Topic 2: What Goals to set in Races?

There are many goals to focus on in running, but for this particular topic I will cover goals relevant to races.  Goals are important.  And, if you are signed up for a race, you have a goal for that race - whether it is to finish, run a PR, or place a certain position.  But there are also a few things about goals that a lot of runners can get trapped in.  In my 20+ years of competitive racing, I have made many mistakes in goal setting for races.  Here is an example.  In the fall of 2011, I made a big breakthrough in the half marathon, by running a personal best of 1:08:39.  I got excited and that following spring, my goal was to break 1:08.  Good goal right?  Challenging and realistic.  Problem was, I didn't set any others-I was only fixed on the time.  I ended up running a 1:09:27 in that race, and I felt upset about it because I was so focused on only that one goal.  So what are these other goals I could have set?  Well, one thing is placement.  I ended up 16th in a pretty deep half marathon field.  Another goal I could have set is to break 1:10:00 for the 2nd time in my career.  I didn't recognize that I had only run under 1:10 once at the time!  Another goal I could have set was to beat my personal course best.  I think a lot of runners forget about this!  Previously I had run 1:10:04 on the same course.

You can have a set of goals going into each race so that you don't become too focused on just one goal that may not be attained.  If you can attain a few of the other goalsisn't a bad race.  It may not be that ultimate goal you want, but it doesn't mean you have to get down about the race either.  This structure of goals also helps us respect ourselves, and that it takes a lot of hard work and patience!  I sometimes remind myself in races that my toughest competitor is myself.

When we talk about categorizing goals, the top goal should be the dream goal.  This is a goal that is possible and realistic, but it is understood that it is very hard to achieve and it takes some things to line up.  We may call this the "A" Goal.  If the A Goal seems to fall out of reach, then the B Goal should be the focus, and then the C Goal, and so on.  And, there are a lot of different goals we can set in races.  This past spring, I had some plantar issues with my right foot which forced me to sit out of the Ottawa Marathon.  I thankfully recovered with the help of my good friend Tom Stott, and decided to enter the Grandma's Half Marathon.  When I was there, a runner approached me asking if I was shooting for a PR, and I responded quickly, "Oh, absolutely NOT!"  I knew I was not close at all to the 1:05 shape I was in when I ran my PR 5 months earlier.  And, this was not my goal going into the race.  My A goal for this race was actually to race it completely healthy with no issues with my foot!  And if I had to put down a time goal, I was thinking 5:15 pace if everything went really well.  To fall back on a B goal, if my foot was not feeling good enough to race 5:15s, I would drop back and see if I could find Silvia to run the race with and help her out.  My C Goal was to avoid hurting my foot at all costs if it meant dropping out or if it meant running a whole lot slower (Silvia surely would be finishing ahead of me).  Luckily, my foot was ok and I achieved my A goal and actually finished in 1:08:45 (5:14 pace), a course best time (personally), and was happy to race healthy again with no injuries.  For Silvia's race, a month earlier, she had a rough day in Ottawa and had to drop out of that race.  So, going into Grandma's Half Marathon she needed something positive to come out of it.  I told her to use the race as a workout and not put any pressure on PRing, because we weren't sure how her body would respond after having a rough race the month prior.  We went into the race with modest expectations.  Silvia ran the race by feel, and she felt better as the race went on and found some faster gears she wasn't sure she had.  She ended up running a PR of 1:20:27!  She was pleasantly surprised and it so happened that her fitness from Ottawa carried her over to the half.  However, I felt it was very important before the race to not EXPECT that to happen, because she needed to just get a race under her belt first after the rough Ottawa race.  Just a great example of going into a race with smart goals that respect ourselves and where we are!

These examples help us gain perspective that what we runners are trying to do is really arduous, and to understand that there are other things we can achieve if we cannot make that A Goal.  For example, often we runners focus on PRs.  But we also must recognize how difficult it is to be better and faster than ourselves on our best day.  And sometimes there are instances where we are doing better than we think we are but we do not realize it.  For example, I like to keep track of Course PRs-a lot of runners do not think about these!  Another example might be placing higher than you ever have in a particular race, even if your time isn't as fast (how were the conditions?).  Another thing you can focus on is running within your top 5 best times.  I keep a record of all my fastest times on different courses, and it is fun to see where these were run, which courses are the fastest, etc.  Oftentimes I think a lot of runners are only set on one goal, and they have nothing else to look to if that doesn't go to plan.

