Training

Marathon pacing 101

August 19, 2011
By Andrew Smith

Once you’ve entered the groove of marathon training and decided on a goal time for the race, it’s time to start devising a race plan. Proper pacing is vital to ensuring a successful marathon experience.

Exercise physiologists have found that the optimal way to achieve your marathon goal time is to run a relatively even pace throughout the marathon. In fact, if you look at the current marathon world records for both men and women, both Haile Gebreselassie and Paula Radcliffe ran slightly faster during the second half of their respective races than the first half (also referred to as a “negative split” in running terminology).

Most runners, from beginner to elite, will produce their best performance when they run an evenly split race, or one where they are able to finish slightly quicker than the first half. Having said this, there are always exceptions to the rule, so I would like to describe three different pacing strategies that are commonly used in the marathon.

1) Even splits
This strategy is very self explanatory: it’s when you run as close to your split times as possible from start to finish. If you choose to go with this tactic, make sure you know your goal pace going into race day and be willing to stick to it. If there is a pace bunny going at your goal pace, it can be a smart idea to just stick with that pack.

If you’re not hitting the split button at every kilometre mark, it also helps to know what your cumulative time should be at major points such as 10K, halfway, 30K, etc
Having patience and discipline with your pacing is key. Remember that the pace will feel very easy at the start, and may still feel easy at halfway, but this does not mean that you should pick up the pace. As you get further into the race and start to fatigue, your perceived effort will increase, so you will have to work progressively harder to maintain the same pace. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to start picking up the pace too early in the race. This can often lead to slowing down in the latter stages of the race.

2) The negative split
With this strategy, you attempt to run the second half of the race slightly faster than the first. As opposed to running even splits, the runner looking to finish in 4 hours would run the first half in 2:01 or 2:02 and then try and run the second half in 1:58-1:59. This approach also takes an incredible amount of discipline, as the pace may feel quite easy for the first half. That’s OK though, it’s supposed to.

Remember, it will get tough eventually, so just tell yourself that you are storing up that extra energy for your strong finish.
This is a great strategy for first timers or relatively new marathoners, as you will come away from your marathon feeling confident and motivated to run even faster in your next one.

3) The positive split
This strategy has the runner complete the first half of the marathon approximately 1 to 3 min faster than the second half. For example, using the goal of a 4-hour marathon, the runner would run the first half in 1:58-or 1:59, and then have a cushion to slow down by approximately 2 to 4 min in the second half and still achieve their 4:00 goal.

Why would anyone want to run the race this way? The reason for using this strategy is to account for the physiological changes that take place when your slow-twitch muscle fibres fatigue in the marathon. When these slow-twitch fibres fatigue, your body then recruits the less efficient fast-twitch fibres, resulting in a decrease in your running economy, leading to a slower pace. Having the time cushion from the first half may be what helps you achieve your goal time.

I generally only suggest that more experienced marathoners employ this strategy, as it can often get really tough near the end.  Not that fast times can’t be achieved with this tactic, because many people have run fast using this approach. But you are taking a much bigger risk if you try this strategy since the chance of hitting the wall certainly becomes greater when you start out aggressively.

These three pacing strategies should be helpful for you in devising your own race plan. The most important advice I can offer everyone is to decide on a race strategy and just be confident in it, and be sure to stick to the plan once the gun goes off.

Andrew Smith is a 2:16 marathoner and competes for Athletics Toronto.