Und da die Sneaker uns alle an Los Angeles erinnern sollen | Kara Goucher’s Tips for Running Your Best 10K

A 10K road race, 6.2 miles, can be both challenging and fun. While it requires a good blend of speed and endurance, it doesn’t necessitate a long training build-up or extra fueling on the course.

“I love the 10K. I think it’s a really great distance,” says Kara Goucher, a two-time U.S. Olympian. “I think it’s more fun to train for than the half marathon or marathon because you get to do a lot of speed work. And it’s a race you can run well no matter if you’ve been training for a 5K or if you’ve been training for a marathon or half marathon. It’s a fun distance to race but it’s also easier to recover from so you can get back to your training right away and run another race pretty soon without having any down time.”

While she’s most known for her success as half marathoner and marathoner, Goucher also placed second in the 2006 U.S. 10K road championships and earned a silver medal in the 10,000-meter run on the track at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. With the annual BOLDERBoulder 10K returning in full force on May 30 through the streets of her hometown of Boulder, Colorado, we caught up with Goucher to talk about her four key tips to running a great 10K.

“I think a lot of people, myself included, have a hard time sleeping the night before, just because you’re nervous and excited and thinking about the race you want to have,” she says. ”I try to remind people that if you rested well that week, you should be OK. Sleep is obviously important, but you don’t need to freak out if you’ve been resting and you’re having trouble falling asleep the night before the race.”

On race morning, Goucher recommends getting up early enough to eat something and making sure you’re optimally hydrated. But that doesn’t mean eating a big breakfast and pounding sugary sports drinks, she says. Instead, she recommends eating something small — like a bagel, a piece of toast, some oatmeal and/or a banana — and hydrating with water and electrolyte drinks.

“It’s a good idea to eat something small to top off your glycogen stores that morning and then keep hydrating the final two hours before the race,” she says. “Ideally, that will calm your stomach and your nerves so you’ll feel great as the race approaches.”

While you don’t need to go overboard chugging water before or during the race, sipping an electrolyte drink from a bottle as you warm-up can be helpful.

“If you’re running in hot weather or you’re feeling thirsty, you can grab some water on the course,” she says. “But in general, you don’t need to worry about nutrition on the course. You just really need to be in tune with your body and run the race you’ve been training for.”

Warming up before a 10K race is important, especially if it’s cool on race morning, Goucher says. A warm-up routine shouldn’t be excessive, but it should mimic what you’ve been doing during your training build-up.

“A good warm-up might include a mile or two miles of easy running followed by some dynamic stretching and speed walking,” she says. “If you want to run hard or chase a new PR, make sure you mirror the way you trained . You want to feel warm and make sure everything feels good right before you take off from the start line so you can run without any restriction.”

Once you're feeling warm after your easy jogging, do a series of walking that include arm circles, butt kicks, high knees, hip rotations, easy lateral lunges with a twist and knee-to-chest hugs. In the final 10 minutes before the start of the race, do a few easy build-up strides to get your heart rate up and allow you to feel the full range of your running motion.

“My basic advice is to go a tiny bit slower in the beginning than your overall goal time, then pick it up in the second half,” she says. “Remember the goal of running negative splits and feeling totally in control, almost like it’s too easy. You want to feel good, feel light on your feet, feel confident. You want to go through the first 5K thinking you can run that pace forever. Then as the race progresses, you can start to pick it up and finish strong in the last mile.”