Here are a few examples of how I have broken these goals down to categories, whether thinking about PRs and/or placing.  Keep in mind these are goals that relate to me and everyone's goals are different!  There are other examples that I will explain after.

Chris' goals Example 1 (placing):

A Goal: Win
B Goal: place top 3
C Goal: place top 5
D Goal: win age group

Chris' goals Example 2 (times):

A Goal: PR
B Goal: run close to my PR or perhaps my top 3 best times ever
C Goal: run a course best
D Goal: run under a certain time (maybe top 5 best times ever run, and so on..)

For me personally, in all my years of racing I have learned that it is really rare to win and run a PR in the same race.  But I think it is good to have goals for placing and goals for times.  For instance, this year I won the Parks Half Marathon (not a PR).  But earlier this year when I ran my PR at the Houston Half Marathon, I was far away from winning that race!  The difference of what my mind was focusing on was completely different in these 2 races.  Both were achievements for me, just in different ways.  During Parks, I focused on my strategy to catch the first guy who started out ahead of me.  The goal was to win-because it was realistic.  I also had a goal to run my course best time, which I did by over a minute.  Parks is a difficult course, and on top of that, understanding where I was in my training I knew that 67 or 68 min was probably the fastest I would run on that course during the tough training block I was going through.  To make my goal to PR on that course would be unrealistic.  Contrary to this, at Houston, the course was fast, weather was ideal, and the competition was stacked.  I knew there was a chance I could run a very fast time.  In a race like Houston where the winner gets $20,000  (opposed to Parks which gives $500), you get world class elites from all over the world and a very big sized race and a strong American field.  Famous runners like Meb have a tough time winning this race (he won in 2014 in 61 min, was 4th in 2015 in 62 min).  With my previous PR of 66:37 going into the race, to win Houston would be unrealistic for me....so it was more realistic to have a goal to place as high among the top Americans as I could-maybe top 15, and maybe top 30 overall.  And I knew if I was near top 30, I would most likely run close to 65 minutes.  I ended up finishing in the top 20 Americans in the race, 37th overall, and a big PR of 65:25.  What contributed majorly to me running that PR was competition.  I was pushed by a lot of others running 64:00-66:00 in this race.  And when it came down to the last 0.1 miles of that race, I was with 3 other guys sprinting to the finish.  I could have settled and let those guys go at the end.  I would have still run 65 minutes.  But settling would not be giving my best.  My best was to finish trying to outkick my competitors.  We don't just run races for times, we also run to compete with others and get the best out of ourselves.

Perhaps what I am getting at here is there might be a goal above that "A" Goal we all strive to achieve.  I would define this as doing the best you can on that day.  If you can say that you could not have run any faster, I think that's the top goal we all want to achieve.  Get the best out of ourselves.  To perform our absolute best.  I like this goal because it is there if we are having our best day, and it is there if we are having our worst day.  If you're having a rough day and don't achieve your D Goal, you can then say, "Let's do the best I can do today, whatever that ends up being."  If you are running the race of your life, remember to not settle, but rather say to yourself, "Let's see if I can beat this guy next to me by the time we reach the finish."  After Houston, I looked at some interesting stats.  I love numbers and seeing how things play out in races.  I had averaged 4:59/mile in the race-a huge milestone for me to go sub 5 for that long of a distance.  I calculated that if I had run just 8 seconds slower, I would have averaged 5:00/mile.  I would have lost those 8 seconds if I didn't grit my teeth and race with those guys next to me at the end.  No matter what goal you have, go all the way to the line with doing your very best.

We are all trying to get to the finish line.  The winner is trying to do this, and the last finisher is trying to do this.  Many runners' goals are to finish the race-especially if it is their first one!  But if the goal is to finish, you need to make sure you have those back up goals.  For instance, you could break down your goals such as:

A Goal: Finish (running the entire time)
B Goal: Finish (running with very small walking breaks)
C Goal: Finish (walk the amount you need in order to finish)

For more experienced runners, as I stated above, we can also use races as workouts.  We can make a goal to focus on running the race a certain way, such as progressing our pace, or working on the hills, or just getting in an overall strong run to boost fitness.  When using a race as a workout, we must understand that we are training through that race.  I definitely lower my expectations for fast times in these.  They serve a different purpose-to help us get stronger for the bigger races.   

