How to Pace

Learning how to pace and implement the necessary training restrictions was one of the toughest learning lessons of my running growth.

When I first started running, all out was my style of pace when running. Yeah, not good.

For the first 10 years of my stubborn running journey, my training and race days had no effective racing strategy. This led to repeated failure, repeated injuries, and constant one-step forward, two-step-back regression.

Now, I don’t believe I had the humility to listen to anyone tell me what I should be doing pacing-wise. I thought I could figure out how to run faster and qualify for Boston all on my own. My results show I was clearly incorrect.

Table of Contents

The What I Wish I Knew Series

This Series discusses the areas of running I wish I had learned about far earlier.

My goal of this Series is to help stubborn, cocky, 20 & 30 something’s, often male, beginner runners learn from my past running mistakes so they can improve their running performance sooner. In other words, help runners who are like 25 year old me.

I’m not always right. However, after 17+ years of running, three BQ’s, a sub-3 marathon, and countless other finishes, I know what I did wrong and how I could have improved my running performance faster.

For more in the What I Wish I Knew Series, check out Electrolytes: How to Unlock Running Performance and How to Pace.

In this post of the What I Wish I Knew Series, we’ll focus on my pacing mistakes, how I finally learned to properly control effort, and what you might want to do to improve your pacing today.

Before jumping into my horrendous start to running and what I wish I knew about pacing, let’s discuss how to pace a bit so we’re on the same page.

What is a Running Pace?

A running pace refers to the speed at which a runner travels over a certain distance.

For example, a runner running for 45 minutes and covering 5 miles ran a 9:00 minute per mile pace.

What is a Good Running Pace?

A good running pace is one that allows for the pace to be consistently within a determined range.

For example, 10 miles at an average pace of 8 minutes and 30 seconds per mile with all miles ran within a range of 8 minutes and 20 seconds to 8 minutes and 40 seconds.

We can focus on what “good” means later. For now, associate a good running pace with consistency.

Running Pace for Beginners

Beginners should run at a pace that allows them to converse with another runner without having to catch their breath.

As beginner runners evolve into intermediate and experienced runners, they will develop the ability to push the effort comfortably. To start, beginners should focus on maintaining pace over a distance and/or time without major fluctuations.

Along with what we go over in this post, we highly suggest you check out What’s a Good Running Pace? Learn Your Perfect Pace, Starting from Zero | Beginner Runner Pace, and Easy Does It: The Advantages of Easy Running Pace.

My Pacing Mistakes

As I’ve gotten older, I’m far more confident in myself to admit my mistakes in all walks of life. This couldn’t be truer than with pacing.

The pacing mistakes I’ve made are truly countless, but let’s focus on the following 5 Pacing Mistakes I’ve Made to keep it to the point and simple to understand.

5 Pacing Mistakes I’ve Made

Not Running Any Easy Training Miles. This is far from the case these days, but I was a young 20-something when I first started running. I thought racing fast meant always running fast. I red-lined most of my training workouts. With that, I never fully recovered enough to actually progress in my race day paces. Once I began implementing 80% of my training miles in the easy range, my results skyrocketed. Read Easy Does It: The Advantages of Easy Running Pace for more.
Not Hiring a Coach Earlier. You may be wondering what coaching has to do with pacing. Everything when you are not disciplined with your efforts. A coach, like my former coach Patrick Cutter, helps runners output effort when required and input recovery for the majority of training. A coach is an independent observer who can turn the effort dial accordingly to grow and prevent stagnation. If you can afford it, hire a coach to improve your pace in a matter of weeks.
Not Enough Speed Sessions. This may sound counter to my earlier explanation of always red-lining in training. However, the problem was that I never had a focused workout on improving my pace. I could run a 6:30 flat all the time in training and I consistently did. Unfortunately, you can’t get to a 6-minute pace without actually training for such a pace in a controlled workout. Here’s a great post on how to implement speed work: Speed Work And Long Runs: How To Use Them To Achieve Your Running Goals
Not Enough Tempo Work During Long Runs. I would do long runs at the same pace range every mile. Until implementing tempo work in the long run, I rarely felt true race pace during a long training session. By not doing so, I was unable to work on the mental game of pushing the pace when tired as you would be during an actual race.
Not Using The Catch & Release Racing Method Early Enough. The mistake was not as much a mistake as much as just took time to learn. This self-coined method takes the last 10% of a race, focus’ the effort only on the next runner ahead, and once caught releases that runner and looks to catch the next runner. This method can only be applied when the proper training was done. This takes the focus away from the watch and puts it on emptying the tank at the closing of the race. To learn about this entire method, go check out How to Improve Your Race Finish Position by 5% (Guaranteed!).

How I Learned to Pace

With all my pacing mistakes out in the open, let’s turn to how I improved those paces to eventually BQ multiple times and run a sub-3.

I primarily learned how to pace by making a ton of mistakes in training and on race days.

The best teacher is the one that humbles you. With the ego I had in my early running days, I needed the humbling.

And only in acceptance of my lack of knowledge and failure did I get to the other side and start excelling.

I say this as a runner who hopes you can learn from my failures sooner. You will have your own failures too and they will be the best teachers.

I learned to pace by failing…a lot. After failing, I’d analyze what I did wrong and search for answers outside of me.

Start failing more. Be willing to learn and accept your abilities. Your pace will begin flourishing.

Top 2 Ways to Improve Your Running Pace Today

Earlier in the section about my pacing mistakes, I follow each mistake with how I corrected those ways. Definitely read back there for the full breakdown, advice, and suggested articles.

However, we can break those down further into the following.

If I could only do two training things that cost zero dollars and would be the biggest impact on pacing improvements, they would be:

Easy Runs Easy. You can’t improve your running pace without your body recovering from the prior runs. Consciously being aware of effort on easy days is just as important, if not more than, as focusing on pushing the pace in workouts. Being mentally tied to some random pace that taxes the body on rest days is tough for alpha individuals to break. The sooner one takes it easy on easy days, the sooner that individual will have more to give in workouts when it’s needed.
Tempo Workouts Mid-Long Run. Mimicking race day pace in a training run when there are no loud crowds, no water tables, and no Gu handouts makes individuals stronger when those race aspects are present. There’s nothing quite like pushing the pace in mile 17 of a 20-mile long run workout to build your confidence for those horrible miles of a marathon race.

The Pace You Earn

Pacing is one of the most important elements of running, but it can also be one of the most challenging to master.

As a seasoned runner, I’ve made countless pacing mistakes and have learned the hard way how to properly control my effort.

By avoiding common pacing mistakes, incorporating easy runs, tempo workouts, and hiring a coach, beginner runners can improve their running performance sooner.

Remember, it’s essential to focus on consistency and gradually increase your pace over time.

Don’t be afraid to fail and learn from your mistakes. With patience, dedication, and the right approach, you can master pacing and take your running to the next level.