Strategy and tactics play a major role in the outcome of a race and often the smarter runner can beat the faster one if they have the right race plan and stick to it.

What is the problem?

One of the most important qualities to have as a distance runner is patience. In a 5k or 10k race, the first person to the mile marker is not necessarily the one who wins. It is very easy to get excited at the beginning of a race and go out to quickly, causing your legs to fill prematurely with lactic acid. On the other hand going out too slow will leave you lost in the pack and sometimes unable to pass through the crowds of people. So where do we find the medium?

What to do?

You need to be in control of yourself, your emotions, your pace, at the start of the race, but that doesn’t mean you are going to let people run by you either. How fast you should go out in a race can be predicted by your workouts to a certain extent, but often a certain degree of trial and error is necessary until you become a more experienced racer.

And more...

Obviously if the first one is much faster than the other you went out too fast and if the last one is much faster you went out too slow. Ideally, the segments should be getting slightly faster as you go. It is not a bad idea to start off a bit slower in the first mile so that you don’t shock your body too much at the beginning of the event. The second segment should be run at the pace you hope to average for the entire race, and the final third is hopefully just a little faster than the others because you were able to squeeze out a little kick at the end.

Convertible Advantages
Inevitably there will be people in your race who go out to fast or too slow, which means that the trick is to be patient enough in the early going to run your own race, and aggressive enough during the hard parts to keep it going. Being cool under fire is a learned response and if it is learned properly, it will surely lead to you running your best.


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