No Money in the Bank
Spring is around the corner. For runners, that means it is time to begin the spring racing season. Many of us are pointing toward Cherry Blossom or Pike's Peek with the hope of running a Personal Record (PR). Others of us getting up in age or returning from layoff want to run a respectable and/or competitive times. You have to run a smart race to set that PR, place in your age group, or be satisfied with your effort. This article will provide some tips on how to do that.
First, you need to have been doing some anaerobic threshold (AT) training before you begin to race. (See my January 1997 column for tips on AT workouts.) Second, you need to schedule some early races to fine tune your racing skills before trying for that PR. This will help you do a couple of things: It will let you know if your goal pace is realistic or whether it needs adjustment. It will also familiarize both your mind and body as to the kind of effort necessary to run a PR. I know a few runners who talk about that magical day when they ran their PR and it did not seem like they were working very hard. Forget that fantasy. Neither I nor most of my runners have never had that kind of out-of-body experience. Our PRs hurt like hell--I know that was running at my maximum with an empty fuel tank at the finish.
Another important element to running a PR is a thorough warmup before the race. Get to the race early. Use the practice races to get your routine down so that you are not standing in line at the porta-john five minutes before race time. Run at least a mile warm-up at 60% of maximum heart rate, trying to time your warm up to end a few minutes before the race starts. Run a series of strideouts at race effort just before the gun goes off so that you warm and sweaty at the start. If you are in a big race such as Cherry Blossom, you may be forced to the starting line several minutes before the start. If that is the case, then you must go out somewhat easy and use the first half mile for a warm-up.
Experience has taught me that PRs are most likely to occur when you run an absolutely even pace or run a negative split (meaning the second half of the race is faster than the first half). There is no such thing as money in the bank when it comes to running PRs whether your racing a mile or a marathon. If you go out faster than goal pace, the chances are that you will fail to set your PR. Remember mile 1 of a 10K race can be run on adrenaline. However, going out too hard will cause your heart rate to elevate too quickly and the only way that you can recover is to slow down.
I learned this lesson the hard way. For years I tried to break 40:00 minutes for the 10K, a 6:26/mile pace. I used to think that I should run a 6:10 or 6:15 first mile to put some time in the bank. Typically, my first two mile splits would be 6:10 and 6:40. I would think to myself that I was still on a sub-40 pace having averaged 6:25/mile for those miles. Wrong! In actuality, I continued to run at a 6:40/ mile pace or slower for the next 4 miles. I did not break 40 minutes until I forced myself to go out slower. The result was that when I finally ran sub 40 it was at a pretty even pace.
The margin of error you have will depend on the race distance. Those running the mile or 5K do not have much room for error and therefore have to train a lot at projected race pace. Going out too hard or too slow and the race is blown. Marathoners have the luxury of going out easy for the first few miles. Conversely, marathoners who go out too hard at the beginning risk a much greater disaster. But then you probably know people who said I was on such and such a pace a mile 18 of the marathoner but then I crashed. They probably finished at a much slower average pace.
I have not even told you the bonus you get when running an even pace or a negative split. You are going to feel great when you zip by all those runners who took off like jack rabbits but look like dying dogs. Once you begin to race this way, you are going to wonder why you ever raced any other way.
Coach West is a licensed coach, affiliated with MCRRC, and available to coach motivated adult runners. A portion of his coaching fees for MCRRC members is returned to MCRRC. For further information about personal coaching opportunities, contact Coach West at kirtwest@comcast.net.
