Scope

Note: once again, this post is me rambling about my thoughts on running

So, I know I said last week how breaking longer efforts into small goals and focusing on meeting them helps. And I concluded by saying that the "rest of the workout/race will take care of itself", with a cautionary "maybe". The topic of this weeks rambling is going to be the "maybe".

Breaking things up and focusing on the small chunks helps only if you don't lose sight of the "big picture". For example, a mile is 4 x 400m (+9m), but breaking it down this way and running each quarter like the race ended there would just be dumb. Instead, figuring out what you want to run the mile in and dividing it among the quarters (and concentrating on running each in that time) is the logical strategy. This brings me to the single, most helpful piece of running advice that any coach has ever given me:

Figure out how fast you can run a given distance in and run that pace. 

I know that sounds obvious, but the blatant statement is what finally clicked for me. While I seldom struggle with not running hard enough and having too much to give at the finish line, the opposite is usually true. I generally start off too fast, thinking that I'm going to fade so I need to "bank" time. Inevitably, I do fade, and then I die, and then I have to keep running. So, what I started doing is asking myself in the first half mile of every race or hard workout:

Can I maintain this pace/effort for X distance?

If the answer is no (I'm already huffing and puffing and approaching red lining within the first mile of a 40min tempo run), I slow down. If the answer is yes, I'll usually maintain the pace for at least a mile and re-evaluate. If I'm still feeling pretty good (especially if I'm halfway or more done), I might try and pick it up a bit. Or, if I'm starting to question my initial "yeah, I can do this", I try and settle down and maintain effort level (but not necessarily pace). I mean, the end of whatever should feel harder than the beginning because you don't want to have much of anything left over!

The first race that I tried this on worked out well, and I've had more success with tempo runs when I've done it. This is not to say I run every hard workout this way (or even race, although I am more hesitant to deter from this strategy because my PR's are generally evenly run races). Every once in a while, you need to push yourself out of what you "know you can do" or you'll never know what you can... maybe that will be the topic of next week's post!