How the heck do i pace a 8k?

[Runfaster]

Going into first year of college, racing the 8k now for cross. I've never raced a 10k or 8k so i have no idea what to think. That's like cruising to 5k... and then adding another two miles. What to expect? What to pace?

Originally Posted by Runfaster

Going into first year of college, racing the 8k now for cross. I've never raced a 10k or 8k so i have no idea what to think. That's like cruising to 5k... and then adding another two miles. What to expect? What to pace?

Expect to run ~5-10 seconds per mile slower than you ran for a 5k in high school. In terms of pacing, run your first mile 5-10 seconds slower than you ran it in high school. After you get 3 miles in, really try to push the pace and leave everything out there the final 2 miles.

[Davy Jones]

When in doubt, take it easy the first couple miles. It's a lot easier to make up time in the last 1.5 miles than it is to try and run that last 1.5 after you've wasted yourself running your usual 5K pace.

[OnePoint]

there are two different approaches that have worked well for me in slightly different racing situations...

the most common tactic, i would say, is the suggestion to go out relatively slow (5 seconds slower or so per mile than goal avg. pace) and hold that for 2.5-3 miles, then close well.

I personally find this hard to do in a large race where I can't be at least somewhat up front. Its easier if you're really good too, I think. It worked great in a hilly/muddy race where I finished 13th after hitting the mile in 60th, but in larger races on faster courses I've had more success with strategy two:

go out pretty hard, settle in for 3 miles, close hard.

Depending on pace (obviously), that might ideally look something like:

5:05, 5:20, 5:20, 5:20, 5:05

But honestly freshman year is all about learning the race, adapting to new training and distances, etc. It'll take a few tries, I'm sure.

[amw2829]

Run it like a 5k and just hold on.

[Runfaster]

Originally Posted by amw2829

Run it like a 5k and just hold on.

Thats a looooong two miles to hold on for

[xcworldchamp]

Originally Posted by Davy Jones

When in doubt, take it easy the first couple miles. It's a lot easier to make up time in the last 1.5 miles than it is to try and run that last 1.5 after you've wasted yourself running your usual 5K pace.

simple advice, but this is really what works. You'll be amazed at how many people you can reel in if you just run the first 2 miles at what feels like 10-15 secs too easy.

[engolto]

Originally Posted by Runfaster

Going into first year of college, racing the 8k now for cross. I've never raced a 10k or 8k so i have no idea what to think. That's like cruising to 5k... and then adding another two miles. What to expect? What to pace?

ideally you'll find a group of people that you are similar to in terms of ability on your team, mainly for the sake of working out together. go out with them in a race and if youre feeling good begin to pick it up.

as with any new distance, it gets easier to figure out each time you race it.

[RunFreer]

just run it a bit conservatively, maybe add 10 seconds per mile to 5k pace. that should be alright.

[bobbywelcome012#6]

Originally Posted by engolto

ideally you'll find a group of people that you are similar to in terms of ability on your team, mainly for the sake of working out together. go out with them in a race and if youre feeling good begin to pick it up.

as with any new distance, it gets easier to figure out each time you race it.

This is what I plan to do once I start running in college. This is how I transitioned from middle school 3k running to hs 5k running. This strategy made the transition easier, not to mention that I am pretty conservative in the beginning of a race, so the longer distance helped. I hope this is the case for me in college.