hey i have just done 2nd of 3 in a 30k trail race series. They are really fun and I like the pacing practice doing 3x 10k loops.
I am curious to see how good runners would pace a 3x10k loop to achieve (hopefully) maximal results.
The first race I just went as hard as I could from the gun and tried to hold on. I slowed down about 3mins/lap and placed 20th.
On the second race (different course) I went “steady” on the first lap - i consiously held back a little and tried to stay relaxed, let people pass me etc. - and then went as hard as I could for the next 2 laps (i.e., my estimate of max effort that I could sustain for 20k). Lap 2 was 2mins faster and Lap 3 was 30secs slower than lap 1. My HR for both lap 2 and 3 HR was about 6-10bpm higher than lap 1.
I placed 15th in that race and beat several racers that had beaten me in the first race, so I think this “take the first lap moderately steady” strategy definitely is better than the “go as hard as you can from the gun and try not to slow down” strategy from the first race.
I thought about a pacing strategy using HR but in races my HR is always sky hi due to adrenalin, and I see HR more as a piece of information and dont think optimal pacing for me will come from keeping HR in a narrow somewhat arbitrary range?
So, any suggestions about how to pace the third 30k to improve on my “1 lap moderate then go for it” approach? What should I be aiming for, if anything, in terms of lap splits … even, negative, positive??
Thanks!