When you’re running a race and the going is tough, it’s not a good time to make decisions. When you’re running up a hill, or picking the pace up after a water station, it’s going to be harder than at other points in the race. If you make a decision about changing your race-plan at that point, you could cost yourself the race. Wait until you’ve recovered from the hill, settled back into your running pace, and your breathing is more normal. When you’re running at a more normal level of exertion, then you can evaluate your pacing, and make a decision about whether to slow it down or keep going full speed.
My personal best half marathon, the Chilly Half in November, has quite a few hills in the middle. About 80% of the way up to the top of the longest hill, I turned to the person I was running with, and threw in the towel. I told him there was no way I could keep going at his target pace, and that he should move on without me. I wished him the best but I knew I wasn’t going to make it. (I quite literally, and sincerely, used the phrase “wasn’t going to make it”.)
Tony, being a very wise man and extremely experienced runner, did not accept my resignation on the up-hill. He looked at his watch, suggested we use our time buffer to slow down a bit for the hill, and kept me going his pace for another four miles. Those four miles were the hilliest part of the course, and because he didn’t let me quit at mile 6, I shaved 5 minutes off my half marathon PR.
If I’d dropped my pace at mile 6 instead of mile 10, I would have finished several minutes slower, losing my PR, and sacrificing the effort I put into those hard early miles.
Once you’ve slowed down, it’s hard to convince yourself to pick it back up. Never quit on an up-hill. Maintain the effort you can, don’t look at your watch, don’t panic, just get through that challenge, let your breathing stabilize, and then you can re-evaluate.
This advice applies to life, too. If I let myself make decisions in the grumpy first few minutes of the morning, I would never run, and the kids would watch television ALL DAY. Instead, I give myself a chance to wake up, have a glass of water, adjust. Suddenly running sounds better, and I’m planning when to fit it into my schedule. I’m making coffee. I’m feeling better. I realize the snowed in kids have a craft to do and a snowman to make. Life is good again.
Running uphill is a little like waking up in the morning. Your body is sending a message to your brain that goes something like this: “AHHH!!! YOU ARE DYING!!! YOU MUST STOP!!! PAIN!!! DEATH!!! MOVING IS BAD!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!” This is exactly the same message your body sends to your brain when the kids are trying to wake you up. Make it wait a few minutes… it usually quiets down 🙂
Hi Kelly – I have this same philosophy. Although it’s only a recent revelation (aging has its benefits). I am much better now at NOT making any rash decisions when I’m not feeling 100%. If I’m upset about X, I don’t let myself make a big decision involving Y. I wait until the next day and everything seems to have calmed down. And the decision I would have made under distress is usually not the right one in the end and I’m usually thrilled that I waited it out.
Great points for running too. Funny, I have to do the reverse. Take this lesson from the life circumstance and apply it to running 🙂
Happy snow!
This is great advice Kelly! When I get to that point in a race I just tell myself that slowing down would mean wasting everything that I had done up until that point. Like any sport, mental toughness is just as important as physical ability, sometimes more so.