We've all raced some sort of course with a massive hill that interrupts the flow of all runners. Usually, there's a downhill on the other side of it. So I'm curious, is there a proven best way to pace yourself during these races?
Let's take a 10k for example. Miles 1 and 2 are flat, and mile 3 starts with a hill that covers roughly half a mile rises roughly 120 feet. Let's say your goal pace is 5:20/mile. Around how much slower should that half mile be? The only two ways I can think of intelligently approaching that pacing:
1) Run the hill at the same relative effort as the flat/downhill miles, giving up only a modest amount of time;
2) Run the hill at less of an effort (say 7-10 seconds slower) with the hope that your legs keep more pop, allowing you run more than 7-10 seconds faster over the final 6k.
Does anyone have any insight on which of the approaches would work better?