How Running a Hard 5k Feels

How should running a 5k feel? What kind of markers do you look for in each km? Forget data. Forget heart rate. How about the "feel"
To check out our merch click here - www.newbalanceteam.co.uk/cate...
Contact Us -
Email - [e-mail]
Website - www.thismessyhappy.com
Insta - @thismessyhappy
Patreon Coaching - www.patreon.com/Thismessyhapp...
Facebook Page - This Messy Happy
Facebook Group - 'This Messy Happy - Running and Triathlon'
Fitness Freaks Podcast;
Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/3enTvn2...
Apple - podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
All Others - anchor.fm/s/395c595c/podcast/rss

[@funwithmadness]

I think any race, that section between 1/2 and 3/4 complete is always the worst. The first 1/4 is easy as you're fresh. The next quarter isn't bad as you're still pretty fresh and just cruising. The last quarter isn't too bad either. It's hard because you're tired, but the adrenaline and attitude start to kick in, propelling you forward. That third quarter is just soul draining. You're tired. Your body aches. Your lungs are on fire and you cannot catch your breath. The heart is POUNDING. The mental gremlins are unrelenting, forcing you to second guess every decision you've made up to that point throughout your life. Doubt becomes a sadistic demon harassing your, trying to crush you, force you to give up so it can laugh at your pathetic existence. Then you cross that magical mark where the home stretch is near and suddenly you feel free. It still hurts, but you know you'll make it.

[@conradburdekin722]

What a brilliant description of running a race! That’s EXACTLY how it feels 👍👍

[@jobanski]

Basically that “middle mile” is when I start questioning my life choices.

[@tirvplumbing]

Did my local parkrun new years day pb attempt. Was huffing like a train the whole way round. 😂 Got my pb down from 28:31 to 22:16.

[@Stevenc1984]

👀

[@conradburdekin722]

Guessing there was quite a gap between when you ran those times?!!

[@tirvplumbing]

@@conradburdekin722 Aug 22 was my first parkrun after couch to 5k ran 28:31 flat out. 18 months since ive done a couple 10ks, a half and a full marathon. Running a lot more now. 😊

[@conradburdekin722]

@@tirvplumbing well done! Really impressive 👍👍👍

[@abigaillowery8357]

Wow! You give me a lot of hope and inspiration. That's awesome! 👏

[@drjd876]

Needed this, have a 5k in 6 weeks that I'm training for where I plan to go sub 20. I love this prospective, thanks! 1k controlled: not too fast, feel for your pace 2k settle: find your target pace, get comfortable and fall asleep 3-4k: hold on, it's gotten real, stay asleep, it hurts but you'll be done soon 5k: Dig DEEP, count down the distance, your mind may tell you there's nothing left, but your body has that last drive. 400m leave it all on the course! All the training, those times where you didn't want to train, those hard days, leave it all out there!! That's what I got anyway! I welcome more prospective from anyone with more experience (1 year old runner 😅)

[@SherKhan0122]

Interesting idea of fall asleep during the most painful part.

[@kevinclark5086]

I always feel at my worst about half way in a 5k. Looking at my stats on previous runs if ive gone off too fast then my second mile is always the slowest then i seem to be able to hold on to that pace until the end. So ive learned not to push the pace that first mile but then make up that time at the sprint finish. Its still not easy but when im on for a good time it seems less painful than trying to get yourself out of a hole with half the distance to go.

[@michaelmacleod2665]

Can I just thank you for some really enjoyable videos. Followed for a few years and the quality of your videos has got better and better. Appreciate how much time and effort must go into it. Keep it going and thank you.

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Ahh thanks so much, Michael. That’s so kind 😊

[@sman53]

Haha going off too fast ! Last week I was in a South African park run and I was tailing a 60 year old woman and assumed I would keep up , she accelerated away and when I finished I saw her and it was Zola budd 😂

[@logohigh1]

barefoot ?

[@andersonteo4879]

Zola Budd at 60, probably can still out run many man 10 to 20 yr her junior! Love watching her compete back in the 80s, although her arm swing was and still is, I believe, looks unconventional. Not to mention her bare foot running then.😅

[@Stevenc1984]

I'd add it may start to feel hard and then feel easier again. Strange things happen when you're at the edge of your capabilities.

