Dallas / Fort Worth
STRENGTH AND RUNNING BLOG
for expert tips on running, strength training for runners, and nutrition
Have you ever failed to achieve a health and fitness goal? Have you set your mind and intention toward a goal only to be derailed and let that goal fall to the wayside?
I'll show you how to set goals so you can always succeed if you stay committed to action. We'll discuss process vs. outcome goals and how to get the most out of both to overcome typical roadblocks and stay focused.
There's this idea I'd observed among recreational runners that a 5K is only for new runners, holiday fun runs, or runners who don't have the endurance to go farther. Sometimes once runners advance to 10Ks, half marathons, and marathons, they think they have outgrown 5Ks and no longer see the value in competing at this distance.
It couldn't be further from the truth. Experienced runners can benefit from 5Ks to improve their fitness, speed, and mental training, which will carry over to longer-distance racing.
If your pace is essentially the same for all your training runs and race distances, you might be leaving performance on the table. Your race times should be faster than your everyday training runs (except for workouts explicitly done at race pace, which should not be multiple times per week).
If your race and daily training paces are the same, you are either running too fast for most of your training runs or not pushing yourself enough at your races (assuming getting faster in races is a goal).
Of course, running for general fitness, fun, mental health, or community involvement is always okay (even great!); not everyone wants (or needs) to get faster.
However, a 5K race is a great way to improve fitness if you want to improve your pace at all distances. A 5K is an opportunity to practice running faster at shorter distances, increasing stamina and improving mental toughness. Training to increase your 5K time can help you improve your fitness, translating to better performances at other distances.
Getting comfortable running fast(er) 5Ks can make your half marathon or marathon pace feel downright easy!
If for no other reason, running 5Ks a few times a year can help you establish a fitness baseline to compare future improvements. A race provides an atmosphere that fosters competition and giving your all! You could measure out a 5K on the streets of your neighborhood, but a race experience can elevate your motivation.
I can exert myself when running alone, but the push of a runner coming up behind me or spotting someone to pass ahead gives me a boost to hang on and push a little more. Hearing the footsteps of my competitors, the crowds, the music, and the support help me push up against my perceived limits.
Then, subsequent races can help you determine if you are improving, if your training plan is effective, and help track the progress. Just make sure you are comparing races appropriately. A hilly summer race may not be an accurate assessment against a flat race in the winter. We expect to be slower in humid or warm weather with elevation, which does not mean we lost fitness.
Besides measuring current fitness, a recent 5K time can help you plan paces for speed work. Often runners make the mistake of running speed intervals at the pace they wish they could run (or simply as fast as possible) instead of the pace their current fitness level dictates, which can lead to injuries or burnout.
Remember, the goal is to do the minimum to elicit change. Not the bare minimum; simply the minimum to produce change. Which means you only need to do what you need to do. More is not always better, and faster is not always better. More volume and faster paces are good until it is too much; then, it could have diminishing returns, leading to injury and overtraining. Finding the balance and knowing your limits is vital.
You can plug your current 5K time into a pace chart (I like Ambry Burfoot's) to get appropriate paces for easy & long runs, tempo workouts, and long and short intervals. It gives you a framework to know what paces are proper using your current fitness level as a guide. If you always run at the same speed, there is room for improvement! Having this recent 5K time is an important data point to plan the rest of your training.
Every time your 5K pace improves, you can update your paces for other workouts. I recommend reassessing twice a year.
The critical point here is that you are using your 5K time to determine the speed of workouts, not deciding how fast you want to run and plan paces around that goal. Getting faster is a long, non-linear process. You put in the work, and those improvements come gradually with consistency, proper fueling, and rest. You can't rush progress.
Any race can give you a goal to work towards, which is great for motivation, and planning a training schedule. However, it takes longer to train for and recover from a half-marathon or marathon, so if you miss your goal (it happens to the best of us!) for long distances, it takes longer to ramp back up to try again.
A 5K training cycle can be much shorter and the recovery time faster, so you can experiment with goals and pacing. It's less pressure because if it isn't your day, you can try again in a week or two.
Shorter distances give you room to experiment with pushing your absolute limits. For example, you might not want to go for a hard effort on a half or full marathon until the very end for fear of blowing up and being unable to finish, but with a 5K, you can practice pushing your limits over a shorter distance. Once you get comfortable pushing yourself for a 5K, you can take the skill and apply to it the last 5K of a longer race.
A 5K can also be a part of speed training for a longer distance race, as long as you don't ramp up speed (intensity) and milage (volume) in the same week. In other words, to reduce injury risk, don't race a 5K in the same week as you add three miles to your long run in marathon training.
Skills such as mental focus, perseverance, and mental toughness are necessary to race any distance. The 5K is a great distance to push your limits, practice cognitive techniques, and hone your skills. If you can get comfortable with being uncomfortable in a 5K, that will translate to longer distances.
