Pacing oneself

Proper pacing is so important. In a race, start too fast and you burn out, start too slow and you need to work too hard to catch up to the time you want to achieve. You know how it happens, you get caught in the moment, you follow the crowd and then you realize that you've been going too fast and if you don't correct it soon, you'll run out of steam. The thing is that when you're at that point, you' re pretty much done and it will take you a while, if even you can, to recover. Typical rookie mistake. We've all been there, we've all done that. Of course, some are able to run the entire race at a blistering pace and proper pacing is a foreign word to them. However, for most of us, it's what makes or breaks a race. What you aim for is the, still for me, elusive negative split. These days in my LSD runs, I'm more of a positive split than anything. Which means I start too fast and burn out before the end. That is not good.

There is a person in our group who always positions herself to the front of the pack. Constantly. And she starts too fast. And the group follows. And we eventually crash and burn. Now I could say that it is entirely my fault but we run in a group and the paces are NOT what we should be doing. When we got our time trial, I was placed in the 4:30 pace group, which I believe is right for me. I do not believe I'm in the wrong pace group. 4:30 is correct for me WHEN I run at the correct pace. It is NOT good for me when I continuously run my LSD run at 6:51 walk adjusted which places me in the 4:00-4:15 group.

I was getting very discouraged when every single time I'd have to either bail out or struggle constantly towards the end of the run. I kept doubting myself, thinking this was not for me. I didn't think I could continue the training because although I was doing well in steady/tempo and on hills. The heat/humidity has something to do towards my fatigue during my long runs but I think the overall speed is what's getting me.


For comparison, the following paces for a 4:30 expected finish time:
Long run: 7:08 - 8:00
Steady: 7:08
Tempo/Fartleks/Hills: 6:26
Speed: 5:37
Race: 6:24
Walk adjusted race: 6:09

Paces for the 4:15 expected finish time:
Long run: 6:45 - 7:35
Steady:6:45
Tempo/Fartleks/Hills: 6:05
Speed: 5:19
Race: 6:03
Walk adjusted race:5:47

Paces for the 4:00 expected finish time:
Long run: 6:22 - 7:11
Steady:6:22
Tempo/Fartleks/Hills: 5:44
Speed: 5:00
Race: 5:41
Walk adjusted race:5:26

While I could decide to hang out with the 4:45 pace group, I do not believe that it is right because it doesn't teach us good race strategy. A good race strategy is to conserve energy, pace yourself well, go with a plan. Start slow, finish strong. So having considered all this, what's the point of having pace groups IF you don't follow the paces?

I have approached one of the instructor in our clinic and shared my concerns. Maybe I'm making a big issue out of nothing but I strongly believe having a good pacer (or getting used to the correct pace) is key to success. I'm not professing I am one but when I see someone hanging at the front of the pack continuously because she likes it this way, starts too fast and then crash, it bothers me. I'm hoping my concerns will be addressed/dealt with but if they aren't then I'll run on my own. That way I control my pace better AND get stronger mentally.

I don't think I'm out to lunch on this. I do know we are going too fast for what I am capable of, especially my first marathon.