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Competitive Running

Nell G.
Nell G. Sendmail

How do you race?

asked 11 months ago | Report

I am starting to understand that in a 5k you try to run fast from the get-go, but what about in a 10k or a half-marathon, the next distances I want to race? Are there race-day strategies that I could read about online or in a book? I am not talking about training, since I've found good training programs from Hal Higdon and Runner's World. But it seems like the training programs are meant to set you up for the big race day assuming that you know *how* to race. What suggestions or experiences do folks have for the mental/strategic aspects of racing?

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9 answers

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  • Joe H.
    Joe H. Sendmail

    for longer races pacing is important I try to go for a negative split - the first half is conservative so that I have energy left in the tank to push harder on the second half and pull out a faster time. thereby the 2nd half is less than the first. I am often not sucessful in this and go out too hard and blow up near the finish but that's the plan. a lot of runners use a HR meter to gauge their effort and try to keep their HR below their lactate threshold for longer races

    answered 11 months ago |Report

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  • Kris B.
    Kris B. Sendmail

    I agree with Joe. After you run 1 or 2 of each you'll learn how to pace yourself.

    Also, if you know there are going to be mile markers, you can wear a watch and check your pace at each mile to keep yourself on track. Both half marathons I've run had either clocks or volunteers with watches that call out the time at each mile, so I didn't even need a watch. The 10k's usually don't have this, but they do usually have mile markers so you can use a watch.

    answered 11 months ago |Report

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  • Jimmy J.
    Jimmy J. Sendmail

    Both Joe and Kris had great answers. In my experiences never go out too fast, it will for sure kick your butt at the end of the race. You probably know what you your goal pace will be, or at least close to it when race day comes. Go out easy and ease into that pace. Even in a 10k it seemed to work for me. God Bless Your Training..+ Jimmy. ( =

    answered 11 months ago |Report

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  • Matt G.
    Matt G. Sendmail

    My last 10K, I went out pretty fast the first two miles, realized I was overdoing it, kicked back the next two, then picked up the pace again the final two. Worked out pretty well!

    answered 11 months ago |Report

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  • Erik K.
    Erik K. Sendmail

    Another reason for going out slower on longer races is you body is less efficient before warming up. What is defined as long varies by runner, for me 10k has been long, but I'm traing for a half and know my next 10k will I can not hold back as much.

    I consider anything longer than a routine training length run (longest of my non-long runs), a short distance that I'll do a short warm-up for and run it all hard. If I'm going longer, I do a walking warm up and go out slow the first couple miles. While harder to manage, I've run a couple times where I went fastest in the middle where I'm most efficient - warmed up but no loss of form due to fatigue. That seems to give the best times for me but is harder to manage.

    I'd also add that I try to be flexible based on the course (hills), conditions, and how I'm feeling. My best overall 10k trail run had a huge hil in the middle. I went out a little fast, took the hill slow, then ran the last 1-1/2 mile downhill just barely in control I was going so fast. It was mostly hikers with only a handful of runners allowing it to be the only race I've ever won. It was amazing fun when I could see people walking uphill as I ran past them toward the finish.

    answered 11 months ago |Report

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  • Mike D.
    Mike D. Sendmail

    For a 10k I like the advice of Marty Liquori: Run as even a pace as possible for a realistic time goal, then with a mile to go pick a runner in front of you and do whatever it takes to beat them.

    answered 11 months ago |Report

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  • Paul
    Paul Sendmail

    In theory the longer the race the more important it is to not go out too fast and Ideally you want to try for a slight negative split. However you may find that personally you respond better to a different tactic... still Id be tempted to aim for a negative split untill your racing proves otherwise.

    Once you get up to marathon distance it pays to err on the conservative side for the first half, its better to finish strong than to fade.

    answered 10 months ago |Report

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  • David R.
    David R. Sendmail

    First....agree with Joe on the split. I have found 10K's are not much if any slower than 5K's, nor do I run them any slower considering the mileage. I don't slow down until a 10 miler at this point (I suppose someday that will be this little short run and will be running that quickly, too). I am still working up to a full marathon, this is my second time working mileage up after an injury, so I can't tell you a lot about them. The half starts to slow down a little more for pretty much everyone. It also starts pulling in some of the mental....from people I know/talk to usually making it past 10-12 mile mark. You might want to try MarathonRookie.com as well....I have used it and made it to the half, and if you don't follow my lead and get too crazy in pushing yourself, will make it to the full as well.

    answered 10 months ago |Report

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  • Kjcon Runner
    Kjcon Runner Sendmail

    I agree with some of the previous posts. My answer is first knowing the course. Recently I ran a course knowing that there is decent incline from mile 3-4ish in a 10k race. I understood that the first mile was more flat with the 2nd mile being more of a downhill, and that people could go out too fast thus after the first major hills they are more tired. My strategy was to go out conservative and relax and the 1st mile already understanding that the next mile was going to be a little faster than the first just because of the decline. Then 3-5 miles were about keeping the pace consistent and negative splitting for the last mile. This worked for me for that particular course and was executed perfectly. So it also can depend on the course in my opinion and could also lead to a pr because of "strategic racing"

    answered 10 months ago |Report

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