The Final 360 YOU 5K Training Check-In

Published March 6, 2022 05:00AM

You’ve made it! It’s race week—the week to celebrate yourself as a runner and the investment you’ve made in yourself throughout the 360 YOU 5K Training Program. We hope you’ve seen how much you’ve grown as an athlete and woman in general, as running can give us the confidence and strength we need in everyday life.

You’ve been disciplined with your training program and taken on daunting workouts with courage and commitment. You’ve probably had a fair share of difficult workouts, but you got through them. It’s all part of the journey and it’s all part of shaping you into the amazing athlete you are.

With your big 5K run on the horizon, you find those race day jitters getting louder and harder to ignore. Remind yourself of what you’ve achieved and have faith that everything will come together on race day morning. Remember, even if your race doesn’t go exactly as you hope, you’ve still accomplished a tremendous amount just by coming this far and doing your best. “Success” is not just a PR; it can look like anything from improved confidence or increased speed and strength to feeling fitter or learning to listen to your body.

Even though this is the race week, you still have a fairly full week of training ahead, but that’s because you’re an experienced runner and your body is fit and able to handle the training. That said, if you’re feeling worn down and tired heading into this week, feel free to modify things by taking an extra rest day or cross-training in lieu of a scheduled workout. Do what’s best for your body.

You have your normal strength training days on the schedule. You can ease up on the resistance on Thursday to prevent any soreness on race day. You have one final track workout on Wednesday. You’ll run one mile at your goal 5k pace. After two minutes of recovery, you’ll run 10 minutes at a tempo pace (half marathon pace). This can be done on the track or along the roads, depending on your preference. You’ll finish with 2 x 200 meters at mile pace to practice your fast leg turnover. Jog 200 meters to recover after each. The purpose of this workout is mostly just to keep your legs feeling fast and sharp for race day.

The day before your race, you’ll do an easy, 30-minute recovery run to shake out your legs and loosen up. Take it nice and easy to work out the kinks before race day. You’ll finish with two 200-meter strides at 5k pace to remind your body of the pace you’ll run and lock in how it feels. End with some stretching and mobility so that you feel loose, limber, and ready to go.

Race day is all about you. It’s your time to shine. It’s your race to attack with all the grit, strength, and confidence you’ve shown and grown over the past eight weeks. The race is your time to honor yourself for the work you’ve done. Go out there and crush it.

Finally, the day after the race, go for an easy recovery run to flush out the legs and start the recovery progress. Don’t concern yourself with your watch or pace. Simply run by feel and bask in the glory of your accomplishments. You did it!

360 YOU: Final 5K Training Check-In