{"id":1581,"date":"2023-05-20T12:43:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T12:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/?p=1581"},"modified":"2023-05-20T12:50:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-20T12:50:00","slug":"how-to-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/20\/how-to-push\/","title":{"rendered":"How to push\u2026*"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\u2019ve attempted to mimic this strategy in recent races but it\u2019s challenging for a couple of reasons. It\u2019s wise to go out fast immediately off the line to get ahead of the scrum at the beginning of the race so you don\u2019t get blocked in, especially in a big race and\/or one where the course narrows in the first quarter or half mile. It\u2019s then important to shift back into race pace but this isn\u2019t 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\u2019s also risky and for me, it usually hasn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll actually have to push harder since I’m fatigued.

Ironically, this is why banking time can be a problem. If I\u2019ve calculated my ability accurately and I\u2019m actually in 18:59 shape, if I run my first two miles in 12:00, then I\u2019m actually running 18:45 pace for that part of the race. I\u2019ve 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\u2019ve 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\u2019ll mean a grueling finish. If I come through in a bit over that, say 12:15, it will still be grueling but I\u2019ll 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\u2019ve saved against the energy I\u2019ve lost with banking time.

Of course, as readers of one of my recent posts<\/a> 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\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019ve attempted to mimic this strategy in recent races but it\u2019s challenging for a couple of reasons. It\u2019s wise to go out fast immediately … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “How to push\u2026*”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9W0ku-pv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":696,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/04\/pacing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1581,"position":0},"title":"Pacing…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"July 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One common question as people schedule races for later this summer or fall is, \u201cHow fast can I run that event?\u201d There will be several factors in picking a goal time including past race experience, current training, whether it\u2019s a familiar or new distance, the course toughness, etc.As mentioned in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1699,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/24\/something-tough-and-new\/","url_meta":{"origin":1581,"position":1},"title":"Something tough and new…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"October 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Following a 5K recently, I lamented to a friend of mine the struggle from the one-mile mark through two and part of the third miles. 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