Again the Pacing Thing!

Here I go again. Yet another post on pacing (also see here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

It seems I need to repeat this topic several times a year. I suppose that’s because it’s so hard to learn this lesson. It’s really difficult to keep our emotions in check, I guess. Or perhaps it’s because we believe that some sort of miracle has occurred and we are suddenly capable of doing things we have never done before.

Miraculous things.

Like running a 10km race three minutes faster than ever before. Or doing 20-minute threshold intervals at 30 watts above what was manageable just last week. Or swimming 500 meters at the same pace as a best-ever 100 meters.

When we start a race or an interval it’s easy. Right? For 20 seconds or so it feels almost effortless. So what do we do? We go fast. Faster than we are capable of maintaining based on previous experience. But it feels so easy! And when it’s a race or we’re training with a group we’re excited. They’re all going fast, too. They must be right. The excitement makes it feel even easier than if we were alone.

So we do really stupid stuff.

And a few minutes later we begin to pay the price. What happens? Acidosis sets in. Within a few minutes our muscles are drowning in acid. They’re screaming for relief. Breathing is labored panting. So we slow down. We have no other recourse. When everything starts feeling a bit better we try to go hard again. This time it’s only a few seconds until we know it’s over.

We limp in. The intervals, workout or race won again.

Do you do this? If not you’re definitely in the minority. Almost everyone does it. But it’s so easily fixed.

By this time you should know yourself well enough to what you are capable of doing. Then simply be determined to do it at the start of the race or workout by using your head rather than letting your emotions run wild and ruining things yet again. Just because the others are going too fast doesn’t make it right. Be strong-willed enough to think and act for yourself.

Pacing is critical to performance in all types of endurance sports from the 800m run on the track to the 45-minute bicycle criterium to the Ironman Triathlon to Race Across America. Pacing is the key. Work on it training. If you can't do it in a workout you certainly can't do it in a race. Learning this skill will pay off big time in your 2011 race performances.

NEXT: When it is ok to go out fast and why heart rate monitors train us to pace poorly.

Comments

[Steve]

Hey Joe,

I know it isn't a simple answer, but what about the typical road race when pacing yourself means getting dropped and having to work with a small group or alone? Is there anything that we can do other than just bite the bullet and stick with the group?

Steve

[Joe Friel]

Steve--Stay tuned...

[Michael]

I know, "nothing new under the sun" but...

If you buy a power meter, and try to pacing with power, then you're miles ahead of the others. My LTHR is basically the same all year, but when it comes to power output, so there are some major differences. I first learned something about proper pacing after I had bought a power meter. All training sessions are also training in pacing from an endurance workout to a VO2-max session and so on. How will you eg pace a a Vo2-max 10x(30 +30)s interval without a power meter, yes, it would be very difficult with only a heart rate monitor available. Pacing with a heart rate monitor might be okay sometimes, but HR alone tells you nothing about, for example, coupling/decouling. There are so many advantages in using a power meter, so it would be a long story but the bottom line is that pacing is a learned skill, and the best way to achieve this skill is to use a power meter.

[Pieter]

this afternoon and evening the first 6hours mtb race of the year. there is a lot of wind (up to 80km/h), there will be lots of excitement due to the fact its the first race, there will be the friends that are just a little too fast to follow, the heart rate monitor will indicate too high values due to the adrenalin, no power meter available on the mtb, pacing will be o so difficult, once again... Joe, your article is just in time to be warned, once again !!!

[RobinJudice]

Fantastic post, Joe. I preach the same message again and again and try to get my runners to practice this in every workout and race. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on HRM and pacing. I suspect we have the same opinion!!

Robin

[Gordon Moore]

Thanks Steve for taking the question right out of my mouth!
I'm looking forward to your next post Joe, as this is a tactical problem I face all the time and haven't been able to figure out.

It seems like I have two choices: I can go anaerobic early on the first steep hill and stay w/ the group for at least a little while but then pay the price, or stay at my threshold and get dropped and face the remainder of the race in the wind.

I know this means I need to train my anaerobic endurance (one of my goals this season), but like Steve, I was hoping you might have some advice on how to ride smarter in this situation.

Thanks for a great blog,
Gordon

[Joe Friel]

Gordon--There is no smarter. There's only fitter.

[The Mother Freakin' Princess]

Very interesting. I'm a new reader of your blog, but as a family we're reading your Mtn Bike Training Bible. I'm currently healing an injury from...over training! I'm excited to heal up and race my second season, hopefully I'll have learned a few things ;)

[Jeff]

This is an AWESOME post... I'm trying to learn my lesson in this area. I've been training with a heart rate monitor for a couple years. I find that as you progress in your training, it becomes more difficult to go off heart rate early in your run/bike. Initially, your heart rate shoots right up to where you want it... now it takes at least 20 minutes, it seems, for it to level off. I'm really trying to get a feel for RPE. Thanks for all of your advice, Joe... both of your triathlon books are extremely helpful, as are your coaches replies to my email questions.

[Alex]

Hi Joe, a question for you. During a recent camp with an IM world champion and one of the sport's "hottest" runners right now I was quite suprised to hear that her first 2 miles of the marathon were the quickest compared to the pace she settled for the remainder of the race. She also mentioned a similar tactic by some of the other top pro runners (former IM champions). Doesn't that contradict the notion of pacing or am i missing something?
Your thoughts always appreciated and of high value.

[Joe Friel]

Alex--The pro race is as much a head game as it is a physical game. Trying to discourage the competition is a typical tactic.