Building up your long run, slow and steady pacing, maybe some lactate threshold workouts, maybe some hills. For some marathoners, that is about it. A simple approach, with some but not much variation. No problem, if that keeps you in your groove then no need to change a thing. But now comes a 5k your friends want you to do with them. All of sudden there you are at the start-line, unsure of what pace to do, and a bit scared of the ‘pain’ (intensity) that might happen. The gun goes off…

Since you have not trained for a 5k you might opt to stay clear of that possible pain and run well below your potential. You finish feeling like you maybe touched some gears you are not used to using, but never for too long so no harm done. You have survived the 5k with your friends and can now move on to more important matters (the long run).

Or, since you are not used to racing such short distances, you go out too aggressively and by mile one you are not happy. Breathing hard, not sure if you can hold the pace, too proud to slow down because you are a marathoner and 5ks are nothing to you.

In either case, just a couple of 5k specific intro-workouts can help navigate these variables (pacing and intensity) on race day and can help with your marathon-specific workouts long-term. Here is a sample,
intro 5k workout:

Warmup: 1-2 miles easy run, with the last ¼ mile a bit faster
– Stop and Stretch
– Drills and Strides
Workout: 1 2 3 4 min faster intervals all around 5k intensity with as much rest in between as needed
Cooldown: 1-2 miles easy run

Some key components to the above:

1) ‘Stop’ – yes, a difficult thing to do for some marathoners. But keep in mind you are going to be
running with a bit more range of motion and force than normal, so your warm-up routine needs to
account for that.

2) ‘Stretch’ – this does not need to be an extensive session, just lightly increase your range of motion
with some basic short holds (e.g. pulling heel to chest, pulling heel to glute, wall-push calf stretch).

3) Drills and Strides – some fast butt-kicks, high high-knees, and long skips to continue the warmup
process, then 2-4 60-80 meter fast strides. These strides are still part of the warmup and can themselves be progressive, so feel free to start conservative with the first one, and take plenty of rest in between.

4) 1 2 3 4 min intervals. Much of the initial fatigue of faster running is lack of neuromuscular
coordination at the new speed. Given this, there is not much purpose to running so fast that you are out
of breath. If done right, you feel a bit challenged with each interval, but your body ‘learns’ during the
rest and you feel better with each interval, even though it is getting longer.

Expand these ‘coordination intervals’ now with next week’s session, to perhaps 1 2 3 4 5 6, or 2 4 6 8,
moving up to the next length in interval only if you feel stronger with each rep (e.g. 2 minutes into the 3-
minute intervals feels better than the end of the 2-minute interval, even though the pace is the same).