Post by marathondude on Jul 24, 2008 11:28:47 GMT -5
Avoid Going Out Too Fast
If you're a bit lonely and think by the title of this that it must deal with dating, then you have made a judgment error. But just as people often rush and start going out too fast with someone they don’t know too well, runners almost always go out too fast in their races. If you need help with your love life you may need an advice columnist. However, if racing and pacing knowledge is desired, then read onward.
I learned very early in my racing career about going out too fast as I did it every race. I was a high school sophomore with decent speed and no training base who raced the mile. The leaders always went out in just over 60 seconds on the first lap and I was right behind them. Then I’d slow to around 75 seconds on the second lap, followed by fighting gamely to hang on with the final two laps in perhaps 80 seconds each as I barely broke five minutes. Not only was this a method that didn’t allow me to run my fastest, it was very painful. As I improved over the next two years I went out at the same pace or a bit slower en route to mile times just over 4:20. I was racing fast and without the pain brought on by too fast of an early pace.
Whenever I watched the NCAA Track Championships, Olympic Trials or Olympics on television, the distance racers always ran controlled and had great kicks. I found that when I raced with this strategy it yielded great finishes. My senior year of high school I won the Miami High Relays mile in 4:22 with a final lap of 63 seconds. Three years later I won the Southern Conference Indoor 3-Mile during my junior year at Appalachian State with another 63 second final quarter mile. My indoor personal best two-mile of 9:14 also included a last 440 yards of 63 seconds. Hmmm… 63 seconds… I like that time!
In adulthood I read an article that discussed what the body goes through when the pace is too fast early in a race. There was much technical and physiological data which was summarized very succinctly – if a runner goes out more than two percent faster than his or her average pace, then the overall performance will not be optimum. So a 15:35 5k racer who averages 5:00 minute miles should not go out faster than 4:54 the first mile. A marathoner who can race at 7:00 pace should not start out faster than 6:52 pace and so on. Just do the math. Take your latest results for a certain race distance and convert the average pace into seconds. Then take two percent and that is how many seconds faster per mile you can start out without negative effects on your race performance.
I have found this has held true for me at any age and pace. My 5k personal best at age 28 of 14:44 included splits of 4:41, 4:47 and 4:48. My best time around age 40 of 15:51 had splits of 5:02, 5:08 and 5:08. At age 50 I split 5:28, 5:34 and 5:35 en route to a 17:11 Grandmasters PR. My best two marathons were 2:22:34 at the 1979 Marine Corps Marathon with half marathon times of 1:09:50 and 1:12:44 and 2:23:51 at the 1982 Rocket City Marathon with splits of 1:11:25 and 1:12:26. I haven’t raced every time like this, but these races stand out as I was in good racing form and was able to race at my potential. So, take this advice to heart, don’t go out too fast and you will race better and feel stronger at the finish. On the other hand, if you need relationship advice because you’ve been going out too fast, check with Dr. Phil or Dear Abby!
Do you have any interesting comments about going out too fast, even pacing or negative split racing???
MarathonDude has 35 years of competitive running and racing experience highlighted by a marathon PR of 2:22:34. He is a regular writer for Florida Running & Triathlon magazine. At www.garycohenrunning.com you will find over a dozen FR&T articles, interviews with running personalities and dozens of “All in a Day’s Run” essays.
If you're a bit lonely and think by the title of this that it must deal with dating, then you have made a judgment error. But just as people often rush and start going out too fast with someone they don’t know too well, runners almost always go out too fast in their races. If you need help with your love life you may need an advice columnist. However, if racing and pacing knowledge is desired, then read onward.
I learned very early in my racing career about going out too fast as I did it every race. I was a high school sophomore with decent speed and no training base who raced the mile. The leaders always went out in just over 60 seconds on the first lap and I was right behind them. Then I’d slow to around 75 seconds on the second lap, followed by fighting gamely to hang on with the final two laps in perhaps 80 seconds each as I barely broke five minutes. Not only was this a method that didn’t allow me to run my fastest, it was very painful. As I improved over the next two years I went out at the same pace or a bit slower en route to mile times just over 4:20. I was racing fast and without the pain brought on by too fast of an early pace.
Whenever I watched the NCAA Track Championships, Olympic Trials or Olympics on television, the distance racers always ran controlled and had great kicks. I found that when I raced with this strategy it yielded great finishes. My senior year of high school I won the Miami High Relays mile in 4:22 with a final lap of 63 seconds. Three years later I won the Southern Conference Indoor 3-Mile during my junior year at Appalachian State with another 63 second final quarter mile. My indoor personal best two-mile of 9:14 also included a last 440 yards of 63 seconds. Hmmm… 63 seconds… I like that time!
In adulthood I read an article that discussed what the body goes through when the pace is too fast early in a race. There was much technical and physiological data which was summarized very succinctly – if a runner goes out more than two percent faster than his or her average pace, then the overall performance will not be optimum. So a 15:35 5k racer who averages 5:00 minute miles should not go out faster than 4:54 the first mile. A marathoner who can race at 7:00 pace should not start out faster than 6:52 pace and so on. Just do the math. Take your latest results for a certain race distance and convert the average pace into seconds. Then take two percent and that is how many seconds faster per mile you can start out without negative effects on your race performance.
I have found this has held true for me at any age and pace. My 5k personal best at age 28 of 14:44 included splits of 4:41, 4:47 and 4:48. My best time around age 40 of 15:51 had splits of 5:02, 5:08 and 5:08. At age 50 I split 5:28, 5:34 and 5:35 en route to a 17:11 Grandmasters PR. My best two marathons were 2:22:34 at the 1979 Marine Corps Marathon with half marathon times of 1:09:50 and 1:12:44 and 2:23:51 at the 1982 Rocket City Marathon with splits of 1:11:25 and 1:12:26. I haven’t raced every time like this, but these races stand out as I was in good racing form and was able to race at my potential. So, take this advice to heart, don’t go out too fast and you will race better and feel stronger at the finish. On the other hand, if you need relationship advice because you’ve been going out too fast, check with Dr. Phil or Dear Abby!
Do you have any interesting comments about going out too fast, even pacing or negative split racing???
MarathonDude has 35 years of competitive running and racing experience highlighted by a marathon PR of 2:22:34. He is a regular writer for Florida Running & Triathlon magazine. At www.garycohenrunning.com you will find over a dozen FR&T articles, interviews with running personalities and dozens of “All in a Day’s Run” essays.