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Why Pace Training is Important
The object of pace training is for an athlete to identify and develop the ability to run at a pace
of maximum efficiency for a required time or distance. This we refer to as their ”Optimum Pace”.
Let us consider the three sections of an endurance race:
The Start
Running at Optimum Pace
The Finish
The Start
Many young athletes experience problems controlling their speed at the start of an endurance race
which in turn can have a significant effect on race performance.
At the start of any running event the body has a reserve of energy which can be dissipated before
an oxygen debt occurs. Most sprinters when running flat out in a 100 or 200 metre race, with the
possible exception of some elite performers like Usain Bolt, hit a point where this reserve is used
up and they go into an anaerobic condition, i.e. they get out of breath and start to slow down.
It is most important that athletes do not exceed the ‘critical point’ where oxygen debt is incurred.
This is seldom more than 50m and is illustrated by the diagram on the following page. The critical
point is different for everybody and therefore it is vitally important the athletes know what is right
for themselves and are not encouraged to overexert themselves by trying to keep up with others
whose critical point might be different to their own.
Young athletes who overexert themselves at the start of a race by sprinting for the first 200m, for
example, will incur a considerable oxygen debt, will be unable to settle down to their optimum pace
(see next page) and will more than likely underperform.
The reaching of the critical point depends on how fast above optimum pace the runner goes at the
start of the race. In a flat out sprint it is reached at about 40 or 50 metres but from experience an
athlete controlling their effort to 80% to 90% of maximum speed will delay the critical point to over
100 metres or more and then be able to settle comfortably to the optimum pace.
PACE TRAINING
PACE TRAINING
AN INTRODUCTIONTO
ENDURANCERUNNING
SECTION 6
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