First 5k - help with race plan/goals

[cLev3lander!]

My high school club team has our first 5k test in the next few days and we haven't been given any race plan help or instruction. I rowed this spring and I can race plan for a 2k, but I've never done a 5k and don't know how to pace for it or write a race plan. I've tried to find articles online but they all seem to be for cross-fitters, not people who row competitvely.

What are some goals I should set? How should I break up the test and how should I pace it?

I'm 16y/o, 5'9", 140lbs. My 2k is 8:29. I rowed this spring as my first season - we've only been training for fall for about a week now, although I did some steady state occasionally over the summer when I didn't have work/vacation/etc and did some lifting.

Any help with planning for the 5k or race planning would be greatly appreciated!

[Autoland]

My best 2k is 8:05.5 and my best 5k is 20:54.6.

I've done quite a few 5ks and only 3 or 4 2ks, so I may be capable of an 8:00 2k. So, for me my 5k pace is ~5 seconds more than my 2k pace.

I think a good goal for you would be to maintain a pace of ~2:12.

[winniewinser]

My high school club team has our first 5k test in the next few days and we haven't been given any race plan help or instruction. I rowed this spring and I can race plan for a 2k, but I've never done a 5k and don't know how to pace for it or write a race plan. I've tried to find articles online but they all seem to be for cross-fitters, not people who row competitvely.

What are some goals I should set? How should I break up the test and how should I pace it?

I'm 16y/o, 5'9", 140lbs. My 2k is 8:29. I rowed this spring as my first season - we've only been training for fall for about a week now, although I did some steady state occasionally over the summer when I didn't have work/vacation/etc and did some lifting.

Any help with planning for the 5k or race planning would be greatly appreciated!

For me my 5k is circa +5.4 over 2k.

As for race plan......maybe try and negative split each piece or say 1km....have a planned pace target and stick to it early and then open the burners on the last 500m.

Good luck

[Tsnor]

In case its not obvious from the excellent posts above.

Your 2K of 8:29 had a 2:07 split. 2:07 for every 500 meters.

Going from a 2K to a 5K requires a longer/slower pace. Usually 5 to 7 seconds slower per 500 meters. (the "circa +5.4 over 2k" in the post above meant 5.4 seconds added to the 500m split time in the 2K is the pace for 5K).

If you are in the same condition now as you were for the 2K then

Start at 2:12 or 2:14 splits (= 2:07 + 5 seconds or +7 seconds). Do a few (5?) strong strokes to get up to speed, then settle immediately to this pace. It will seem slow, but you want this pace not faster. Stay long. Use a controlled stroke rate a bit slower than your 2K stroke rate.

Negative splits means start at a slower pace and improve it during the race. If you use negative splits start at 2:14 or even 2:16, then over time (say 15 mins into your row) see if you can lower the split a bit.

Do an all out sprint at 200 meters left, about 20 strokes, Do pull through the last stoke completely - people lose time by stopping with 10 meters left.

Your total time will be a bit over 22 minutes at this pace.

(If you know you are not in condition, back off the split another 2-5 seconds, then improve it at the 15-20 minute mark again).

[Dangerscouse]

The only other thing I'll add is be prepared for a wobble at about 3.5k in to it. If you're really pushing it, I always have a notable moment of doubt at this stage.

You just need to ride out the storm, as it will pass, and you'll feel stronger for it too.

[Elizabeth]

My 2k is 8:29. I rowed this spring as my first season - we've only been training for fall for about a week now, although I did some steady state occasionally over the summer when I didn't have work/vacation/etc and did some lifting.

Is that 2k from the spring or recent? What's the most recent hard workout you've done, what was it, and what was your pace? What's your pace been for steady state this week, and how has it felt?

My main advice - whether you are highly trained or getting back from a summer of inconsistent training - would be to avoid the lure of starting off too fast, and expect that it will get really hard at the 3.5k mark like Dangerscourse stated. I've had that same experience. I could probably give better pacing advice with more data. Tsnor sounds right on if you're in the same condition you were for the 2k, but the big variable is the condition that you're currently in. If you've lost some aerobic conditioning, adding 2-5 seconds per split may be perfect, or it may be too aggressive.

[cLev3lander!]

Thanks everyone for the help! I did the 5k this weekend, and it was definitely harder than everyone (my teammates) said it would be. I feel I could have started out a bit stronger since I had to try and make up for it at the end, but I had a 2:20 average and a final time of 23:25. I'm ok with that since it leaves me room to improve the next time and since this attempt was only a "baseline".

I made a race plan and taped it to my erg based on everyone's suggestions - thanks!! I appreciated all the help and wouldn't have known how to pace it otherwise.

[Tsnor]

Nice. Good baseline. Thanks for posting. Is your season Aug to October ? If you end up doing another 5K please update this thread... it'll be interesting to see how much faster you are.

[Elizabeth]

Way to go! Figuring out what to expect for the first time at a given distance is tricky, and the 5k is a hard distance. Now you have a baseline for training and what to expect out of the next time.

[aussie nick]

like others have said....the only way is up from here. all these distances take time to learn...both from the rhythm of the distance itself but also the journey your body and mind goes through. so not only will you get fitter and faster with additional training, but you'll get more efficient and effective at getting the most out of yourself

congratulations on the first one and keep it up!

