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Runner’s World Oct 2003
By Jeff Galloway

Hazards Ahead
The clock shouldn’t dictate pace. The conditions should. Here’s how to overcome the most common pacing pitfalls.

There are lots of things that can ruin a perfectly good run: worn out shoes, shorts that chafe, a huge bowl of five-alarm chili. But paying attention to your watch, instead of the running conditions, is the most common workout-wrecker. Sure, it’s always a good idea to know the approximate pace you want to run so that you can push (or not push) your body accordingly. But unless you happen to run in the Biosphere, where every environmental detail can be carefully controlled, you need to remain flexible with your pace goals. That way you can easily accommodate any number of pitfalls you may encounter.

Pacing pitfalls include such things as a 30-mile-an-hour headwind that crops up in the middle of your speedwork session, or an unexpected spike in temperature between the start and finish of your long run. Stubbornly sticking to your original pace goals only sets you up for failure-and a really bad run.
Here are the top five pacing pitfalls. You can’t avoid them completely. But if you’re prepared for them, they won’t trip you up.

THE START. I know, you rarely have a problem feeling good at the beginning of a run or race. It’s always sometime later when the grim reaper makes an appearance. But if you start a run as little as 10 seconds per mile too fast, you’ll struggle at the end.

To avoid the crash-and-burn scenario, keep the first 5 to 10 minutes of your training runs 1 to 2 minutes per mile slower than you intend to finish. For a race, run the first few minutes at a pace that feels significantly slower than race pace. This should get you to the first mile marker about 20 seconds over race pace. Then feel free to pick things up.

HILLS AND HEADWINDS. Environmental factors such as hills and headwinds dramatically increase your workload, so you need to account for them by adjusting your pace. In other words: You should slow down.

Whether you’re working your way up a hill or into a strong headwind, your technique should be the same: Shorten your stride and keep your feet low to the ground, shuffle-style. Don’t worry about your pace per mile. Instead, concentrate on maintaining an even effort.

Downhill miles can be run faster than uphill and flat miles-about 10-15 seconds per mile. Remain focused on maintaining a steady level of effort. Proper downhill running form includes keeping your feet low to the ground, and touching the surface lightly and quickly with each step. If you hear your feet “slapping” your stride is too long.

CURVY COURSES. Curves, just like hills and headwinds, will naturally demand a slightly slower pace. When you try to run a curve too fast, you expend more effort as you fight against it. Instead, relax into the turn and let your body find the natural tangent (the shortest and easiest route to navigate). The more relaxed you are going into a curve, the less you’ll need to slow your pace.

FAST FRIENDS. Running with others is a great way to stick to a training schedule, as long as you’re running your own pace. Running too fast or too slow just to stay with a group will lead to injury, burnout, or sub-par running. The key is to run with friends who are slower than you on your recovery days, and run with faster friends once a week as a speed workout.

HEAT AND HUMIDITY. Some runners love to gut out workouts under the blazing sun. But in the heat and humidity, your body has a hard time cooling itself, so a moderate pace is a smarter approach. Once the temperature is above 75 degrees and the humidity exceeds 80 percent, slow your pace by 30 to 60 seconds per mile. And when it’s above 85 degrees and 90-percent humidity, forget about pace, and just try to stay cool.