Race Pacing Strategy

This year’s Boston Marathon is on April 18th and several of my friends will be toeing the line in Hopkinton. I will admit I am a bit jealous because Boston was the marathon where I finally achieved my goal of running a 4 hour marathon. I would like to see if I could do that again. As I reminisced about that race with a friend of mine recently it made me want to go back and look at my splits times for the race. Here is what I found:

Checkpoint - Pace per mile
5K - 9:07
10K - 9:11
15K - 8:41
20K - 9:01
25K - 9:02
30K - 9:05
35K - 9:06
40K - 9:08
Finish Line - 9:08 overall

I was shocked at how consistent my pace was throughout the race. Of course, it was the 5K between the 10K and 15K mark that allowed me to finish in 3:59:21. This made me want to go back and reread some articles I have saved about race pace and what the recommended strategy is for runners. Even though I did not have a specific strategy for Boston, I ended up running what is known as an even pace race.

Since many of you run and race regularly, you have no doubt heard of the negative split strategy. This is simply running the second half of your race faster than the first. I cannot tell you how many articles or discussions I have had with other runners where they talk about negative split racing and how it is the only way to race. The reason behind the almost fanatical devotion to this strategy is that the runner believes that the easier start allows them to preserve strength and energy for a fast finish. I also believe they prefer this strategy because they can pass a lot of runners in the last half of the race which I have to admit is fun.

I subscribed to the negative split strategy when I became a more experienced runner. I tried in every race to run the second half faster than the first. Unfortunately, I cannot recall a single race where I was able to do that. It makes me realize that there are a few flaws to the strategy. The first of which is that the strategy falls apart when a race course becomes more difficult in the second half of the course (i.e. Boston) than the first. Second, the longer the race the harder it is to run a negative split as you cannot reserve that much energy over a course that is 13 to 26 miles despite what most runners believe.

However, if you chose to use even pacing, you would maintain roughly the same pace per mile throughout the race. This strategy is also used by many runners and can result good finishing times as evidenced by my Boston finish. I read an article recently that said there have been studies showing that the fastest runners in most races were running the first half and the second half of the race in nearly equal times. Thus they were using an even pace race strategy. Based on my Boston performance, I now firmly believe that in a long race like a marathon this is the best strategy because it is very difficult for a typical runner to run a negative split in a marathon.

If you want to run a race with even pacing you will need to know what it feels like to run at your goal pace. This means that you will have to do at least one tempo run each week as you prep for a marathon. In the Brooks-Hanson Marathon Training Program this meant that each week I was doing a tempo run starting at 6 miles building up to 10 miles by week 15 of my training schedule. When I look back at my running log, I am convinced that the tempo runs were the runs that truly taught my body how to run at a consistent pace with relative comfort. Since I was shooting for a 4 hour finish as my stretch goal, I was running my tempo workouts at a 9:00 per mile pace.

The next time you are thinking about a long race (i.e. half or full marathon) sprinkle into your training schedule some tempo runs to help you know what it feels like to run at race pace. The closer to race pace that you can run without over training, the more benefit to your racing. In the end tempo runs are the best way to teach your body how to work at a higher intensity. It will also make it much easier to run an even pace race and hopefully reach your goal on that day. I know it worked for me.

Mar. 20 – 10.20 miles (1:33:23, 9:09 pace)
Mar. 21 – 6.20 miles (56:35, 9:08 pace)
Mar. 22 – 3.50 miles (27:28, 7:51 pace) – Speed Work
Mar. 24 – 6.20 miles (49:57, 8:03 pace) – Tempo Run
Mar. 25 – 6.40 miles (57:32, 8:59 pace)
Mar. 26 – 9.40 miles (1:25:43, 9:07 pace)
Mar. 27 – 9.20 miles (1:23:42, 9:06 pace)
Mar. 28 – 6.20 miles (59:29, 9:36 pace)
Mar. 29 – 3.50 miles (27:24, 7:50 pace) – Speed Work
Mar. 31 – 6.20 miles (49:35, 8:00 pace) – Tempo Run
Apr. 2 – 10.10 miles (1:30:28, 8:58 pace)

Total Miles: 77.10 miles
2011 YTD Miles: 357.90 miles