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Hilly race pacing strategy? (Read 573 times)


A Saucy Wench

    I have a hilly HM that is a goal race coming up in a few weeks. This is one of the few repeats I have ever done, I ran the course last year and felt I ran it well. But I am faster this year. My target (subject to change based on my upcoming 10K and the weather forecast) is about 50 seconds per mile faster. I am considering as a pacing strategy since it is so hilly taking my splits from last years race and across the board subtracting my goal improvement. So if mile 1 I ran 9:00 then this year mile 1 I will aim for 8:10, but since mile 4 was 9:45 (big ass hill) I will aim for 8:55, etc. Is this sensible or crazy? I cant decide. I cant think of what would make more sense. Except I think I am a bit stronger on hills so I might go for a bigger improvement on the ups so I can ease up on the downs a bit.

    I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

     

    "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

      Ennay There are probably about as many ways to strategize a hilly race as there are runners, so I'll just tell you what works for me: Establish your pace, and then on hills, just keep you place in the pack, unless they either really slow down or you are feeling super-strong. If you have been doing hill workouts, you'll pull ahead eventually. But I finally realized that there's no need to show any specific hill prowess by passing people on the hills themselves....if you are in better shape, you'll get ahead eventually. I know that some like to pass on hills as it works to their psychological advantage, but if you do this at the cost of redlining your max HR, then you've gained very little. So, your strategy to account for slower splits during hilly sections makes sense. I wouldn't go crazy checking your pace though, on those hills.....overthinking makes me tired. HOWEVER, if you're in the last mile-and-something of your 10k, and you want to put a hurting on those around you (and yourself as well), I suggest that you hurl your ENTIRE ATHLETIC BEING into the hill in front of you, work your arms and push until you feel like your eyes are bleeding. If you're lucky, your sense of accomplishment will help to numb your considerable pain, and should get you across the line. But that's only if you really want to push. Also: descending.......it's the silent killer. Doesn't seem to hurt that much, but nothing will sap strength from my legs like a descent. I'm not a strong descender, but have found that if I lean forward a tad (just enough to counteract a natural urge to lean back, shorten my stride a little bit, and try to place my heel strike underneath my hips (these changes are all very subtle but do require some concentration), then I can descend relatively well, at least during a road race. My .02........Good luck! Walt Edit: It's a HM you've got, not a 10k.....oooops! Then take it easy on the anaerobic part of paragraph 2, and re-read para's 1 & 3.


      A Saucy Wench

        yeah...ignoring the paragraph about hurling myself at the hills...thats about what I usually do, except I am a pretty good decender... I actually have yet to have a flat run be a PR over a hilly run because of that..but I dont run flat runs often. These downs are short enough that last year I just let fly. I guess I am just wondering since i ran this race before and have a pretty good record of how the hills affected me ...how can I USE that info to my advantage. FWIW I ran nearly a textbook perfect race last year. Slightly below average pace for the flats at the beginning. Held everything in check until mile 10 and then let gooooooooo. It is relatively flat at the beginning and end (Oregon flat, not midwest flat ) and hilly in the middle

        I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

         

        "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

          Slightly below average pace for the flats at the beginning. Held everything in check until mile 10 and then let gooooooooo.
          Seems like you answered your own question. Do what you did last year and don't look at your watch. Especially on hilly courses you need to race by effort, not pace. Try your best to keep the effort even on the ups and the downs (easier said than done) and empty the tank at the end.

          Runners run


          #2867

            I usually come up with what I want as my average pace, and then maintain that effort. Uphills will be a bit slower, downhills a bit faster, but I have a good sense of where I want to be so that makes this pretty easy for me. The biggest trick on a hilly course is to maintain your effort when you crest the hill. Most people when they get to the top slow down and ease up to catch their breath, and then continue to apply the brakes on the way down the hill. If you are leaning back down the hill, you are doing more damage to your legs because they aren't really designed to land that way, and you are also going slower than you need to. Like Mike said, lean forward a little and let yourself go down the hills. You don't need to push the pace, and you may feel as though you are going out of control, but with a little practice this can come to seem natural. Practicing ahead of time will make this much more comfortable as well as give you a lot more confidence when race day comes.

            Run to Win
            25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

            JDF


            Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

              The key to running a steep hill VERY quickly is to not hold back at all. If you can get your body parallel to the surface and basically fall down the hill while maintaining your legs underneath you then you can achieve some ridiculous speeds with very little effort. Disclaimer: Practice this on a “not so steep” hill before you go plummeting down some ravine! Check out this speed profile from my Garmin. I covered the first .9 miles in 4:00 and the mile came up in 4:55 even though I basically walked the last .1 miles up the hill at the end. http://tinyurl.com/4frhe3 http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5568313 The key to that race was that I was running while pushing a jogging stroller. I locked the front brake so that it would provide enough resistance to keep me from falling forward. Then I basically leaned in to it and didn’t hold back at all. You should have seen the leader of the races face(A low 14s 5k local elite) when I passed him with the stroller at more than 15 mph almost 1 mile into the race.


              Right on Hereford...

                My target (subject to change based on my upcoming 10K and the weather forecast) is about 50 seconds per mile faster. I am considering as a pacing strategy since it is so hilly taking my splits from last years race and across the board subtracting my goal improvement. So if mile 1 I ran 9:00 then this year mile 1 I will aim for 8:10, but since mile 4 was 9:45 (big ass hill) I will aim for 8:55, etc. Is this sensible or crazy? I cant decide. I cant think of what would make more sense.
                You could plug all of your previous mile splits into Excel. Figure out what percent faster you want to run, and then multiply each mile split by that percentage subtracted from 1. It will give you a slightly different, but more realistic set of target splits. For example, if your previous time was 2:05:50 and your goal time is 1:54:55, that is a difference of 10 minutes and 55 seconds. 10:55 / 2:05:50 = .087, which is 8.7% faster. To get the multiplier, subtract .087 from 1, and you get .913. Now multiply all of your mile splits from last year's race by .913 and you've got your new targets.