We have three athletes competing at the Tracksmith Twilight Twin Cities 5000m and I know many local runners will be out there as well, chasing a personal best or just a good hard effort on the track. At the same time, high school cross country season is getting under way, and the most common distance run there is also the 5000m. So this week, I thought I’d briefly talk about what our athletes are looking to do tonight, as well as share some reflections on the 5000m, or 5k as it is often called.
For our athletes, Merga Gemeda has continued to round into fitness with some road racing since his last effort on the track several weeks ago. He looks to take aim at his personal best of 14:00.86. Tyler Jermann and Kevin Lewis are both lacing the shoes back up after disappointment at Grandma’s Marathon. Since that time, both have taken some recovery and then strung together some excellent training in preparation for fall marathons. This 5000m race will put that fitness to the test.
Whether you are preparing for a fall race yourself, or approaching a 5000m as a goal race, the distance presents a great test of any runner’s physical and mental capacity. The 5k has a reputation as a hobby-jogger event, but while it’s certainly possible to go out and jog a 5k and have and relatively easy time, truly racing the distance is arguably one of the toughest challenges one can tackle.
Physiologically, a 5k is run at very close to one’s VO2max, which means that you are maxing out your aerobic system for most of the duration of the event. After the first couple of minutes your breathing will be very heavy, and that won’t subside until either you relax and allow yourself to slow down, or until after you cross the finish line.
Indeed, having maxed out your aerobic capacity, you will also be tapping into your anaerobic energy systems, which creates by-products that can interfere with proper muscle function. The challenge, then, is finding the right degree to push into this anaerobic zone to maximize performance, without going too deep too early.
Psychologically, it is a matter of keeping one’s foot on the gas in the face of feedback from the body that is telling you to back off. This becomes particularly acute around the two mile mark of the race, where you still feel like you have a long ways to go, when in fact a great race depends upon putting the blinders on and intensifying your effort.
Chris Lundstrom is the head coach of Minnesota Distance Elite – formerly Team USA Minnesota – which includes some of the top distance runners in the USA, including Annie Frisbie, Dakotah Lindwurm, Breanna Sieracki and Joel Reichow.
