Preparing for a 5k run

That's very approximate (-; You may do better on the race, but it's always a good idea to try to start slow. It's easy to end up going faster than you think, the race setting tends to make you run faster. So you'll need to use a lot of restraint at the start.

That's not long at all, so don't do anything too radical.

Just keep doing what you've been doing. A big increase in volume is probably counterproductive at this stage. If you had two months, doing one month at a higher volume, followed by an easier month may help.

It's too late to start heavy interval work, but a little sharpening may help. Your best bet would be to add some strides to the end of your runs. Do these as follows: gradually accelerate, until you're running pretty quickly, and hold the pace for 10 seconds or so. You shouldn't be pushing hard, you want to focus on a getting a good turnover rate, and they should feel light, fast, and not too stressful.

Maybe the day before the race.

Yes, it would.

I don't know what it is. It's not necessarily reason to panic, but it is worth asking a doctor about (well to me it is anyway, since I don't know what it is, and it sounds worthy of attention).

Probably not. When you run hard, your diaphragm gets tired, like any other muscle. Because of the way the nerves to the diaphragm are wired, he body can be tricked into thinking that the pain in the diaphragm is also in the shoulder.

If you are worried about it, see a doctor.

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