Consistency…

I ran a third 5000M time trial of the summer/fall several days ago. Running a consistent pace is one of the more challenging aspects of racing. This trial was on a track which would allow me to make adjustments if I was too far off the pace. I mapped out 400M splits that would get me to 18:57 which came out to 91 seconds/400M. The challenge with running every lap at the same speed is you actually need to run a little harder at every lap. Your body is getting tired and naturally slows, so you need to push past that. Though it has always worked for me in terms of reaching a goal time, it’s unpleasant. Thinking about that and ignoring that it has worked before, I suggested the idea of alternating my laps at 92/90 to a friend of mine who was going to time us and count the laps.  I thought pushing a little harder then backing off might make the run easier. He echoed what I have advised many times in the past—go with consistency. I abandoned the idea of 92/90 and went with the goal of 91s.

I knew two things going in based on prior racing experience. One was that my first lap would probably be too fast. However, as I was on a track, I could check my splits every 100M and back off as needed. Two, if I kept to the pace, there was a reasonable chance I could run the final 400M in a little under 91 seconds.

The morning was originally forecast to be in the low thirties but in a surprise switch, it was fifty. This was just perfect 5K weather. After a two-mile warm-up, stretching, and striders, it was time. There were two of us running and one timing—we would get our lap times called out to us and this proved to be immensely helpful.

True to form, my first 100M was around 19 seconds and I crossed the 200M at 42. Even backing off a little, 400M was still too fast-right around 87 seconds. I didn’t panic, put on the brakes a little, and kept moving. For the first 1200M, I felt wonderful. The pace didn’t seem too out of reach and though there were some odd hot/cold air pockets on the track and a little breeze, everything felt fine. Starting at 1201M, the pain began to creep in and as I wound from that point to 3200M, it gradually increased and the run was losing its appeal. Except, I was hitting my laps right on pace, 90-91s though by laps 8 and onward, a few 92s started to work their way in. While on one hand I didn’t have any “cushion” to work with, I was right there.

The downside was that I was feeling worse and worse. With 1000M to go, I felt rotten and in retrospect, it’s possible I’ve felt that lousy in a race in the past, but not when I was right on the edge of a goal time. With 800M to go, I was at 16:00. This initially concerned me. When I ran 19:01 earlier this fall, with a half mile to go I was also at 16:00. I didn’t quite go under 19:00 on that day but I had covered the final quarter mile in around 80 seconds. Remembering that, I knew that if I could hold the next 400M at around 90 seconds, I had a decent shot at going under 19:00. In spite of the ever-growing pain, this was a motivating thought.

And, I was still hitting every lap at anywhere from 90 to 92 seconds. The consistency was working. I hit the “bell lap” at 17:30, 200M to go at 18:15 (90-second 400M pace over those 600M if you don’t want to do the math) and then managed to turn over a 41-second final 200M for a finish at 18:56.

In theory I shouldn’t need any reminders that consistency is best when going for a certain time. If you go out too fast, the last chunk of the race will be even more painful than the consistency version. If you’ve aimed too slow, you can always pick it up over the last 800M or 1200M and then reevaluate for next time. And, if you pick the right time, just about at the point where you’re not sure how much more you can turn over, you should be cruising (maybe struggling at a fast pace) across the finish line.