Hi guys, i'm racing a Half Marathon and the goal time is 1h14 which is gonna be 3:31min/km or 5:39 per mile.
I'm asking you, whats the best strategy you've used before?
I'm thinking on:
1km to 7km - behind goal pace
7km to 16km - at goal pace
and 16km to the finish line just give everything u have (of course not sprinting all the way down haha)
Thank you!
Ran 1:13 last spring -- course was pretty hilly (especially in the first several miles) so I purposefully went out slower than goal pace & then ran faster than my overall average basically from mile 5 to the finish.
I think for the half marathon and marathon, there's no such thing as banking time. World records and good results at the longer distances generally come from even or negative splitting. I think most amateur runners would do well in a half being 5-10s/mile slow through 5k and then settling into goal pace. You can make that time up at the end if you're feeling good but you'll probably lose more time than that if you start a little too fast.
I think your plan is good. We're really talking about being +/- 5s/mile.
Prof Ross Tucker addressed this aspect of pacing by analyzing world records passed and present.The results clearly showed that on a flat coarse even splits are always the best strategy.Interestingly the race distance did not seem to affect this conclusion by any significant margin.