The Key to Pacing

The longer you have been running the easier it will be to pace yourself during a race. However, even the most experienced runners have trouble pacing when it comes to marathon distance.  It's been noted that about 90% of marathon runners complete the second half of the race in a slower time than the first.  Ideally, the goal is to run at an even pace throughout the entire race.

The subconscious mind is believed to control pacing. It's mission is to protect you from YOU!  In other words, it determines the pace at which you can maintain over the course of 26.2 miles without endangering your life.  The more experience you have, the more you can believe your subconscious. 

If pacing is off, it could result in muscle cramps, the infamous "BONK", a loss in good form resulting in injury.  To top it all off, you won't meet your goal finish time.  In the early miles, it's absolutely mandatory to run at a pace that almost feels too slow.  The pace should vary about 10 seconds from start to finish.  One way to achieve this if you question your pacing ability is to look for pacing teams which will hold pace and get you to the finish within 2 minutes of your time. 

If you want to go it alone, the easiest way to pace yourself is by looking at your last race time.  The 10K race is a pretty good predictor. This is dependent on whether or not you have trained in the most efficient manner for your body. By efficient I mean the correct weekly mileage, enough long runs, sufficient speed sessions without incurring injury and overuse problems,e.g. misalignment's, stress fractures.  You need to train hard for a marathon but not so hard that you end up injured and can't run at all.  Pay attention to your body and what it's telling you during your training and your racing.

According to Active, run the first half by time and the last half by feel. Another advantage to achieving correct pace is to know the course.   Going up hills will require more effort and you will slow, then going down, your pace will quicken but don't force it. Let gravity take you on the decline.

I gage my pacing as follows:  long training run about a minute and a half slower than 5K pace.
Marathon pace should be about one minute or so slower than 5K pace.  One last tip:  don't expect to run training runs as fast as you run races. You'll be rested and the adrenaline will be flowing. Let the excitement of the day and all your training get you over that line. Good Luck!

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That Time of Self Doubt

There comes that time in your marathon training program when you begin to doubt yourself. 

You look over your training program and wonder if you've logged enough miles.  You wonder if you have done enough speed work.  You wonder how you will push through the "wall" if you should meet it.  

All sorts of negative thoughts begin to come to mind.  There are only a few weeks left and you are getting tired.  You just want to run for fun again. Set out on a run for how ever many miles you want, at whatever pace you want, and without looking at any schedule or required weekly miles. 

Oh let me run for fun again! 

What kind of self talk can you do to push through this tough time in your training?

First, you need to get some motivational messages written down to keep yourself going.  For example:
"This is such a short time in the rest of my life, I can do this".    "I'm strong. I'm powerful. I'm healthy. I'm a marathon runner".   "I made it to the start, I'll make it to the finish".

Second, you need to trust in your training.  You put in the miles, you're ready. Go for it. Just do it.

Third, read.  Read about racing strategies, and most importantly, try to find information about the marathon course you will be running.

Fourth, drive the marathon course. Become familiar with the course you will run. As suggested in number three, read about the course.  You may even be able to find a video that takes you along the course route. 

Fifth, be calm.  You're getting tired. You're still training to the max.  Once you hit the taper phase, in that last week, your legs will have renewed energy. 

Sixth, make a race week plan, most importantly, the last couple of days and day of your race. Plan out your exercise, your eating, your race clothes.  Make sure you know what you need before, during and after the race by way of nutrition, clothing, and gear.  There are sites that will offer a check list for marathon race day.  Down load it and go through it. Suggestion: http://www.therunnersguide.com/checklist/

Keep calm.  Keep it fun. Run so you want to run again. Don't be cruel to yourself.  Run on friend and enjoy!

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Know When to Back Off

It's a short running week on schedule this week. We are travelling. This comes at an inconvenient time, five weeks out from my next marathon, Philadelphia on November 20th. The logical plan to follow was to cram all quality runs into the first three days of the week and, if time allowed, sneak in a run while travelling. 

Monday:  Speed training.  This was done on the treadmill where it's easy to set the desired pace and go with it. It's boring but that's part of the mental training in my book.  A 20 minute warm up followed by 8 x Fartleks for 3 1/2 minutes with 1 1/2 minute recovery jogging in between.  An extended cool down of 50 minutes ensued.  Total miles: 11.3

Tuesday: Easy/Recovery run for a minimum of 60 minutes.  I ran for 7.3 miles at an easy pace.  Towards the end of this run, during the last mile, I noticed ankle pain any time the road camber got pronounced.  When I did a U-Turn, I had to slow to a walk.  I was wearing my running shoes that offer support rather than cushion and wondered if it could be the shoes or was there something beginning to happen in that right lower leg.
The plan was to see how the ankle felt during the course of the day, skipping the PM swim class and giving myself every advantage to accomplish the long run scheduled for Wednesday. 
I set the ankle wrap within reach for the morning, if needed, and went to bed by 8:30pm.

Wednesday:  The alarm went off. I focused on the ankle:  Did it hurt? All was well but I was ready to cut the run short.  I would begin on the treadmill which offered cushion as well as a flat tread so the right leg wouldn't be challenged with any torque.  Treadmill miles:  10 1/4.
*I have Newton Training shoes designated for the treadmill. They are minimalist shoes yet the only ones used for my treadmill runs.
When Shane and I set out to finish my long run, I put on my Nike Flys. They are minimalist shoes and offer little by way of support but do offer a nice cushiony ride.  Apart from three bouts of hard pain in the front of the foot which subsided after the first 2 miles, the run went well.  No lingering pain. My conclusion was the pain came from wearing the wrong shoes the day before.
Total miles accomplished:  18 1/4 at an average pace of 9:12.

When pain is experienced and you are dead set on sticking with your schedule, be smart. You must pay attention to that pain as you run. KNOW WHEN TO BACK OFF.

1. Does it go away after you warm up, within the first three miles?  If so, continue running.
2. Does it get worse as you run, even AFTER your warm up phase?  If so, STOP!
3. If you experience soreness and it remains sore but gets no worse and not any better as you run, cut your miles/time short.  Your body is telling you it needs rest.

If I had set out on my scheduled run which was to be 16 - 20 miles and the ankle was still sore, I would have shortened my run if not backed off completely depending on the level of pain.  Since the ankle didn't bother me at all, I ran 18 1/4 miles, keeping in between the goal distance, feeling good afterwards.

Now we can get on with our travels to Kansas as planned. The weather looks great and maybe I can sneak in a 4 or 5 miler. 

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