[Dangerscouse]

Thanks everyone for the help! I did the 5k this weekend, and it was definitely harder than everyone (my teammates) said it would be. I feel I could have started out a bit stronger since I had to try and make up for it at the end, but I had a 2:20 average and a final time of 23:25. I'm ok with that since it leaves me room to improve the next time and since this attempt was only a "baseline".

I made a race plan and taped it to my erg based on everyone's suggestions - thanks!! I appreciated all the help and wouldn't have known how to pace it otherwise.

Every distance needs some 'sighters' to understand what it feels like and what to expect. As you have seen 5k is a bit of a strange distance, where you need to be respectful of the distance, but still consistently strong enough to attack it properly.

If others said it would be easier, that could be down to their suitability for the distance, their fitness, or just old fashioned bravado from them not wanting to admit it was harder than they expected. Regardless, it doesn't matter what it was like for them, and it's promising to hear that you felt strong at the end. You need to use the average pace as your starting pace next time.

[Wilpert]

I’m pretty new to this but at the other end of the spectrum, as I’m nearly 60 and you are just 16. So for me I’m happy to improve a tiny bit at a time.

I suspect at your age, you’ll master it easily and you’ll improve in large chunks.

It’s really good to see that you’re pacing yourself.
That’s a discipline that some of us never really master.
I’ve done cycling time trials and gone off too fast to the disastrous effect of feeling the burn just a few minutes in to a 10 mile race. Then suffering for the next 20 plus minutes.
Same mistake on a cross country run, lasted iff only to get passed by people who I should have beat easily.

I also feel when you’re young that short races don’t seem so short as they really are because you may not have. Built up the stamina and got used to longer distances.

I’ve just started to increase my distance to 10k, then an hour and now I’m upping it by 1000 mts at a time.
I’m now feeling that 5k is just a short effort and just 8 weeks ago that was a daunting distance.

Really well done. I think you’ve got a got attitude towards the training and I know it will pay off with pbs soon.

[cLev3lander!]

Nice. Good baseline. Thanks for posting. Is your season Aug to October ? If you end up doing another 5K please update this thread... it'll be interesting to see how much faster you are.

So we finally did another 5k on the erg yesterday, and I was able to drop a good chunk of time...I looked over this forum again before the test and I decided I wanted to aim for at the very least, two seconds off my average split from last time (a low bar to set but I've been exhausted lately). Just like last time I feel like I didn't come out of the gate fast enough, which affected my overall time, but we'll do another test again in a month so I know what to fix for the next 5k. Our season runs Aug-October/early November depending on regattas, and so we will likely do another at end of October timeframe.

Overall time was 22:33.3, average split 2:15, and stroke rate a 26.

Also did my first on-water 5k this past weekend in a four and then a double. We got third in the double, and since it was only my 4th time bow coxing I think it went rather well. Time 22:41; we could have done better but it was after the race for the four and we had already rowed a 15k by the time we rowed to the start for the double (5k up, 5k down, 5k up again).

Thanks again everyone for the help and support, I really appreciate it!

[Tony Cook]

Nice. Good baseline. Thanks for posting. Is your season Aug to October ? If you end up doing another 5K please update this thread... it'll be interesting to see how much faster you are.

So we finally did another 5k on the erg yesterday, and I was able to drop a good chunk of time...I looked over this forum again before the test and I decided I wanted to aim for at the very least, two seconds off my average split from last time (a low bar to set but I've been exhausted lately). Just like last time I feel like I didn't come out of the gate fast enough, which affected my overall time, but we'll do another test again in a month so I know what to fix for the next 5k. Our season runs Aug-October/early November depending on regattas, and so we will likely do another at end of October timeframe.

Overall time was 22:33.3, average split 2:15, and stroke rate a 26.

Also did my first on-water 5k this past weekend in a four and then a double. We got third in the double, and since it was only my 4th time bow coxing I think it went rather well. Time 22:41; we could have done better but it was after the race for the four and we had already rowed a 15k by the time we rowed to the start for the double (5k up, 5k down, 5k up again).

Thanks again everyone for the help and support, I really appreciate it!

Nice improvement. I think that’s a good rate for a 5k, and know its personal and others do it at a higher rate but I think it’s a good balance between strength and aerobic fitness.
Keep putting the metres in and I look forward to 2:12 splits in another month.

[cLev3lander!]

I did a 6k recently instead of a 5k and I was really happy with how it went so I thought I would post here, because why not.

Goal was 2:12 splits which is 3 seconds lower than my 5k split avg (2:15)

I averaged a 2:11.7/500m for my 6k split which means I could definitely do 2:10 or lower for a 5k, and I beat my goal, so I think the 6k went well. Did it at a 24 stroke rate

Final time 26:20, still need to drop it but for my first ever 6k it's not too bad imo. I probably could have gone harder as my HR wasn't that high, but I wasn't entirely sure how to pace a 6k. I'm going to do a 5k retest sometime in the next few weeks and see how it goes.

Thanks everyone for the help and support when I was planning my first 5ks.