Pacing strategies for 5km to Marathon Distances

In all of my years I never get tired of talking to athletes about their racing / pacing strategies for all distances.

The conversation often starts with how well has your training gone.

The next topic of conversation is which race / distance are you doing. It is always relevant to take into consideration the course that you are going o run on. Is it hilly? What is the surface like? How wide is the route? What type of terrain are you going to be racing on?

Finally the weather. This is a very important factor in looking at strategies for all distances. Is it going to be windy? Warm/hot/cold? Are the surface conditions going to be dry, wet or Icey?

These are all relevant factors to take into account.   

The number of times that I have spoken to athletes after their race and the response is, ”Maybe I did go off a bit quick, but I felt good??.”

And this is the elephant in the room. Finding the right balance and discipline to execute a race strategy.

In its simplest form. Look at your training into the race and agree on a realistic goal time taking into account factors mentioned above namely: weather ,course conditions etc.

Aim to run the first two km at a few seconds per km slower that the average goal race pace. Then do a conscious check on yourself as to how you feel? Does this pace feel okay? Do I maintain this pace for the next km or do I gradually increase the pace slightly. Coming through 3k you have 2km to go. If feeling good begin to pick up the effort / pace slightly based on how you feel and begin the push to the finish. At 4km it’s a km to go. If feeling good begin to make the charge for the finish pushing that red line of effort to its limits and push on through to the finish. 

There is a similar  pattern into the 10km. However in the 10k I apply the logic if thirds. 

First 3km slightly slower than goal race pace.

2nd 3km ease onto goal race pace.

At 6km do the check on how you’re feeling. Maintain the effort or gently try and progress the pace for the next 3km.

You’re at 9km with a km to go. This is where you have the push to the finish. You are either maintaining the effort from the previous 3km or it’s an all out push to the finish. Your in control , judge it and race it in. 

My standard approach to the half marathon is as follows.

First 5km slightly slower than goal race pace.

From 5km to 15km ease onto your goal race pace.

You then have 6km and change to the finish. This is where you make the decision to maintain the effort / pace or begin to squeeze the pace to the finish. 

All of the above is not taking into account fueling strategies.

In its most basic form I do not worry too much about the first 5km save for ensuring you don’t go of too quick. It’s important to be patient. Depending on where you start you may not have had chance to do much of a warm up, so the first 5km is just warming the body up with no rush no panic being sensible.

For the next 5km ease yourself down to your goal race pace so that by the time you get to 10km you are on race pace.

From 10 to 20km the focus is on not panicking and being mindful to not push. You will feel good, you haven’t gone of too quick and you are only just easing onto the race pace you have spent weeks/ months training for.

At 20k consciously do a check on effort and pace and maintain through to 30km.

You will have run this distance many times in training.

I then break the next 12km into three parts. 5km to 35k. Maintain the effort and pace from the previous km. Then the next 5km to 40km. Then the finish.

There is no guarantee on how you will feel in the final three parts of the Marathon strategy but if you have been training well and have been sensible on how you have executed the plan then you give yourself every chance of finishing well.