Tips for Hanging on In a Race?

Stay behind them until the end and then pass aggressively

Give yourself permission to fail. Give yourself permission to jog it in if you can't hang on. But if you're going to do that, set an intermediate goal where you have to stay with the pack. For example, you need to get to 1k before you're "allowed" to fade.

Don't start too fast. If you are over your head early you'll never finish at that pace.

Run on pure hate…

Practice hanging on in workouts - don't wear a watch, don't listen to splits if called out. When doing intervals make your one goal to hang on to the leaders. That's it. The thing here is that many people start to freeze up and get scared when they hear a split they aren't 'supposed' to be able to run. Your brain does all kind of tricks to you. So practice raw competing, not running to a certain time.

If you are the fastest guy in your training group this can be hard. I dunno, do some work with the 800 guys or just don't wear a watch.

Ok and one more goal - when at speed, work on running that fast pace as easily and smoothly as you can. Often when we're running hard we'll start breathing raggedly, etc....but if we just focus on running that pace as smoothly as we can, our breath smooths out and things become easier. Try it.

This piece has some good tips on getting past your brain and plateaus:

letsrun.com

Wejo Speaks: Why I Sucked in College

Weldon Johnson

By Weldon Johnson September 29, 2006 Editor's Note: Weldon Johnson, "Wejo", is a co-founder of LetsRun.com. Since founding this website in 2000, he went

Open link

Approach it as a race that is 100m less than what you are running. ie if you are running a 1500 mentally plan like you are running a 1400 race. Then when you get to 1400 focus on form and drive for the last 100. You will find a lot about your fitness and your mental ability to hold on to your form

Besides improving fitness, perhaps the easiest things you can do are to:

A) Smile when things start to get tough. The act of smiling can ease perceived effort and tension, and can provide you with just enough boost to get you though the difficult part of the race. A study (Psychology of Sport and Exercise) also found that smiling during a race can boost economy. Even if it doesn't help, smiling is not going to hurt your performance.

B) Come up with mantras you can tell yourself when it starts to hurt, or just things you can use throughout the race. It should be whatever motivates you or keeps you in control (for example, "smooth, strong, relaxed," or "I'm in control, will hang on and finish fast"). Again, studies demonstrate that mantras help. Most elites have mantras they use during races, often different mantras for different points in the race. (Say, lap one: "relaxed, steady smooth," lap two: "focus on the flow," lap three: "stay strong, embrace it, almost there" and lap four: "fast finish, fast finish, fast finish").

C) Set goals before the race. Like, an A, B, and C goal. The A goal might be to outkick the guy you want run with. The B goal might be a PR. The C goal might be a time you're happy with if conditions go to hell (the the race goes out too fast, the wind is nasty, etc.). Basically, the goals are there to keep you focused and in the race. If things go south you've still got something to focus on and strive for so you don't just completely pack it in if you're not going to achieve your A goal, or be able to hang with whoever you intend to run with.

D) Mentally prepare and visualize for what might happen during the race in advance. Brace for the suck and pain you're probably going to suffer on lap three. If it's a windy day, brace for the fact that you'll be running into the wind for half the race, etc. It's significantly easier for your brain to deal with crap during the race if you've already prepared for it mentally.

E) Be flexible. Have contingencies in place, and don't be consumed by the negative if things do go south. Maybe you fall off on lap three, but remind yourself that there's still a full lap to go and that anything can happen. You might get that second wind. You'll never know if you become all consumed with negative thoughts and give up.

F) Finally, watch inspiring race performances. There are a ton of videos on Youtube of guys that look completely out of races, only to come back and outkick everyone. Check out a clip of Sammy Wanjiru's 2010 Chicago Marathon for inspiration. He was completely out of that race and somehow managed to come back for the dead and will himself to victory.

Yes!
You should practice things like this. Practice tactics. Practice things besides hitting a split or pace.

It's one thing to fail, but it's quite another to "give yourself permission" to do so. That is Charmin soft. Failure happens, but it should NEVER be a choice, rather a consequence of maybe a tough heat or an off day. Jog it in. Give me a break. If you hang for, say, 1k, salvage what you can rather than jog it in. Someone ban this dude- I've never heard a weaker take

My advice to hang on? 10 hard steps- if you do feel yourself slipping, take 10 hard steps and close a gap. Even if you fall off, hanging with a hard early pace can still lead to a PR or good time/palce

If thinking that *hanging in there for a bit longer isn't gonna make my arms and legs fall off or my head explode* makes me tough, I'll take that. But there have been times when I felt like falling down in a quivering heap and crying but held on to that thought like it was actually true and it pulled me through those last miles and yards. Now all I need is a mantra that makes my legs go faster..... ;

A+

Maybe part of the fear of, "If I feel like this now, how bad will I feel at the end of the race", and the truth is, you might feel better. Sometimes changing your pace makes the difference. I used to tell myself, "Just catch that guy 20m ahead of you, and then you can rest". When I would catch them, often I could keep going.

Thanks for the kind and encouraging words! Fear of failing is more likely to hold you back than actually experiencing failure. This is about breaking through a barrier. Having the thought of, "Oh I back off and salvage this race" gives you a way out. Succeed by hanging on, or fail by pushing yourself until you can only jog it in.

Some really good advice and insight in this thread. Reminds me of the old days on these boards.

(Except for MasterofNone's comments. He must not be a coach. Or he completely missed the point of the post he was commenting on.)

One additional thought, related to some of the above posts. Break the race up into segments. Set a goal for each segment. Focus on achieving each goal one at a time. Goals can be place, time, level of effort, or even form. Work on not thinking about a segment until you've reached the goal for the previous one. In other words, don't think about the third lap until you get to the 800. The overall goal is to get at least one segment further each time you race the distance.

Yeah - what he said.

Failure happens, certainly, whether you're afraid of it or not. But I would never advise an athlete to 'jog it in' especially if they're already open to admitting they struggle mentally with finishing things out when it gets tough.

There's a fine line between an athlete pushing themselves to a PR and running so far beyond their means that they cannot finish without 'jogging it in' -that is the immature and irresponsible racing that's plaguing high school and collegiate running. This can only lead to burnout and distaste for track and cross.

Running this way may pay off once or twice but it is not a sustainable way to race/train

I really hope you aren't a coach

Great post.

When I have stagnated a bit, I've found it helpful to run a shorter distance at a goal or "breakthrough" pace.

For example, racing an 8k at goal 10k pace, or 700m at goal 800m pace.

This can be a big confidence-builder, and also open your eyes to being capable of more when you are caught it a rut. (For a long time, I couldn't truly "convince" myself I could race a 5k faster than a certain threshold, but after setting up a time trial and confidently destroying that pace over 4k, I was more ready to hang with a faster pace/group in my next race.)

Hang on...

Will get back to you :-)

Update us on how it goes. Some great advice in this thread. Letsrun ain’t always so bad after all