Help me run a 10k.

April 13, 2012 11:23 AM

I am running a 10k race tomorrow. Your advice please?

I am training for a half marathon (it'll be my second) and as part of my training, I am running a 10k race tomorrow morning. Though I've run 5ks, 15ks, and a half, this is the first time I will truly be "racing." Typically I am somewhere between just wanting to finish and keeping an eye on my pace. But I'd like tomorrow to really be a legit test of how fast I can run this distance.

For the sake of context, my weekly training has been:

- a couple of easy 4-5 mile runs
- a long run at an easy pace
- either intervals or a tempo run

I guess my question is, how do I race? I know why my splits are from speedwork, tempo runs, and long runs. I know what pace I can maintain for a few miles but I have no real sense of how to run at "race pace" while keep something in the tank for the entire course. Is this something I just feel out as I go? How do other runners go about it? Would setting a goal for either finishing time or splits help? I guess I am trying to figure out how I gauge my effort to strike a balance between being speedy and being able to finish strong.

Any first time race advice would be super helpful. Thanks very much.

posted by Rudy Gerner to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Though I've run 5ks, 15ks, and a half, this is the first time I will truly be "racing."

What does this mean? You have never run for time before, only with a goal of finishing?

I have no real sense of how to run at "race pace" while keep something in the tank for the entire course. Is this something I just feel out as I go?

Yeah, that's a skill that comes with experience. I've run several dozen races over the past 2 years, and I'm still figuring it out. Most of my races I have a target time, and I try to run fairly even splits to achieve that. However, after a few races of hitting the same target, I usually get fed up and go out pushing my pace, or caught up in the excitement and run too fast, and see where it goes. I usually can't hold the faster pace, but sometimes I can still manage a PR, and other times I bonk and learn.

I guess I am trying to figure out how I gauge my effort to strike a balance between being speedy and being able to finish strong.

It's hard. When I go fast, I feel like crap at the end and think it wasn't my best race. Other times, I have a kick at the end and think I could have pushed it more in the middle. I've only had one or two races where I pushed hard enough to hit the wall right before the finish line, which is right where I want to be.

If you've done other distances, you might check an online calculator to see the equivalent time at 10K, and then target that pace, or even a bit faster. Certainly prepare to run negative splits if you can, by starting slower and speeding up gradually during the race.

Good luck on your race!
posted by I am the Walrus at 11:53 AM on April 13, 2012

Best answer: Have you ever run at a full tilt race pace over any distance? Do you know what your fastest mile is, for instance?

Without some sense of that, it is difficult to answer with specific pace information. I know that I can just about run 5k at just about my fastest mile pace and just hang on for dear life for the last half of the race. That strategy will not work in a 10k, 6 miles is just too long for a full-tilt effort.

Here is what went through my mind during a recent 10k at race pace. At mile 1, I was thinking no problem, I can do this all day. By mile 2 it occured to me Hmm, perhaps this was actually a bit more than I realized and the possibility that I was going too fast started to creep into my mind. By mile 3, this is certainly going to hurt, probably a lot. At mile 4, Oh no, I really hate running. By mile 5, Internal debate time. Voice 1 "Let's stop now and call it a big mistake." Voice 2: "This is a test of willpower. You knew this would hurt, but you are proving something to yourself" Voice 1: "Yes, that you are an idiot." Voice 2: "Shut Up!" At mile 6, Fuck you, metric system and your damned .2 I seriously wanted to die, but somehow sped up because of the crowd and stubborness. My general rule of thumb is that the last third of any race done at your maximum effort should be seriously difficult. If thoughts of stopping don't enter your mind during the last mile of a 5k, the last 2 miles of the 10k, or the last 3 miles of a half then you probably didn't go as fast as you are capable of.

I think that if you don't feel like this is going to be easy at mile 1, you are going to too hard. If it doesn't start to feel a bit intense by mile 2, you are going too easy.

If you felt like your previous 5ks weren't an "OMG I'm about to die" race pace, then your 5k pace might be a good target pace for you. Its hard to say -- my wife never "races" and she did a 10k almost 0:40 per mile faster than she ever did a 5k because she was trying to stay with a friend. I don't race often, but when I race I try to run to exhaustion even though my speed is still tortoise like -- I want to know what I'm capable of. Although runners idolize negative or even splits, I'm OK with picking a pace slightly faster than I'm capable of sustaining because I would be happier going out too fast and exploding than leaving 2 minutes on the course because I didn't go fast enough.