A meditation technique that works well with running is to notice your thoughts without reacting to them. Imagine those thoughts floating away (or any visual that makes sense) to bring yourself back to the present.
This is a way to say that you recognize it's challenging or uncomfortable and learn to accept it without trying to change or freak out. As a side note, this doesn't mean ignoring physical pain or injuries; we are talking about feeling uncomfortable. It's about keeping the end goal in mind and not getting distracted negatively.
Run the mile you're in by practicing staying in the present rather than thinking about the past (how far I've come) or the future (how far I have to go). Acknowledge and release distracting thoughts.
When those thoughts are negative, try to reframe them.
"Yes, this is hard, but I am strong and tough and can do hard things."
"I am tired but privileged to be here today."
"My legs feel tired, but breathing feels easy!"
Focus on the positive.
Tacos Y Cerveza 5K Fort Worth, TX
I ran a 5K in Fort Worth this past weekend with friends who signed up for the 10K. It's been heating up in Texas lately, and I haven't been running much over thirty minutes in the last couple of months. I didn't want to suffer through an undertrained 10K, so I chose to sign up for the 5K and use it as an opportunity to test my speed and plan my summer training.
Do you run 5Ks regularly? Do you see the value in racing 5Ks to improve fitness, plan training, and practice racing skills?
When's your next race?
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Questions? I’d love to help.
We only have so many hours in the day, so I've been experimenting with a short daily Yoga practice to see if it is worth my time and energy. While I know the value of Yoga for flexibility, mobility, and balance training, all of which can benefit runners, I needed to figure out if it was right for me. Do I need Yoga to experience these benefits? What are my options as a runner?
My main goals usually revolve around running, my first love. I also spend a few hours a week resistance training, initially to gain strength and help prevent running injuries, but more and more, I love the results I see and feel from the gym. Getting stronger has proven to empower me, and I often have strength goals too. I wasn't sure if I had the time in my schedule for yet another workout to do.
My background in Yoga is nearly nonexistent. Other than a random class at a studio or an event, I never practiced Yoga regularly. I did a Jillian Michaels 30-day Power Yoga DVD a decade ago, but I am pretty sure that doesn't even count as Yoga. I had some fun experiences with Yoga on the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge and did Yoga with Lorna Jane at an event in Dallas in 2015. I used to do the Yoga class at Hot Worx occasionally, but you wouldn't exactly call me a Yogi.
I have tight hips due to never stretching my first ten years of running (don’t make the same mistakes I did!). I wanted to see if a regular Yoga practice would benefit me.
One of the best parts of trying something new is experiencing the beginner's mindset. As a trainer, it is beneficial for me to remember what it feels like for exercise to feel awkward and unfamiliar so that I can better understand and relate to my clients. The truth is that this fitness stuff was challenging for me in the beginning, and I've never considered myself athletic or even physically coordinated. It took many years (read: a decade) of consistent work to find a place where I feel strong and confident in my fitness endeavors. To start at the beginning again and grow into practice is exciting and motivating. I did it with barbell training several years ago. It is empowering to start at something and be terrible but work hard and see tangible results as you work through the ups and downs of learning something new.
My goal was to do a Yoga practice every day for a month for at least twenty minutes before bed. I wasn't ready to invest in a class or studio. I just wanted to try it out, so I went to YouTube and quickly fell in love with Benji (oh, and Adriene) from Yoga with Adriene. I found her to be beginner-friendly, with plenty of gentle practices. At this point, I thought I already did enough running and strength workouts, I just needed a short stretching and breathing practice, so I gently began my first 30 days of Yoga.
I randomly chose videos based on their titles, indicating they would be low-intensity, so titles like restorative, wind-down, gentle, relaxing, cozy, and Yin made the top of my daily lists. This method was a great way to ease into the routine, and I developed an easy daily practice that felt rejuvenating without adding any additional stress to my body.
After the first thirty days, I felt ready to take it to the next level, so I started Yoga with Adriene's 30-Day series, Center. The Reddit community said it was gentle and beginner friendly, so I felt confident it would be a natural extension of my budding practice.
I loved this 30-day journey, Center. Yes, it was mostly a gentle practice, but it slowly incorporated more challenging moves and patterns. I settled into this routine and looked forward to my daily time on the mat. Each session was under thirty minutes, and I often left the mat feeling relaxed and energized.
After Center, I was learning to better connect my breath with movement, which benefits all parts of fitness (and life). I thought I would improve my mobility (patience, my friends), but I came out with this unexpected gift of breathwork. The calming effects, the awareness, and the movement with breath were all elevating my experience.
