Race Day

While the sport of running may not have as much strategy as football, you can still benefit from racing strategy. Salazar breaks down a race into  three appropriately named sections: the beginning, middle, and end.

Beginning

"Once the horn sounds, resist the temptation to blaze out at a self-destructive speed. By the time the race begins, your adrenaline is running full-bore, then suddenly (finally! all that flight-or-fight hormone finds release. Your body knows what it's supposed to do: run! chase! go!" (Salazar 187).

This is how Alberto describes the start. As a runner myself, I know how all too true this is. Nerves run high at the start of a race, and your body will likely be using the anaerobic energy that it has stored in its' muscles. However, this energy will not sustain you throughout the course of a distance, and you will burn yourself out causing a lot of suffering in the later part of the race.
I have done this many times before. My watch has logged me at a 4:50 mile pace for the start of a race, though my average pace turns out to be about a minute slower than that.

Salazar's solution is to remember this: "If the start doesn't feel slow, you're going too fast" (Salazar 187). I will definitely try to remember this the next time I'm lining up to the start.

Middle

Though not crucial, a GPS watch
like the one I have here can
help track your split times

The middle is possibly the hardest part of the race, because you are beginning to feel fatigued, and yet you still have a large amount of distance to cover. Even so, that is not a good excuse for slacking off. 

Throughout the race you should pay attention to your split times, or the time it takes you to run each mile. Your goal should be to run splits that are close to identical while still running at a challenging pace. This time allows you to make sure that you are on track with your goal for the race.  By knowing this, you can adjust your pace to fit your plan. (Salazar 90)

Many races offer markers, or volunteers which will shout the split times as you run by. In some occasions these volunteers will fail to start their watches on time, or will announce times in an inaudible tone so Salazar recommends taking a watch.

Hills

Hills are also among the topics Salazar talks about in this chapter. he points out that many runners attack hills and then require a recovery afterwards. This recovery takes away all that they have gained by their speedy ascension. (Salazar 193).

Instead, Salazar offers a different approach. He states that "Your goal should be to run uphill at the same level of effort that you're using to run on the level, slowing down as much as necessary to allow this to happen" (Salazar 193). By doing this, you will be able to attack at the top of the hill, and pass all those that charged up the hill. After you have over taken these individuals, you can rest while descending the hill (Salazar 193).

I confess that I used to run up hills at a faster pace. Now that I know this harms your time, I will make a concentrated effort to maintain the same amount of effort.

End

The middle may be challenging, but you shouldn't let up until after you've crossed the finish line. If you've paced yourself correctly, the last mile of the race should be a gradual increase in speed. Most runners experience the opposite effect because they have pushed themselves too hard during the earlier stages of the race (Salazar 207).

Finally, as you smell the finish, comes the kick. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, "kick" means the final sprint to the finish line. Though it might be tempting, it is still a wise idea to hold out until you are a little more than 200 yards from the finish line. As Salazar puts it "Kicking too hard, too soon, can lose you more time than a properly timed kick can gain" (Salazar 208). If you can time your kick properly, then you can jump several places by passing the people who made the mistake of starting their kick too early.

As you can see, racing is all about pacing (that rhymed!). As I finish this marathon of a post (pun intended), I ask you this question: What have you learned about pacing that you can apply to an area in your own life?