I've done the same mix of distances as you and I think that the 10k is my favorite distance. Its long enough to feel more like a real run, but doesn't punish me for days like a half does.
posted by Lame_username at 11:53 AM on April 13, 2012 [8 favorites]

Perhaps this race pace predicting calculator would be of use? Play around with some potential finish times for your 10k, and try to find what potential finish time then results in "your optimal training paces" matching your easy, long, tempo, and interval workouts.

I'd highly highly suggest using your training plans to predict a realistic finish time, rather than picking a (possibly too fast) finish time and just going for it. If your finish time is faster than you are capable of, you'll just end up burning out fast and not having a good experience.
posted by soleiluna at 11:55 AM on April 13, 2012

I should also add that learning to maintain your pace under stress is a skill that you learn, usually by training. I find that in a race, I can hold onto fairly even splits despite feeling like my death is imminent. My "favorite" training for this is to run the last couple of miles of my long run at something close to my race pace. It hurts, but it gets you used to the effort.

I'd highly highly suggest using your training plans to predict a realistic finish time

The problem with this, of course, is that this assumes his training paces were good. Most people run their long runs way too fast and make bad decisions from the McMillan calculator because they don't run anything near optimal training paces for their long or easy runs. Interval or tempo runs are probably a better indicator, but even then some people run their intervals too fast.

If your finish time is faster than you are capable of, you'll just end up burning out fast and not having a good experience.

My idea of an optimal race pace (running as fast as I am physically capable of) is probably inconsistent with what a lot of people would consider "having a good experience." I embrace the suffering.
posted by Lame_username at 12:03 PM on April 13, 2012

I ran a 10k 2 weeks ago-- my first race ever, and my longest run period in 15 years (since high school).

My training consisted about running 4k twice a week for 3 months. I never ran more than 5k, and usually walked and ran.

I was able to finish the race, only walking for 100 yards, at a 7.5 pace, which was 20% more than than my 4k pace.

If you have been running alone, you will probably run faster than you expected-- alot of people get an adrenaline push from racing.

I was able to speed up considerably the last mile and if there werent so many people (this was a 40,000 runner race)-- I would have been able to sprint the last 100 meters.

Good luck!
posted by sandmanwv at 12:04 PM on April 13, 2012

I pick how long I want my final "kick" to be first. The longer the race the smaller percentage that final kick will be, say on this case its going to be a mile. So I'm shooting to run my last mile a bit faster. I want to get there able to do that so I'lll structure the rest of my race pace around that. Takes a bit of practice so you know how fast you can run and have some in the tank to kick it up a notch at the very end. I'll also plan on going out fast, mainly to make use of fresh legs and to get away from slower runners in the pack and find space and someone to pace off of. So say first mile at 80% effort, settle into 60% for most of the race, then be in a position to turn it back on for the last mile gradually increasing effort to 100% for the last little bit. "little bit" being entirely relative to your personal abilities.

I find this a very psychologically easy way to run, you feel good and are passing people at the end which is encouraging.
posted by fshgrl at 12:06 PM on April 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: This is all quite helpful, thanks so much.

To be clear, I actually make use of the McMillan calculator already so I have a sense of training paces as well as what my projected race pace is for a given distance. I'm not trying to determine my exact pace.

What I was after with my question was more what Lame_username was getting at, which is basically how to tell if I am running the "proper" race pace for my distance. I was trying to get a sense of how it might feel as I push myself, how to avoid bonking, how to avoid being too conservative, and generally other people's experiences with maintaining racing w/r/t pace.
posted by Rudy Gerner at 4:44 PM on April 13, 2012

A stopwatch and known distances. You just have to practice to make it intuitive. When racing it helps to pick landmarks and have a target time for getting there.
posted by fshgrl at 5:04 PM on April 13, 2012

Usually I spend the first half mile or mile figuring out way feels comfortable at the moment. (It's usually faster than my training pace because adrenalin kicks in.) Then I take notice of who's around me and try to stay pretty close to them. If I'm feeling more energetic, I'll pass that person or group and move on to a group that is slightly faster or perhaps pretty much the same pace but is further ahead (so I just speed up for a little while if that's the case).
posted by Terriniski at 8:51 PM on April 14, 2012