By Verity Wright @
www.runverity.comRunning is an Art and a Science
As a coach I am constantly telling my runners to slow down and they look at me in a puzzled sort of way. I say “Anyone, and I mean anyone, can run the first mile of a race at a fast pace, we can all boast that we were on for a sub 30min 5k, 60min 10k, 2-hour half or 4-hour marathon in that first mile but it’s how you finish the last mile that counts”.
Getting the pacing right for any race is an art and a science and it can take many races to perfect it. There is a fine line between running a PB (Personal Best) success or a PW (Personal Worst) disaster and sometimes this fine line can be the difference between whether you hang your trainers up for good or whether you dust yourself down and put it down to experience enabling you to try again.
Sometimes we can put too much pressure on ourselves on the lead up to a big event. It could be your first parkrun or your first marathon but getting caught up in the excitement and atmosphere as you wait on the start line can cause you to run a race just a little bit faster than norm. This change in the energy system that our body isn’t used to can sometimes result in disaster.
When you exercise, your body uses oxygen to break down glucose for energy and a by-product of this process is lactate. During easy running, your body converts and recycles this lactic acid back into energy and efficiently expels the waste products. Therefore, the production of lactate will remain relatively constant while running at an easy aerobic (talking) pace, which doesn’t require a huge demand for energy.
However, if you set off too quickly in any run and continue to run faster you demand more energy
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from your body and the production of lactic acid will slowly increase. At some point if you continue to run too fast the production of lactic acid will soar and your body will no longer be able to convert lactate back into energy and expel the waste products. This point is commonly referred to as your lactate threshold. The lactic acid then floods into system, muscle power is diminished and you begin to slow down (I refer to this as the bear jumping on you as it feels as though you can’t move!) Symptoms may include a burning feeling in your muscles, including cramp, feeling nauseous, weak and exhausted. It’s your body’s way to tell you to stop what you’re doing.
Ultimately, lactic acid is one of the largest contributors to why you slow down as the race goes on and what makes the race hard work.
The idea is, then, that if you run at a slightly slower than usual pace then you can hold this threshold for as long as possible as you prevent waste products from building up and causing the exhaustion. The aim is to get to the last quarter of the race with enough energy to kick those last miles and finish strong.
Try running without a watch so that you can feel your pace, run a little bit faster between lamp posts so that you learn where the difference is between feeling comfortable and uncomfortable. Remember running is a journey; an art and a science, a bit like a recipe, see what works, what doesn’t, you can take a bit of training out or add a bit more in until you find what works for you and that is part of the fun.
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