Poor Pacing. Thoughts?

learn to run it on feel, unless you're using a gps you can't just control what the first split will be, you can only run what feels like a good first mile of a 5k race

go to the track and run repeats, 400 to 800, whatever, you'll learn what each pace feels like and won't have to think about it.

workingonit wrote:

I recently ran a poorly paced 5k. Here were split times:

mile one: 6:05

mile two: 6:55

mile three: 6:35

For my next 5k race coming up, what pace do you suggest I go out at and what time do you think I should shoot for?

I would say 6.20 might be optimal. Strange splits though as usually once I have blown up, I never come back with a faster last mile than the second one.

I would first need to know about the wind/terrain. Did you just struggle that bad during the second mile or were you going up hill, etc.? It wasn't mentioned if this was on a track or not.

It was a road race, and mile 2 started out uphill. I was gassed after that fast first mile but after slowing so much on mile 2 I was able to kick in a little more effort for mile 3.

In any case, I had another road race this weekend and managed even splits for the first time in a long time. I also shaved 10 seconds off my time. I was really happy.

What time did you do?

Run the first mile so that you feel like you're being held back. You want to be comfortable and relaxed. Then on the second mile, start catching up to people, and you should be feeling quite strained. On the third mile, die from effort.

Get on a track and run 3x1600 repeats or 5x1000 and try to get the exact same pace.