The Plan Goes Awry!
Today, I ran in a 20k race (about 12.4 miles). My plan, because of the need to learn my desired pacing for my upcoming marathon, was to be start at 8:00 miles and gradually build speed to about a 7:40 pace by the finish. I tried to start slowly, but not slowly enough. Frankly, I did a flat out lousy job of starting slowly, completing my first mile in 6:30, so I was 90 seconds ahead of plan.
I then made a conscious effort to slow my pace. Even trying to slow it down, I could only get to 7:00 miles. So, my time at 3 was essentially 20:30. At 5, 34:30; at 6, 41:30. This pacing held pretty solid until about 8, when I decided to take off my gloves. I was wearing a heart rate monitor that goes on the back of the hand, so this process was a bit more complicated than it had to be. Also, at about the same time, I took some ade, but it bothered my stomach a bit. As a result of these things, I let about 15 seconds slip from my pace. At this time, I began working with another runner to keep us both grinding along.
We went through 9 at about 63:15 and 10 at about 70:15. Shortly after this, my hamstrings and glutes (aka back of thighs and butt) began to tie up a little due to the chill. I also was struggling a tad with the bad stomach. I invited my cohort to go ahead by he dropped his pace slightly. As we passed a water stop, I pulled up and took some water (reducing the concentration of sugars and salts in the stomach often corrects this problem) and continued on my way. I think my time between 10 and 11 was 7:20 (though I can't remember my split). At 12, I was at 1:24:55, and I finished in 1:27:51.
While my time was good, representing a 7:04 average pace, I failed in my plan to keep my pace controlled. I know if I do this in my marathon (and don't correct it fast), the wheels will fall off somewhere after 20 miles. I must keep my pace controlled if I am to achieve my goal.
I had run about 2 1/2 miles before the race and about a mile after as my warm-up and cool-down, so I wound up with about 16 in almost exactly 2 hours.
I then made a conscious effort to slow my pace. Even trying to slow it down, I could only get to 7:00 miles. So, my time at 3 was essentially 20:30. At 5, 34:30; at 6, 41:30. This pacing held pretty solid until about 8, when I decided to take off my gloves. I was wearing a heart rate monitor that goes on the back of the hand, so this process was a bit more complicated than it had to be. Also, at about the same time, I took some ade, but it bothered my stomach a bit. As a result of these things, I let about 15 seconds slip from my pace. At this time, I began working with another runner to keep us both grinding along.
We went through 9 at about 63:15 and 10 at about 70:15. Shortly after this, my hamstrings and glutes (aka back of thighs and butt) began to tie up a little due to the chill. I also was struggling a tad with the bad stomach. I invited my cohort to go ahead by he dropped his pace slightly. As we passed a water stop, I pulled up and took some water (reducing the concentration of sugars and salts in the stomach often corrects this problem) and continued on my way. I think my time between 10 and 11 was 7:20 (though I can't remember my split). At 12, I was at 1:24:55, and I finished in 1:27:51.
While my time was good, representing a 7:04 average pace, I failed in my plan to keep my pace controlled. I know if I do this in my marathon (and don't correct it fast), the wheels will fall off somewhere after 20 miles. I must keep my pace controlled if I am to achieve my goal.
I had run about 2 1/2 miles before the race and about a mile after as my warm-up and cool-down, so I wound up with about 16 in almost exactly 2 hours.
posted by Scooter at 6:34 PM
2 Comments:
You run about a million times faster than I do, but I have the same problem! I always swear I'll start reasonably and then finish strong. In fact, I do that generally with training runs, but when I'm at a "race", I start like an Olympian and then hobble over the finish line almost completely out of gas. Silly!
Good pace! Plans are hard to keep and sometimes plain arbitrary with no foundation in reality. Sometimes running how you feel is much more enjoyable. But your point about the wheels falling off in a marathon does stand true. Keep up the good work! -Andrew
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