So I ran a race over the weekend against a guy whos times aren't much faster than mine so I feel we are pretty evenly matched. However, in the race he took out hard and I went with but had to back off after about 3miles. Race was a 1/2 marathon. Long story short I lost contact and I think the first 3miles too hard did me in and got beat by almost 4min. I'm sure better pacing would help, but damn kinda depressing to have to hope he just dies down and I catch him. Any suggestions?
He is currently more fit than you. Four minute difference ain't "tactics" son.
Use the fact that he was apparently running the same times as you as motivation that you can get to where he's at.
quit being a pu$$7 and take him to the edge.
forgot to mention. our times are similar for 5k/10k, anything under I own him, 1/2 marathon is kinda uncharted waters for me but still about 4min damn
You learn to front run.
Good front runners are rare but those who have mastered it are invincible against all pack runners and drafters.
killarney wrote:
He is currently more fit than you. Four minute difference ain't "tactics" son.
+1
You ran at his half marathon pace and it was too fast for you to sustain. This isn't a tactical issue.
He also died and by about 22-24 sec per mile pace. I just backed off early at about mile 4 because I was worried about the pace, but I still died a bit more after doing so, but he still accomplished his front running goal of getting away. ahhhhhhh
Get to the finish line before him.
Work on your start. Shave your legs. Skip the water stations. Lean at the tape.
LasseViren13 wrote:
So I ran a race over the weekend against a guy whos times aren't much faster than mine so I feel we are pretty evenly matched. However, in the race he took out hard and I went with but had to back off after about 3miles. Race was a 1/2 marathon. Long story short I lost contact and I think the first 3miles too hard did me in and got beat by almost 4min. I'm sure better pacing would help, but damn kinda depressing to have to hope he just dies down and I catch him. Any suggestions?
He's not a front runner. He's a better runner than you. 4 minutes is an eternity. He destroyed you. This was no contest. This would be like a 1:04 guy complaining that the 1 hour half marathoner was a front runner. I mean, yeah, like he should be in front of you if he's going to beat you by 4 minutes.
Sometimes we screw it up because it doesn't mean as much to us as we claim. People will say they want to win, and that might be true. But their small win could cost them a much bigger win. Our first response is how we truly feel - what we really want the most
It's more important to run your own pace than someone elses.
This is especially true the longer the race is. If a frontrunner slows down 20 sec/mile and you speed up 10 seconds a mile over the last five miles, you will make up 2.5 minutes. That's 4/10 of a mile at 6:15 pace.
If you can beat a runner at a shorter distance, you need to use that speed at the END of the race, not the beginning.
"our times are similar for 5k/10k, anything under I own him, 1/2 marathon is kinda uncharted waters for me"
Should read, "our times are similar for 5k/10k, anything under I own him, for the 1/2 marathon he owns me"
The fact you own him for races under 5k should have tipped you off to the fact that he was going to beat you in the HM.
LasseViren13 wrote:
forgot to mention. our times are similar for 5k/10k, anything under I own him, 1/2 marathon is kinda uncharted waters for me but still about 4min damn
If he doesn't have your speed, and you're matched at 5 and 10, doesn't that suggest that in order to match you in those distances he would have to have comparatively better endurance?
You must get revenge for your humiliation.
You're not evenly matched if he ran on front of you and stayed in front of you and you couldn't maintain your pace.
Just run your own race.
Sounds like you would have run faster if you went out slower but this guy wasn't going to come back to you.
LasseViren13 wrote:
forgot to mention. our times are similar for 5k/10k, anything under I own him, 1/2 marathon is kinda uncharted waters for me but still about 4min damn
He is simply a better 'long' guy than you are. He probably focuses more on the longer races. There are several guys that I compete with locally that are like this. I get beat at 5K and sometimes 10K but own them at 10 miles or above.
To beat any "rival", you have to know your own personal strengths, and theirs. That way you can be prepared for what they'll throw at you, and you'll have a plan in place that emphasizes your strengths to overcome their assault and win.
Personal anecdote from the glory days:
Senior year of HS. Racing against a guy who had run 9:06 and 14:55 (3mi.) as a junior, placed high at FL Regionals the year prior. All that jazz. My PR up to that point was 15:31 from junior year on the same 3 mi. course. He was went to another local school so going into senior year I knew I'd race him alot. Should I have had any reasonable expectation to beat him when comparing PRs over 800m? Hell no. But, I had the advantage of being the fastest reurning 800m guy in the state (1:53.9 as a junior). I knew, without a doubt, that I was faster than anybody when it came down to the last 400m of a race. But, I also knew I had to be in a position to actually use my kick for it to lead to success. So what did I do to prepare for that race? I worked on my strength. More mileage, longer intervals. Anything to help me stick with him, so I could then out kick him. What did I do when the gun went off? I held on for dear life. I tried not to listen to the splits at the 1 and 2 mile marks, but I heard them, and knew it was borderline suicidal (for me anyways). But, I was still in it, surprisingly. I wanted to quit. The thought went through my head many many times that last mile. I just put my head down, fought the urge to vomit, and kept going. I pulled my head up after rounding the last bend to see the slightly downhill 300m straightaway to the finish line. I was shoulder-to-shoulder with him. I kinda smiled and did what I knew I could. Put 6 sec on him over that finish.
Know your stengths, know your weaknesses, know your competition. He is better than you at longer stuff right now. Don't be ashamed. Acept it and work on it.
Take him out hard. He will get upset by not leading and fall apart.Or just stop being a wimp and worry about going out too hard. Sit on his butt and out kick him in the last 100ms.
LasseViren13 wrote:
So I ran a race over the weekend against a guy whos times aren't much faster than mine so I feel we are pretty evenly matched. However, in the race he took out hard and I went with but had to back off after about 3miles. Race was a 1/2 marathon. Long story short I lost contact and I think the first 3miles too hard did me in and got beat by almost 4min. I'm sure better pacing would help, but damn kinda depressing to have to hope he just dies down and I catch him. Any suggestions?
very true. I did not think of that at all. however, if I would have played it conservative I think I would have had a chance