AaronIsCrunchy wrote:Proud day for me today, as I ran my first unbroken 5k

Did it in 31:47, which obviously means that my next target is to get that below 30:00

That said, I could've done that if I didn't have to slow down to almost a walk a couple of times - the base of my calves felt tight as anything when I reached the bottom of a hill. Anyone got any pointers for running down hills? I probably need to stretch my calves more during warmup, that might help.
Congrats! That's a big benchmark, and one that's fun to race once you get it down a little more. You'd be surprised how many 5Ks tend to pop up locally with a nice turn-out, good courses and even after parties.
Running down hills. Not sure how much you know, so I'll just give you everything I've got here. Stretching beforehand definitely helps, but make sure your stretches are dynamic, meaning that you're moving your legs in a controlled manner and doing multiple repeated stretches rather than one continuous, motionless static stretch, which can actually hurt you. Also, when running up hills, it helps to shorten your stride, whereas running down hills, it helps to lengthen your stride. Not too much, just enough to feel it. Lean forward slightly and try to make yourself move with the slope of the hill. Lastly, if the hill is really steep, then "snaking" side to side as you go down can prevent too much pounding and discourage injury.