Stopping and walking a few steps in a 5k?

RyecorDone wrote:

lucy the unbanned wrote:

Was this a Half Mary or a Full Mary?

10k

My mistake. The OP was talking about a 5k. Another was talking about a 10k.

I think OP was talking about a race longer than 10k.

I keep hoping that someone will explore the comedic opportunities offered up by OP. Oh, the foibles of humanity.

RyecorDone wrote:

Sounds a bit useless. But it wouldn't hurt to try it. I've resorted to 10 - 15 second walks during 5k races and it really helped. But just a few seconds - makes no sense. Maybe he does some super fast bursts right before, or right after, using his phosphocreatine system to advantage, and not pausing so long that his circulation of metabolites isn't hampered?

I've done very long (3 min 30 seconds) near flat-out hill repeats up a very steep hill. I found that I could get a faster time by dropping to a brisk walk every 45 seconds or so for about ten seconds. It also allowed me to sprint harder over the last 30 seconds.

fisky wrote:

I've done very long (3 min 30 seconds) near flat-out hill repeats up a very steep hill. I found that I could get a faster time by dropping to a brisk walk every 45 seconds or so for about ten seconds. It also allowed me to sprint harder over the last 30 seconds.

...that's called interval training!

xerosaburu wrote:

This guy ran close to 4 minutes for the mile in college, he's 54 now. His 5k's are in the 20:xx area, plus he's got a gut. He runs a lot of the local races. It's just annoying to me to have some guy w/a gut sprint by me. The last 10k I was in front of him until the last mile+ and he ended up finishing 2 minutes ahead of me.

How did you get dropped by 2mins in the last mile of a 10k?

fisky wrote:

RyecorDone wrote:

Sounds a bit useless. But it wouldn't hurt to try it. I've resorted to 10 - 15 second walks during 5k races and it really helped. But just a few seconds - makes no sense. Maybe he does some super fast bursts right before, or right after, using his phosphocreatine system to advantage, and not pausing so long that his circulation of metabolites isn't hampered?

I've done very long (3 min 30 seconds) near flat-out hill repeats up a very steep hill. I found that I could get a faster time by dropping to a brisk walk every 45 seconds or so for about ten seconds. It also allowed me to sprint harder over the last 30 seconds.

Sounds brutal. Do you still do those torture sessions? Sounds very Tabata.

Anyone that's done the pacer test knows how much harder non-continuous running can be. I remember a Nick Symmonds video where he ran it, I forget how far he got but given the shape he was in at the time it wasn't nearly as much as you would expect. In middle school I ran just above an 80 and was wiped. For reference, an 80 on the pacer is 1 mile in 9 minutes, which any middle schooler with sup-par talent should be able to destroy (the pacer test is an aerobic fitness test where kids run 20 meters, stop and wait for the buzzer, and then turn back and run the same distance, each lap is 1).

lucy the unbanned wrote:

Maybe he just enjoys running fast, and would rather take a few walk breaks than go at a slower even pace.

You and "Weakone" are probably on the right answer. And the original post reference to "rabbiting" probably was an apt description to his acceleration phase right after the rest.