you run, the better you will become at running.
Wear The Right Attire
Important side note, wearing great quality running clothing isn’t going to make you any faster. But wearing poor-quality running clothing can slow you down. By wearing running clothing made out of poor material, runners could trip, soak up moisture, and suffer from chafing and overheating.
The best kind of clothing for runners probably deserves an article of its own. Runners looking for the best kind of reflective clothing can review this article. Runners looking for the best kind of jacket can check out this article. Runners looking for a guide to the best running shorts can check out this article.
