How to push…*

My two fastest 5Ks were years ago but I remember they had one thing in common: in both cases I went out at a more conservative pace and then finished strong. I’ve attempted to mimic this strategy in recent races but it’s challenging for a couple of reasons. It’s wise to go out fast immediately off the line to get ahead of the scrum at the beginning of the race so you don’t get blocked in, especially in a big race and/or one where the course narrows in the first quarter or half mile. It’s then important to shift back into race pace but this isn’t the easiest discipline.

The other reason is that many runners like to bank their time to create some flexibility in their pace at the end. This is natural. It’s also risky and for me, it usually hasn’t worked. The occasions where I blasted an opening mile in a pace faster than what I planned for my overall time turned into a longer, disappointing race.

Let’s say my goal is to go under 19:00 in a 5K, or a 6:05 per mile pace. By the last part of a race, I normally feel sapped. It would feel much better to come through mile two in 12:00, knowing I can run a 6:15 third mile and make my goal, than to come through in 12:10 and still having to run yet another mile at that same pace, meaning I’ll actually have to push harder since I’m fatigued.

Ironically, this is why banking time can be a problem. If I’ve calculated my ability accurately and I’m actually in 18:59 shape, if I run my first two miles in 12:00, then I’m actually running 18:45 pace for that part of the race. I’ve pushed myself at a pace that I may be able to hold for 2.5 miles, instead of 3.1. While I do have extra time to work with, I’ve likely sapped my strength enough that even holding a slightly slower pace will be challenging, at best.

If I manage to hold the 12:10 pace exactly, it’ll mean a grueling finish. If I come through in a bit over that, say 12:15, it will still be grueling but I’ll probably have a little more fuel in the tank and I tend to believe that the extra fuel I have left against a little time I need to gain outbalances the time I’ve saved against the energy I’ve lost with banking time.

Of course, as readers of one of my recent posts know, you can go out too conservatively and not be in a position to make up time lost in the first mile. In my last race, when I crossed the two-mile mark at 12:52 instead of the 12:10 I needed for a sub-19:00 pace, even though I still felt fairly good, there was little to no chance of my ripping off a fast enough final 1.1 mile to get my goal.

It’s a delicate balance and given the challenge of pacing in general, it’s difficult to run the exact way you plan. But, still feeling a little zing in my legs tends to work better than having nothing left for the last push.

*Updated on 20 May to correct faulty URL link in text.