Pace Consistency in a Race
What is Pace Consistency?
Pace consistency is individual to each runner but generally it’s described as a pace that you can settle into and hold from the start to the finish of a run.
Consistent running pace is widely regarded as the best way to achieve a timed goal; the “holy grail” of how to execute a race.
Why is pace consistency important?
The optimal pacing strategy for any race is to run every mile/km (split) evenly, this is commonly known as “even splits”. Even splits are where you aim for the same precise mile/km time for the duration of the race to achieve your goal race time. To do this your aim is to run the same time for every split whilst still considering the idiosyncrasies of the course or route you’ll be running.
Running even splits sounds easy, doesn’t it?
But as we know, most runners are prone to going out too fast at the start of the race often getting caught up in the excitement of the event, feeling good and listening to Joe Bloggs who told them that this could be the race that they “smashed it”.
Believing all these external cues, runners tend to lose control and self-discipline, set off quicker than they’d trained for only to finish the race feeling like they’d got a bear on their back!
Unfortunately, learning this hard lesson takes time and many experiences before runners get a feel for their exact pace.
How to become a more efficient consistent pacer
Follow a training plan, very few sessions on a plan are meant to be run at your top speed; every session has a purpose and should be paced accordingly. If you execute the aim of the session this will enable you to develop a “feel” and a “discipline” for your consistent race pace. Remember, you and your coach have the same goal, to improve your performance and reach your potential.
Running the second half of a training run, unless stated on your training plan, faster than your first half can lead to misinterpretation of what your race pace is or feels like. The stats will then show an average pace, this may well be far from your “consistent” race pace and give you a false sense of where your training status actually is.