training rarely adapted to the pacing structure of racing

It depends on how you are planning on running your race.

1st - I don't know why you would have to go out faster than your race pace at a beginning of a race. It is true that many people do that, but there is no reason that they should have to do it.

2nd - There are many people that do workouts just like you are describing. That is not a new concept. I have seen many combinations of workouts that start with a few fast reps and then move into main part of the workout at race pace or tempo and then finish with fast reps again. Very common.

3rd - Keep in mind that the effort that you give to run any given pace is very different in practice when compared to a race. You generally want to practice increasing the effort throughout a workout because that is how a race should be run. The effort should increase the whole time so that you can maintain speed or increase speed. Many people start at the effort they think they should but are actually starting too fast and then struggle later. That is why it is a good idea to practice starting with a much easier effort in the workout. The easier effort at the beginning of the workout might be a little slower pace than you would start a race but will mimic the effort at the start of the race. Then when you get into the race and start with the same easier effort you will actually be more in line with your actual race pace but still not too fast.

If you're going out 5+ seconds faster than your average lap pace in a 5,000m race you're not very smart. Even splits or negative splits are what results in fast times 90% of the time. You don't want to burn yourself right away, maybe you're running 5-8 seconds slower because you're already gassed after the first lap.

Yeah, what everyone said. A better way to learn to deal with pace changes is 200 or 400 fast, 200-400 slower continuous.

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20812662/surge-protector/#:~:text=He%20ran%20a%20workout%20alternating,18%20laps%20by%20Steve%20Prefontaine.&text=Even%20for%20Rupp%2C%2040%20seconds,sometimes%20called%20a%20float%20workout

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How about in large XC races where everyone wants to get out fast to avoid being trapped in a pack when the course narrows or turns?

What race are you talking about? It is always better to go out too slow than too fast.

How about for XC? wrote:

How about in large XC races where everyone wants to get out fast to avoid being trapped in a pack when the course narrows or turns?

This is exactly something we would prep for in college. Our coach used: 2x1k + 2k2k + 2x1k with the 1k's around 3:00 and the 2k's at 3:10 for a 25:00 8k runner.

Some courses and some big meets you really need to be racing with the guys that you should be racing right away.

The 800m is also the obvious choice for asymetric pacing strategy. We need our guys to know what it feels like to run a 53 opening lap in practice and still have some workout to go if we want any chance of breaking 1:50.

*2x1k + 2x2k + 2x1k

There are workouts for this but not everyone does them. Really the only time you may want to get out a little quick is on narrower courses with hundreds of runners.

Unless specified as a 6 x 300m cut-down, I never attempted to go out at paces a little slow, only to finish strong.

I didn't train with anyone that did.

Go out faster in the first few, and hold on.

Zatopek.