I finished the 30-day Center journey and was craving more. It started as an experiment, but after 60 days, I wasn't ready to stop! I decided to take on a second official 30-day journey because I like flowing (no pun intended) through daily practices that build on each other rather than just randomly selecting sessions. No brain power is required; sign in and hit start, so I began Yoga with Adriene's 2022's Move.
Move was still beginner friendly but a little more intense than last month's Center. It was the perfect amount of challenge and growth for my third month in practice, and I started to realize my strengths and weaknesses.
I am good at poses that require strength and balance because I have practiced these skills regularly for years. If you need to work on strength, stability, and balance, Yoga can be a great introduction and means to hone these skills. The warrior (lunge) poses, chair, plank, and tree poses all help to build strength, stability, and balance, all of which benefit runners' performance and resistance to injury.
I particularly love the twists and bends in different planes of motion. Building strong movement patterns in all three planes of motion is essential for runners to remain balanced and injury free. When we run and lift weights, we primarily move in one direction: forward in the Sagittal plane. If we don't intentionally strengthen and mobilize in the other planes of motion, it can lead to muscle imbalances over time.
I am not flexible, and my hips don't bend. I find forward folds hard (sitting or standing); my chest doesn't come anywhere near my thighs, and my fingers don't reach my toes. I've been using blocks for assistance and embracing the new challenge. Similarly, Down Dog and Pigeon are only possible for me with slight modifications. However, the growth potential is precisely why I love it; I can't wait to see the improvements from daily practice and how those benefits play out in my life.
I am only in my third month of practice, so not surprisingly, I haven't experienced any life-shattering physical benefits. Still, I enjoy the habit of getting on my mat every night and the mindfulness I am developing. I am committed to practicing Yoga to strengthen and mobilize my body and mind! One thing I learned in fitness is that despite the marketing to the contrary, everything takes time. The consistent habits over the long term provide the actual results, not a 30 or 90-day challenge. It’s a worthwhile endeavor for runners who want to improve strength, balance, and flexibility.
I have fallen in love with practicing Yoga and can't wait to see where it takes me.
Did you like this post? Do you know someone who might benefit? It helps me when you share with your friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
Questions? I’d love to help.
Do you feel too busy or stressed to focus on your health? Think again! In this post, I share practical, no-nonsense tips to improve your wellness—even during busy workdays. From movement snacks and hydration to stress management and tiny habits that lead to lasting change, discover how prioritizing your health can boost your energy, productivity, and overall well-being. Plus, learn how to bring these ideas to your workplace for a healthier, happier team!
Please indulge me,
Again this year.
I have some memories,
That I'd love to share.
2022 is in the books,
Stick around and have a look!
I signed up for the half,
But ran the 5K.
Because I hurt my ribs,
And couldn't train for race day!
(Cowtown 5K Feb 2022)
Off to Pittsburgh
I took a flight
For fun and family
To reunite
(Pittsburgh May 2022)
So maybe 2022
Had some setbacks,
But it's always a good year
When I get to hear Jack!
(Jack White concert with Cathy and Chad May 2022)
Then off to a convention,
For fitness and learning.
I went home with Covid,
(but not too concerning).
(SCW Dallas Fitness Professionals Convention August 2022)
Time flies faster
Than a a bullet train.
August was 17 years
Of toasting champagne.
(Wedding Anniversary August 2022)
48 candles burned
On September twenty one.
Russ drummed me a song
And I played too for fun!
Russ turned 50
Right before my eyes
I swear on my life
He was just 25!
(October 2022)
I sometimes think
I might be getting faster.
But I'm just winning,
Because I aged into masters.
(First place female Masters (over 40) at the Pumpkin Run 10K October 2022)
Pumpkin Spice 5K
I ran in November.
2nd place age group
Was one to remember!
The best part of coaching,
It's not about me.
I ran less than my best,
But cheered their victories!
(Dallas half marathon & 'Running with my Sole-Sisters' training group December 2022)
Thanks for reading
My 2022 review
Bad poetry and all
Happy 2023 to you!
(Happy new year, friends! I promise to stay dedicated to providing helpful running and strength training content into 2023!)
Did you like this post? Do you know someone who might benefit? It helps me when you share with your friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
Questions? I’d love to help.
Do you feel too busy or stressed to focus on your health? Think again! In this post, I share practical, no-nonsense tips to improve your wellness—even during busy workdays. From movement snacks and hydration to stress management and tiny habits that lead to lasting change, discover how prioritizing your health can boost your energy, productivity, and overall well-being. Plus, learn how to bring these ideas to your workplace for a healthier, happier team!
Do you feel too busy or stressed to focus on your health? Think again! In this post, I share practical, no-nonsense tips to improve your wellness—even during busy workdays. From movement snacks and hydration to stress management and tiny habits that lead to lasting change, discover how prioritizing your health can boost your energy, productivity, and overall well-being. Plus, learn how to bring these ideas to your workplace for a healthier, happier team!