Pacing

Since I began running a little more than a year ago my idea of pacing has been to listen to the rhythm of my body and let it find the perfect pace for each mile, or each hill. It's worked really well with some fantastic runs in that realm.

I'm now heading towards a race in a few weeks and asked my friend Marty for some advice on final preparations. He was kind enough - and I am quite grateful - to offer his wisdom from so many years of running. The primary workouts Marty has planned for me are pacing workouts - holding a specific pace. Being able to monitor, assess, and hold a consistent pace will be key to keeping my energy strong and heading towards a solid finish.

I haven't done this type of focused pacing for perhaps 20 years, but so far it's been another thrill to really tune in to my body. I'm having to focus effort to within a few seconds over a half mile or a mile, and then do that again and again. Or in some cases go 2-4 seconds faster over the next interval. Finding that precise rhythm has been fun even with its challenges and newness again.

In one of the movies about Steve Prefontaine, Pre as he was called, finishes a race, a 5000 meter race I think. In that race he sets a personal best (and maybe even an American record, but I can't remember). After the race Pre walks over to his coach, the famous Bill Bowerman and the first words from Bowerman are 'you could go 10 seconds faster.' Pre stands there dumbfounded and even a little pissed after running the race of his life. Bowerman then proceeds to rattle after precise quarter mile splits. If Pre had paced right the race he just finished would have been even faster.

Putting all that together has given me a new appreciation of the importance of pacing, and a finer sense of the rhythms of my body on a run which I'm really enjoying.