Race Strategy
I have to be honest. I am not known for my race strategy. I have issues with starting off slow, regularly scheduled walk breaks, and saving energy for the last 6 miles.
Everyone always says to save your energy for the back half. I am told it is more fun to pass runners at mile 23 then to be passed.
Whatever.
But this weekend, I have to conserve energy. I have to accept that to keep my normally chipper persona in check and my morale high, I have to have energy.
Thus, I present to you my new and improved race strategy.
Strategy 1: Walk for one minute at EVERY water stop. No more dive in, grab a water and start up again. I have to walk for one full minute. I then get to run to the next water stop.
Strategy 2: My average pace cannot be faster than 10:45/mile. I hve been known to knock off a few sub-10 minute miles in the early stages of recent marathons. In Phoenix, I was clipping along at a 9:20 pace for the first 8 miles. That was a major oops.
Strategy 3: Nutrition. I will be carrying with me a mixture of plain Perpetum mixed with Rasperry Hammergel. It will be super concentrated, containing approximately 1200 calories. I will also have 4-5 Hammergel packets in reserve. This will get me close to 15oo calories for the race or ~300 calories per hour. This is about 500 calories more than I have consumed in past races.
Strategy 4: I will be loading up on electrolytes by taking 2-3 e-caps an hour. By maintaining a steady intake of electrolytes, my calves will be much less likely to cramp. That can't be a bad thing.
Strategy 5: Have fun and be social. As a back of a pack runner, I will have plenty of time to make new friends and, knowing me, flirt a little.
That's it.
It is just that simple.
Can I do it?
We'll find out.
Everyone always says to save your energy for the back half. I am told it is more fun to pass runners at mile 23 then to be passed.
Whatever.
But this weekend, I have to conserve energy. I have to accept that to keep my normally chipper persona in check and my morale high, I have to have energy.
Thus, I present to you my new and improved race strategy.
Strategy 1: Walk for one minute at EVERY water stop. No more dive in, grab a water and start up again. I have to walk for one full minute. I then get to run to the next water stop.
Strategy 2: My average pace cannot be faster than 10:45/mile. I hve been known to knock off a few sub-10 minute miles in the early stages of recent marathons. In Phoenix, I was clipping along at a 9:20 pace for the first 8 miles. That was a major oops.
Strategy 3: Nutrition. I will be carrying with me a mixture of plain Perpetum mixed with Rasperry Hammergel. It will be super concentrated, containing approximately 1200 calories. I will also have 4-5 Hammergel packets in reserve. This will get me close to 15oo calories for the race or ~300 calories per hour. This is about 500 calories more than I have consumed in past races.
Strategy 4: I will be loading up on electrolytes by taking 2-3 e-caps an hour. By maintaining a steady intake of electrolytes, my calves will be much less likely to cramp. That can't be a bad thing.
Strategy 5: Have fun and be social. As a back of a pack runner, I will have plenty of time to make new friends and, knowing me, flirt a little.
That's it.
It is just that simple.
Can I do it?
We'll find out.
posted by Kevin at 3:18 PM
2 Comments:
You can do it, Kev. Any idea what your time will be on Saturday? What corral are you in?
We're only running the half, but time pending I'd love to stick around and cheer you on the last few miles. :)
Good luck! I totally suck at sticking with race strategies, but the one time I did and negative split a ten mile race by 4 minutes, it felt really really good - I wish I would remember that!
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