What tactics to employ when chasing a 10km PB?

Pisco Sour

When you are after a 10km PB (or 5km for that matter) do you 1) go off hard and try to hang on, 2) start off easy and push hard late on or 3) try maintain a consistent pace?

I ask this as next weekend I am running a 10km and am chasing a sub 45 time (PB is 45:32). However today I ran 7.45km in 32:42, which was sub 44 minute pace. Now there is no way to know how fast I could have done the last 2.55km if I kept going but maybe I could have "hung on" and ran faster that I thought I could for 10km (sub 44:30 perhaps). I'm not sure if this is a risky tactic though. Would playing it safe be a better option? Like running sub 45 pace for the first 8km and if I felt good then push on?

How do you all approach these races? Pacing can be a tricky thing, and I dont have a Garmin to help me (need to try get a lend of one for next weekend).

chinguetti

I too don't have a Garmin but know that if i do the first km of a 5km in 3.40 or so, a pb is on (pb is 18.28). Above or below that means i won't come close. Similarily a first km of 4.30 in a 10k means a pb is possible (pb is 41.08).

It just takes time to know what you can go out at and then keep going at without killing yourself too early. Hanging on is not a good idea imo as whatever time you bank, you will lose and more besides. Went out once in a 5k in 3.05 and died a death to finish in 19.40.

I break down my time in km sections and aim my splits to be slower than i need to hit a pb. In a race situation, you should be close to this each km and if you are 5 seconds up after the first km, tell yourself if i keep going at this, i'll take 50 seconds off my time. You then don't need to up the pace, just to keep going steady. So the answer is 3.

Best of luck and hope you get the pb

Woddle

I've still yet to get a grip on 10km racing but for 5kms I like to go out hard and hold on. I set a PB of 19'25 doing exactly this. My target for the race was 19'59 and I was 50/50 to whether this would happen so I was well surprised to see 19'25 on the clock, effort rewarded.

Currently I'm only getting back into shape and I'd rather hit my targets than aim too high and miss them. Probably a confidence thing.

liamo123

04072511 wrote: »

When you are after a 10km PB (or 5km for that matter) do you 1) go off hard and try to hang on, 2) start off easy and push hard late on or 3) try maintain a consistent pace?

I ask this as next weekend I am running a 10km and am chasing a sub 45 time (PB is 45:32). However today I ran 7.45km in 32:42, which was sub 44 minute pace. Now there is no way to know how fast I could have done the last 2.55km if I kept going but maybe I could have "hung on" and ran faster that I thought I could for 10km (sub 44:30 perhaps). I'm not sure if this is a risky tactic though. Would playing it safe be a better option? Like running sub 45 pace for the first 8km and if I felt good then push on?

How do you all approach these races? Pacing can be a tricky thing, and I dont have a Garmin to help me (need to try get a lend of one for next weekend).

If I were u I'd go off at 4.30 pace per km and if ur feeling good at say 6k or slightly earlier push from there.. if not stick as near as possible to the 4.30 pace for the entirely.... Good luck

Nwm2

I vote for consistent pace, using a Garmin.

My 5km PB (19:XX) was done without a Garmin, but I stayed just off the shoulder of my target guy, and kicked (too early!) in the last km, so I've no idea how I paced it. (EDIT, I remember him saying he paced it evenly). Flat course though.

But my pacing strategy now is absolutely to run at an even pace. I set my Garmin for 1km laps and have the display set to give me the lap average pace, and I really concentrate on hitting my target.

My 10km PB (39:XX) was done with the Garmin and I held close to 4:00 min/km average all the way, except on hills. Some of the hilly kms stretched up to 4:10 min/km or more, but I made them up on the downhill.

The general guidelines by those in the know seems to be run an even or negative split. But I'd like to hear how the faster guys on here pace it.

airscotty

Id agree with previous posters try and stick to target pace for the 1st 6,7,8k and then take it from there. If your feeling good you can make up a lot of time in the last few km where as if you go out to hard you'll die a death at the end.

Krusty_Clown

I would agree. For 10ks, train for a specific pace, and then stick to that pace for the first 80-90% of that race, before pushing on with everything you've got.

At some point in a 10k race you will likely feel that you have over-cooked it, that you're fecked and don't want to go on any more. It's much better to feel like that at the 9.5km mark, when you can still push on to the finish, than at the half way point, where a slow messy finish is the likely outcome.

Probably too late for you OP, but McMillan's 10k sessions are worth a pop. Hard work, but worth it for the pay-off.

marchino

A lot depends here on the individual and how they are feeling on the day of the race.
In my opinion, a huge amount depends on how confident you feel.
I would not try and stick to closely to a watch as a hilly k/mh could wreck your confidence and you think you are running slower than you are.

IF I WERE YOU, i would try a run this as a 2 leg race. go out at a pace you feel confident you can maintain the whole way for 4k and if you still feel comfortable and confident, then let yourself run outside your 'comfort zone' for the remaining 6k.