[@IainThacker]

Great run through! Ran my fastest parkrun/5k on Christmas day (Congleton) with a 21:19 (5k in 21:10) and the 3rd km is a complete git. Was really happy though - paced it to perfection with all the km splits between 4:11 and 4:18 - last km the fastest. I mostly race 10k so this was a real challenge to not go out too fast and, having missed a lot of training with and annoyingly small injury I really didn't know where my pace was.

[@Timtherunner]

I just got my pb of 21:19 on new year's Day. Must have been the couple of ciders I had the night before 😂. If it ain't hurting... You ain't racing 😊

[@andyevans6136]

Fantastic video!!

[@redshycoker]

Love this!!

[@martinreidart]

Nice video! Got a 5k race in a few days!! Always good to know that you’ll always feel pain if you’re racing a 5k to your best. Some good insights! Cheers ben. Also some great times!!

[@terciosantana4697]

i ran 19:26 last november and it hurt like hell! can't wait to do it again! :D

[@justinlloyd-jones1658]

Love this channel. This is a great video and a taster of what the faster runners are going though. I'm nowhere near the end of Parkrun when the quick runners finish but when I marshal and get to see them and it's actually encouraging to know it's all relative and nice to see them bent over, hands on knees too 😊

[@frangalarza]

Great to see some familiar Parkrun courses in Sydney :)

[@timmy653]

Ben I watched this video barely 30mins before going for a jog along the Perth Foreshore. It was a bit surreal to then see you and Mary run past me... I thought I was hallucinating! 😂

[@ThisMessyHappy]

Wait, did you wave at us? Someone waved at us but it was too late by the time I realised, to wave back! And I thought the wave was to the guy we were running with as he’s local!! 😂 sorry if you did wave and we didn’t wave back!! We’re not gits I promise 😂

[@timmy653]

@ThisMessyHappy haha yes that was me! I'll come say hi if I see you out & about again 👍 enjoy your time in Perth - there's lots of great running tracks further around the river and along the coast!

[@BryceRKoehn]

I love y’all’s content! Thank you for this video!! ❤ The first K for me I always feel like I’m running too fast even if I’m running slow. K2 & K3 I generally get in the zone. K4 is all mental for me. If I can get passed the mental part, K5 is fantastic but if not my last kilometer is pretty slow. 5K’s are my favorite race.

[@nicw1387]

I ran a new Parkrun location and THOUGHT I saw the finish line, sprinted to it, emptied the tank and then realised I still had another 200m to go 🤣 worst feeling ever but managed to push through 🤣🤣

[@farid-zf6wn]

Bravo 🎉

[@rhiannonruns829]

I’ll be thinking about this as I do a 5km time trial at the end of the month to see if my month of training has paid off in getting my time down a little bit. 🎉

[@TiloDroid]

my favorite mantra is: save energy. as long as i can keep a little pocket of energy available through the first 3-4k, i will manage to finish strong, theres always more energy leftover than you think in the last 400

[@boeck6425]

Did go from 23:46 in june to 22:00 on the 31 decemeber parkrun. It felt kind of similar to what you are describing. After 2.5k though my mental starts to go like "Oh well half way done. It's less than half way you can do it.". Sub 20 in 2024? We'll see. But going all out for a new PB every saturday is too painful. Might do it on a monthly basis and do those over Parkruns in fast but more "enjoyable" pace.

[@GK1976A]

5k is currently my favourite running distance. Not a silly distance, but enough to get you super fit if that’s what you’re aiming for. 5k is further that most people think. 🤔

[@icejam-xq5hj]

3-4km is the hardest on a flat course. Still my favourite distance to run. Love Parkrun!

