LISTEN TO EPISODE 73 HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/73-pacing-plan-how-to-run-your-best-race-time/id1446735036
It is so important to go into a race mentally ready to tackle the big event ahead. Part of being mentally prepared is having a pacing plan and knowing exactly what you should be doing to feel good during the race. Today we will be chatting about ways to assess your fitness to develop goals then how to establish a pacing plan for a half marathon and full marathon race.
Look at your consistency with weekly mileage, what paces you could hit during key workouts, and how you executed your workouts. Did you slow down as your tempo run went along or were you able to finish strong? Think about how you felt during workouts. Have you been nailing workouts week in and week out, or has it been hit or miss? 🤔
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⭐️ASSESS YOUR RACING/RUNNING EXPERIENCE
How long have you been running? Do you have a lot of experience with your goal race distance? These questions factor into what your pacing plan should be. If this is your first marathon, the main goal should just be to finish! 💪
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⭐️BACK UP YOUR GOAL TIME WITH A VDOT CALCULATOR
Put in a recent time trial or race into a VDOT calculator (like looking at a recent half marathon time to predict a marathon time). This can help determine if your goal is in the right ballpark for your fitness level. It’ll likely spit out a pretty aggressive time goal, so adding 5-10 minutes to that for a marathon can be a great goal 😃
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⭐️SET UP A/B/C/D GOALS
A Goal is your perfect, stars align day. Weather is great, you feel great, nutrition goes down perfectly, etc. B Goal is still a great day but not perfect. C Goal is not a great day but some things still went well and you can run a solid time. D Goal is simply just to finish the race! 💯
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⭐️DON’T COMPARE TO OTHERS
Look within yourself and don’t look at other runners who have run similar workouts times. Workouts translate differently to races for every single runner. Some runners run great under the pressure of a race while others do not. No one is quite alike! 🏃🏾♀️🏃🏽♂️
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⭐️FOCUS MORE ON HOW YOU WANT TO FEEL DURING THE RACE
Our pacing plans will break down how you should feel at each point in the race. We do give pace ranges for each section of a marathon, but you should focus more on those ranges as speed limits rather than hyperfocusing on staying exactly within those ranges. You may need to go slower than the range given based on feel! 🙌 Running a few slower miles is not a recipe for disaster
How can you assess your fitness level?
What is the best distance workout or race to look at when determining marathon race?
Should you look at past performances?
Should you have A,B,C goals depending on weather & how you are feeling?
What is a good range between goals? 5, 10, & 20 min?
Is it okay to throw out your race plan and run faster than A race?
Does it matter how many times you have raced this distance?
Why do negative splits work?
What is your recommendation to someone who says negative splits don’t work for them?
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