The adrenilene of the race itself should help push you on from the 4k mark, where i reckon your body and mind will be warmed up enough, at that stage, to help you push on for that pb.

if your running form is good, which it appears you are judging by that sub 44 pace run you've done, then you should be fine.
Have confidence in yourself and besta luck.

thirstywork2

I usually know by my training if i have trained specif for a race what shape im in.Run relaxed and don't go out too hard,try bring it home last 2k and hopefully you are spent after the finish knowing you have given 100%

n-dawg

For me it depends on your fitness. In a 5km I have the confidence in my fitness to take option 1. I will gun it from the start and hang on. In a 10km I need to be a little more careful, due to adrenalin I almost always go to too hard at the start and have to try relax from about 1km-8km, then I can push it for the last 2km :-) A big one for getting a good time for me is having somebody to race/follow... Pick somebody who you think will run can 44 min and sit on the shoulder for the race :-)

Seres

Really glad to see this thread , was having the very same dilemma at the moment but reading the advice here i think i know what i need to do ! hope to god next monday isnt windy or a scorcher , gettin really excited now bout WMM
04072511 you doing the womens mini marathon ? if so the first km will prob be a bit messy no matter where you are so dont get carried away with the fast pace , people will drop off like flies from 2/3km

Pisco Sour

Seres wrote: »

04072511 you doing the womens mini marathon ?

Haha, afraid not.

1) I'm not a woman

2) I'm in Melbourne

Pisco Sour

‎45:24 for 10K this morning in Flemington, a PB by 8 seconds. Sadly the heat and burning aussie sun scuppered my chances of a sub 45, but did somehow manage to muster up enough energy for a 3:54 final kilometre to rescue the PB. Whoever says Melbourne winters are cold need a reality check! Rough oul stuff, dying for the track season so I can get back to the sprints.

All in all, I've got to be happy with the PB, especially the manner of how I battled through feeling like crap.

Race report to follow later.

Pisco Sour

Time to give a brief recap of my 10k run yesterday which resulted in a PB, though not as fast as I was hoping for.

The weather was warm. 16 degrees, but cloudless clear blue skies and the burning aussies sun made it feel like a hell of a lot more. Basically it was warm when the wind wasn't blowing, and cool/cold-ish when it was. Typical Melbourne extremes.

The course consisted of a 250m start and then 2 laps of 3.3km and then one more lap of just under 3.3km (probably about 3.1km). Each lap had a nasty short sharp steep hill, which was followed by a very gentle incline. The hills came at bad times (is there ever a good time!) at 2k, 5k and 8k.

The start was a bit of a cramp and it took a good 3-400m to get into my stride properly, when space started opening up.

Went through 3K in around 13:05. Definetely went out too fast, but I felt good. However I messed up my calculations in my head and for some stupid reason thought I was running at 42 minute pace. I started to feel bad at around 4km, when the sun and heat started taking its toll. All my training runs were in the dark cold evenings after work and I wasn't prepared for this sort of weather, which would equate to a warm summers day back home. However the winds were quite chilly, and whenever they came out they provided welcome relief. But when the winds died down I found the heat unbearable.

I struggled up the hill for a 2nd time and reached 5k in 22:20. Devestating. It was then that I realised I got my calculations completely wrong and that I wasn't going near as fast as I thought or felt. If I could keep the pace up I'd run sub 45 minutes but I felt terrible, sapped of all energy as I got to the top of the small steep hill and begun a very gentle slope that now felt like Alp D'uez! I was extremely close to dropping out. The closest I have ever been. I was feeling exhausted, the weather was killing me, and I knew I was not going to be able to sustain the pace for a sub 45.

I got over this brief bad patch and got to 6k. I felt a bit better then and the winds made an appearance at times to help me through and I got a very tiny plastic cup of water at the water station (really could have been done better by the organisers!).

I got to 8k in 36:30. I knew then that the sub 45 just wasn't in me, but if I could do the final 2k in 9 minutes I would go under my PB of 45:32.

However from 8k to 9k was extremely rough. There was the hill for the final time, which once again sapped all energy I had left. At about 8.5km going around the hairpin bend I felt just for a brief moment a little dizzy. Not for very long but I was just completely shatterd and got to 9k in 41:30. DAMN! No chance of a PB even, now I thought and just assumed a sub 46 was my only goal now.

However the final kilometre was a long gentle downhill stretch all the way to about 200m to go when it flattened out. I mustered up all the strength I could, dug deep, and pushed on. One last effort. I didn't want to get to that finish line with any ounce of energy in reserve. I have no idea where I found that energy as I was shattered just 5 minutes previously, but I managed to find a different gear.

I was stunned to see that with 200m to go the PB was on, and I kicked again, and put all my summer sprinting training to good work, and finished very very fast to finish in 45:24, 8 seconds under my previous best.

Although the final Kilometre was downhill, I managed to run it in 3:54 to completely rescue a PB I assumed to be long gone.

It wasn't what I had targetted but you can't turn your nose up at a PB. The race was tough, torture at times, but I managed to run faster than I have done before so I have to be happy.

Afterwards I was talking to my club mates and they all thought the weather was cold, and looked at me like I had 4 heads when I said the heat was unbearable. They actually thought it was COLD. Not cool, but actually COLD! I guess their definition of cold doesn't match ours!

So that is my 4th big PB of the year (excluding field events):

200m : 0:28.2 (from 0:30.2)
400m : 1:03:9 (from 1:06.2)
800m : 2:34:9 (from 2:42.0)
10K : 45:24 (from 45:32)

So what's next?

There is a 15k Athletics Victoria race in Ballarat (1.5 hours from Melbourne). I have no interest in doing a 15K race. A 15K PB would mean nothing to me. It is not a distance that has much allure. However there is a 5K race for juniors on that same day in Ballarat. As I am not registered with AV I run all races as an invitational runner, so my coach said that there is no problem with me running in that race. Even though they are juniors, they are not slow! Some U20's are running 15 mins, Some U14's are operating at 17-18 mins. It is frightening how fast some of them are! Hopefully not all though, as don't want the embarrasment of getting beat by a load of kids.

My 5K PB is 21:02. The goal is to go under 21 minutes!