Running the Mount Sac Invitational this Saturday. Advice on pacing/terrain would be appreciated!

The course goes by really fast. You’ll do the two flat loops (about a mile). Then go up the switchbacks, then down the switchbacks and really once you’re down the switchbacks the race will seem like it’s over in a minute.

My advice is go easy up the switchbacks and fly down. My team trained to be the best downhill runners because that’s where you pass the most people. I may sound like I’m exaggerating but I’d go from 50-80th place at the top of the switchbacks to top 5 at the bottom. I was a sub 15 runner at SAC so finishing in the top 5-10 any day on any course was normal for me. I will say this, my team practiced downhill efficient and fast running so be careful if it’s new or you’ll just fall. Anyways, I can’t tell you how many kids sprint up the switchbacks and then literally jog down the hill at 1mph getting passed by 100 kids. It’s smarter to go easy up and sprint down. Obviously not too easy. It’s a race, but you don’t want to blow your legs out. Be patient, you’ll get passed going up and you’ll pass more on the downhill using less energy if you maintain patience and discipline and don’t blow up going up. Then poop out, similar strategy. Take it easy going up and release at the top and build back up on the flat section. The big mistake so many people make on poop out is they don’t build back up to their race pace. They hit the hill, slow down going up, then literally jog after the hill. Make sure you crest the hill and release on the flat part and get back to your pre hill pace. It’s easier to do when you don’t sprint up the hill. It’s smarter to go easy up the hill for 20-25 seconds and run fast on the long flat section than sprint for 15 seconds and jog for a few minutes. Then the final hill same strategy and remember once you’re at the top of the final hill, it’s time for glory. Sprint all the way home.

Like I said the thing that stands out the most in my mind was it goes by really fast. You’ll finish and say what a minute that felt like a 2 mile race and I have so much left in the tank. Obviously I’m aware the course is officially 2.91 but it flies by incredibly fast. You’ll finish and want to start all over again.

Run any and all cross country races the same: go out hard. Your position is more or less solidified after the first mile. Go out hard, harder than you think you can maintain, and hang tough.

I've never raced this course before (I'll be doing it for the first time on Saturday as well), but one thing my teammates have always been telling me is to take the first mile very conservatively. Seems like a ton of people get sucked up into the excitement of racing at Mt. Sac, blow their load on the first (relatively flat) mile, then have pretty much nothing left when they reach the first hill. At that point their race is pretty much over and they run 2+ minutes slower than they did at Woodbridge.

Thank you for the very detailed post. I feel a lot less nervous for the race now. We have a tempo today and a couple easy days until the race. I will update how it goes.

Kenaneeser Beckelay wrote:

Run any and all cross country races the same: go out hard. Your position is more or less solidified after the first mile. Go out hard, harder than you think you can maintain, and hang tough.

Interesting take. I actually agree with you, it seems that all my cross country PRs are when I go out pretty quickly. However, sbeefyk2 has informed me that most people go out too fast in the first flat mile.

bench appearo wrote:

I've never raced this course before (I'll be doing it for the first time on Saturday as well), but one thing my teammates have always been telling me is to take the first mile very conservatively. Seems like a ton of people get sucked up into the excitement of racing at Mt. Sac, blow their load on the first (relatively flat) mile, then have pretty much nothing left when they reach the first hill. At that point their race is pretty much over and they run 2+ minutes slower than they did at Woodbridge.

I will keep this in mind, to keep it conservative. Thanks for the advice. Update how your race goes, I would like to hear.

Have you run on a hilly course before? It should be the same thing.

Regardless of your race (I hope you crush it!), make sure to call this your '5K' PR.

ElGuerroujFan wrote:

bench appearo wrote:

I've never raced this course before (I'll be doing it for the first time on Saturday as well), but one thing my teammates have always been telling me is to take the first mile very conservatively. Seems like a ton of people get sucked up into the excitement of racing at Mt. Sac, blow their load on the first (relatively flat) mile, then have pretty much nothing left when they reach the first hill. At that point their race is pretty much over and they run 2+ minutes slower than they did at Woodbridge.

I will keep this in mind, to keep it conservative. Thanks for the advice. Update how your race goes, I would like to hear.

Keeping it conservative in a cross country race is for untrained individuals or individuals who are mentally weak.

Go out hard, use the downhills to your advantage, don’t kill yourself on the early hills. You should be blacking out by the end of the race. That’s when I knew I ran a good cross country race.

"Keeping it conservative in a cross country race is for untrained individuals or individuals who are mentally weak."

Craig Vurgin tried to keep with Nick Rose during the 1974 NCAAs and ended up falling back to 12th over the last mile. I guess Virgin was mentally weak.

You've never run an XC race, have you?

Everybody slows down. Be toward the front and you'll remain there.

If you all ran XC courses that weren't Woodbridge, you'd understand that these are just hills.

Kenaneeser Beckelay wrote:

Run any and all cross country races the same: go out hard. Your position is more or less solidified after the first mile. Go out hard, harder than you think you can maintain, and hang tough.

I don't think this is good advice for the Mt Sac course. I've coached a lot of teams there and the kids that perform the best don't kill themselves early. Sbeefyk2 gave you good advice. Don't get caught up in racing hard the first flat loops and then attack the switchbacks too hard. The runners who do that will die early. Don't worry about trying to pass runners on the switchbacks or even if a few runners pass you. Just try and hold your place and conserve energy. The runners that push that section too hard will need to recover when they get to the top and that's where you can start picking people off.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

"Keeping it conservative in a cross country race is for untrained individuals or individuals who are mentally weak."

Craig Vurgin tried to keep with Nick Rose during the 1974 NCAAs and ended up falling back to 12th over the last mile. I guess Virgin was mentally weak.

You've never run an XC race, have you?

Many actually, and certainly faster than you.

Yes, of course a lot of kids go out

too hard and get passed later on. Because they are untrained individuals. If you put in the work and are actually in good shape, then go out hard. That’s all there is to it.

Kenaneeser Beckelay wrote:

SDSU Aztec wrote:

"Keeping it conservative in a cross country race is for untrained individuals or individuals who are mentally weak."

Craig Vurgin tried to keep with Nick Rose during the 1974 NCAAs and ended up falling back to 12th over the last mile. I guess Virgin was mentally weak.

You've never run an XC race, have you?

Many actually, and certainly faster than you.

Sure you did. So were you tougher than Craig Virgin?

Tougher? Who knows, but probably

not. How would we know who is tougher?

And yes, Virgin’s PR’s are alot faster than mine in all racing distances.

You referenced one race that Virgin had. Do you think that’s a solid argument?

It may be too late because the runner has to practice it but, lean forward running downhill. It makes a huge difference and actually allows for conservation of energy... see: https://runningmagazine.ca/sections/training/how-to-run-downhill-the-right-way/

I appreciate the advice. Coach has had us doing hill repeats with this downhill strategy in mind for several weeks now. The preparation may very well pay off come Saturday.

Check runnerspace on IG. They posted a video of the course