Note: I'm not a professional runner but I've been running long enough to know a thing or to about training and running races, especially half-marathons and marathons. As the years have gone by, and the race t-shirts and completion medalions keep stacking up, I've experienced many things and have heard some amazing stories. It's my hope that I can share them with you in conjunction with helpful tips. And this way, runners and non-runners should find them interesting.
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Set and keep a pace.
It was the first Saturday in May, 2004. I was running the Provo canyon path near my house. The path travels six miles and passes through five beautiful parks--Canyon View, Canyon Glenn, Nunns Park, Bridal Veil Park, and Vivian's Park. Vivian's Park sits at the end of the stretch.
On this particular morning, I was running the round-trip, a total of 12 miles.
2.5 miles into the run, while passing through Canyon Glenn, three university-aged kids fell in behind me (approximately 30 yards). They came upon me fast. I thought how great it would be to be young again--the ability to run fast. As they passed me, however, one of the runners exclaimed that there was no way he could run this fast and make it through the entire run. The other two laughed. One replied "It's only four miles."
They slowly edged further and further ahead of me until they disappeared around the bend at the top of the hill that dips down into Nunn's Park..
I ran through Nunns Park, Bridal Veil Park, and passed the the gorgeous Bridal Veil Falls that falls off sharp and majestic cliffs. In the two mile stretch in between Bridal Veil Falls and Vivian's Park, I ran around the corner and nearly plowed over the three runners, who were walking slowly as if they were completly spent.
As I passed them, I overheard the same runner who complained earlier say "See, that's what I mean by pacing!"
The ability to keep a pace is fundamental to succesful long-distance running. If you start off at a pace that is too fast for what your body is used to, you will expend your energy far too quickly. (I've heard many refer to this state as the collapsing point.) You'll end up like my three friends, walking and sore.
Speaking of being sore, another reason for not pushing yourself beyond what you are able to run is because of the likelihood of incurring an injury--knees, ankles, tendons, muscle pulls or strains.
Just like a house needs a sturdy foundation to sit on, you could consider that a strong pace needs a strong foundation to support it. And that foundation, if you are a new runner, is built by 1) creating a consistent running routine; 2) starting off with minimal miles and increasing the mileage weekly; and 3) starting off at a pace that helps you finish the miles you are running for that particular day.
You will see your pace naturally increase the more you run. Faster paces are developed through building your endurance (distance) and speed. Endurance is developed by conistent training and a gradual increase of mileage. Speed is developed not only by a consistent running routine but more so by implementing speed-work in with your training runs or integrating speed runs in between your distance runs.
A 1975 running guide Step Up to Racing from World Publications published a table of data that pinpoints how far you can run based off of the criteria of how many miles you run per week. The results explain 1) what the maximum distance your body can race; and 2) what your body's collapsing point is.
Consider these examples:
If you run 10 miles per week = 5 miles is your collapsing point; 3 miles is the maximum race distance.
20 miles = 9 miles is your collapsing point; 6 miles is the maximum race distance.
40 miles = 17 miles is your collapsing point; 15 miles is the maximum race distance.
60 miles = 26 miles is your collapsing point; 20 miles is the maximum race distance.
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