How to Run a Road Race--A Small Tutorial for Amateurs

   I do not claim to know all there is to know about running. Please read the previous sentence multiple times. However, I have run about 100+ races and coached many runners through a lot of races. So, here are some pointers to help you get to the finish line.

   1. Get there early: It is important to arrive at a race early so you do not feel rushed. I hate feeling rushed. Getting to a race early allows you time to find the starting line, warm up, use the rest room, drink some fluids, walk around, and depending on the course, maybe even walk the course to figure out the best way to run it.

  2. Warm Up: Everyone likes to warm up a little different, but warming up is essential to running a good race. I like to run a very (and I mean very) slow mile or so and then come back to my car or my wife and then go through my stretches. This helps get all the cobwebs, nerves, etc out of my legs and my stomach. It also helps to run this warm up on the course so you can get a feel for it before you are being timed on it. With my middle/high school runners we run the whole course before we race it.This makes it feel like old news and nothing to worry about. There's nothing they can show us that we haven't already seen! I like to go through all my stretches and also do some drills. You feel a little funny, but that is okay. Runners are always looking a little funny. I, sometimes get Mel to do them with me even though she is usually just spectating, but you can never be too limber, right? Also, it helps to run several strides at the pace you desire to keep for the race to remind your body how it feels.

3. Use the restroom: I will not go too deeply into this, but use the restroom. There are few things worse than having the gun go off and you start running only to begin to regret not using the restroom a last time. I know I did this once for 16 miles of my first and only marathon. It was not pleasant.

4. Shoes: I will only say to invest wisely for shoes that are made for your feet. They do not have to cost you 100's of dollars, but they do need to be right for your feet or this will cost you in other ways. I wore the wrong pair of shoes for me last summer during a 10K and then couldn't walk for two days. Also, never and I mean NEVER, race in new shoes unless you just love dealing with blisters.

5. Make sure your shoes are tight: Don't loose 30 seconds to a minute or more because you didn't think about your shoes laces. I have had runners who lost their whole shoe and left it on the course, so they wouldn't loose time. I am not that young or resilient.

6. Make sure your number is in a comfortable spot: This can be something that seems a little nit-picky, but by mile 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, etc., etc this can become something you begin to really hate. I like to place mine in about the middle of my stomach area. I have tried to put it a little higher because it looks better, but for me this just doesn't work. After a certain amount of time, it begins to rub on my arms. Also, I only use between 2-3 pins and only give my runners around the same. Four pins is overload. Trust me.

6. Starting Line Placement: This is completely up to you. If you are very fast, get as close the front as you can so that no one gets in our way. If you are slow, then get to the very back for two reasons, 1) so you can have fun passing as many people as you can, and 2) you won't feel like you are holding anyone up. I like being in the middle. This lets me pass some folks, but also keeps me from being hit in the back of the shins with a stroller from a mom on an iPod jamming out to Aerosmith and trying to reach her runner's high a tenth of a mile into the race. However, if it is a large race or even a small race where D-tags are used (fancy name for those little orange timing chips that you put on your left shoe), then you can let everyone leave and start when you want because your time doesn't start until you do!

7. Pace: This is the second hardest one to work on because running a race provides too many obstacles to staying on track. You either go out too fast (I did this last Saturday and I regretted it) or you go out too slow. If you go out too fast and get sucked up in what I like to call the "Great Start Up Frenzy", then you will regret it sometime during the race and will either have to slow down, walk, stop, dropout, or just try to hang on. It all leads to anger and frustration. Trust me. I have done all of the above. And if you go out too slow, then you will cross the finish line still trying to catch up. This leads to even more anger and frustration. I have done this too! You can do one of two things with your pace, you can be a very controlled individual and stick to your pace from beginning to the end, or you can run what is called in running world as "Negative Splits". (Tell someone this at a race and you will seem like you are an old pro!) A negative split is this, you run the first half of the race slower than the second half. This allows you to go about 85% the first half and then boost it up to 95%-100% the second half. This is a great strategy, but you must practice it. This is NOT the thing to decide to do at the halfway point in a race where you already feel you are at or near 100%. I get my runners to do this. We practice though. A lot!

8. Finish Happy: This is THE hardest thing to do if you are like me. However, this is a key step. Why participate in something that leaves you unhappy everytime you try? Well, there is no reason. You need to enjoy the race. Be happy with your time. Every race is different. Your time/pace/race effort can be affected by so many variables it is almost impossible to have every race be your "best race ever". However, it needs to be. You should be happy no matter how you finished. It would have been much easier for you to stay home, in bed, warm, $20-$90 richer, and a lot less frustrated. ENJOY THE RACE. You paid for it. Don't rush it. Runners are the only people I know that pay money to run fast, eat fast, skip the awards, and rush back home. Mel and I like to enjoy the race. We watch most everyone finish. We sample the food. We listen to the awards. we sing along with the bands. We eat the chicken biscuit. We drink the water and gatorade. We go to the expo. We do it all. We paid for it!

Hope some of this is helpful in your next racing effort.

Go Forth and Race,

   David