[@abigaillowery8357]

This is a very timely video for me. Thanks for sharing. I wrote out my goals for this year. I want to get under 4:45 for my second marathon and under 24:00 for my 5k. I did a 5k test run today in very cold conditions. My midsection was very hot and sweaty while my face, even with the occasional use of a gaiter, kept feeling very cold. I did not PR today, but I felt pretty much everything you described in this video. The only difference is I don't think I felt actual pain. I felt a great deal of discomfort and was breathing very heavily though. My legs felt totally fine. Is that just related to how people perceive or label pain differently or does that mean my legs have a lot of potential for going faster and I just need to increase my aerobic (anaerobic fitness)?

[@Bwebber99]

Good video, you have run at a few different parkrun locations.

[@Leeroy49]

Yes 5km races are very very difficult to get right.

[@carlospagos89]

i have never specifically trained for a time in running. i just once a year test my 5km 10km half and always PB. my last pb was 20:52 for 5km and i decided to do some specific training and attempt a sub 20:00. i got 20:06 completley blew up with 300m left and lost the 6 seconds. that 5km was the hardest run ive ever done and ive ran 3 ultras between 50-60km!

[@danielswaim5566]

I ran my first 5k race back at the end of October. It was about 3 weeks after my first marathon. I ran it in 18:41. My first thought after crossing the finish was, "I'd so much rather run a marathon." The pain of a flat out 5k effort is just unreal.

[@conradburdekin722]

I got 19:56 early last year. Red lined at the end. How do I know this? Cos as I crossed the finish line I began dry heaving 😂

[@markhill8590]

Ran my 5k pb on Sunday 17:33 and its all i had in the tank, personally i think a hard 5k is harder than any long distance race

[@Nayz13]

And then there’s my local parkrun with big mofo hills that murder your heart rate 😂

[@ADAMBLAZEVIC]

My 5K PB is from a progressive 8K run with 3K warmup and I had 2 5K races around that time so that tells the story how bad my pacing is :) I just can't tell if I'm too careful or not with my initial pace, my biggest fear is that I'll blow up but I feel like at some point I have to risk it to be able to reach my max potential.

[@jacobhopkins2739]

Pick you a flat 5K and just go for it! If you blow, you blow. You know you can cover the distance so you might as well be bold and find out. New PB is imminent, I feel it!

[@ADAMBLAZEVIC]

@@jacobhopkins2739 Thanks man! Definetly I should try this and not wait until a race, I was so focused on races actually I never thought about just doing a time trial.

[@platosbeard3476]

Roughly speaking, 15 seconds faster than your lactate threshold pace is a good place to be for the bulk of the race. If you want it more fine tuned, you can put this race pace into your Garmin watch (dunno bout other brands) and it will make pace adjustments for you.

[@priyankpant2262]

Great race Sir !! Can you comment how much your peak HR reaches during a hard 5k like this ?

[@James.chalmers]

This is how I feel… pain pain pain 😅

[@nextsteps]

Best🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤🙏🙏🙏

[@jsol5076]

Hmmm. I never feel this bad at parkrun. Guess I need to work harder. I run at the same comfortably hard pace for 4k then increase gradually during the last k towards a sprint finish and every week I think "Darn, I haven't emptied the tank again". I don't like doing hard things, so this is a hard mental battle to conquer. I really must rethink my parkrun strategy. 🏃‍♀

[@spatchy1624]

What’s your pb ?

[@jsol5076]

@@spatchy1624 Best time for 2023 was 22min. But I am a VWO60, so parkrun age grade is already at ~88%. It's pacer week at parkrun 2moro, so I'm planning to glue myself to the 22min pacer then leave him/her for dust in the home straight. I'll either run under 22min or run out of steam way before the finish. Either way, it'll be Ben's video inspiration/fault for making me think that I could/should be able to do better.

[@jsol5076]

Plan thwarted. No 22min pacer. But my internal metronome got me round over 20sec faster than of late. I tried harder, but the tank wasn't emptied which bodes well for next week's attempt. Thanks Ben & Mary. I hope your school pupils/students appreciate you. I still remember my inspirational teachers from the 1960s/1970s with fondness and gratitude.

[@Stecks5637]

Background music way too loud. Balance your levels. Everyone is a critic lol. Great content!!

[@michaelhenry4405]

Brilliant vid. I will however disagree with the statement that 5k is the hardest race. I reckon 10k is the worst.