Overall, there are several things below that can help you get the most out of setting your goals for races:

1) Respect yourself, especially if you're striving for a big breakthrough.  Understand that if you are going for that A Goal, you are trying to be better than yourself on your absolute best day.  It is really hard to do this especially if you have been doing this a long time!

2) Be patient with yourself.  Understand that achieving that A Goal may take more time and patience than you think or would like!  This is another big important thing a lot of runners forget.  Patience is a virtue.  Understand it is a process.  It takes not one year, but sometimes several years, perhaps decades.

3) Don't get too obsessed with times defining your races.  I see this all the time.  A runner is bummed about their time...when they didn't realize they placed higher in the race than ever before, and if they had focused on that, perhaps they might have done even better.  Remember to compete for place.  No one remembers what time the Olympic Gold Medalist ran.  People remember that Meb won Boston in 2014, not his time (if you must know it was 2:08, his all time PR).

4) Remember all the different goals you can set for races.  Have fun with it!  Don't make it stressful.   It is a lot more enjoyable when you start to think outside of the "PR" box.  There's a lot more to running.  Get creative!

5) Always fall back on the goal to do the best you can on that given day given the situation and circumstances.  You will be much more satisfied and get the most out of the race and most importantly, yourself.

Thanks for reading.

-Chris Sloane

Feel free to leave any comments below and feel free to reach out to me for coaching coachchrissloane@gmail.com

Topic 1: What is "Easy pace?"

A few years ago I was at a race, and a friend/coach asked me a very good question.  She asked, "What do you define as easy pace for your runners?"  I thought it was an excellent question.

When we talk about easy pace, we need to factor in some variables.  For one thing, what is the weather like on that day you're going for a run?  Is it cool and crisp?  Or is it humid and hot?  The weather plays a very significant role on effort levels.  Those hot and humid days are slower runs because there is less oxygen in the air.  Runners need oxygen to perform better.  The more oxygen you can get to your muscles, the faster you can run.  So when you are running in the heat, don't be surprised if "easy" all of a sudden is 9:00 pace instead of 8:00 pace.  A second variable is the terrain.  Are you running up a mountain?  Are you running on a flat course?  Are you running on trails with rocks and roots?  A third thing to consider is what workout(s) and amount of miles have you done that week?  Are you fatigued and tired from a higher mileage week?  One runner doing 70 miles per week might actually be doing their overall easy paces faster than a runner doing 100 miles per week(even if the 100 mpw runner is faster in races), because of the muscle fatigue associated with mileage.  Did you do a race recently?  So think about those things first before you get upset how "slow" you're running those easy paces.  

I define easy pace as slower than anything that is approaching the aerobic threshold.  In other words, it should be aerobically comfortable and a pace you could run for a very long time if you had to.  However, I don't define easy pace as an exact pace.  I define it as a range of paces.  Some days the pace is faster, others slower(because of those variables above).  This range of pacing can also vary from runner to runner.  I believe it is a really good thing to have a bigger range of paces.  I have found that anything from around 6:00 pace to 10:00 min pace is my easy pace on any given day.  The important thing is to run by what feels right on each day, reading your body and how it is responding.  The goal of easy pace is to recover so that you can do your next workout(which is to push the aerobic system and/or anaerobic system).  If your easy pace right after a hard workout is pretty slow, chances are you ran a really tough workout and pushed yourself!  It is compensation for the effort you put in the previous day, so listen to your body.  

From my experience, I can break down easy pace into several paces as a result from training or racing.  The first is after a very hard race.  Either during a cool down or a short run after a race, my paces tend to be the slowest.  Sometimes I joke with myself on my slowest easy pace PR.  I've run some 10:00-11:00 min miles on post race cool downs(I've raced 4:59 miles for my fastest half marathon).  The next slowest pace is after a really hard workout-either on the track or a hard long run.  After that it is pretty much the rest of any mileage and other runs in between hard workouts.  These are runs that are not necessarily after hard workouts, but also do not need to be pushed in pace in anticipation of a hard workout coming up.  To summarize, I have found easy pace to be defined as a combination of cool downs, recovery runs, pre-workout runs, maintenance runs, and even warm ups.  Therefore, the pace can range quite a bit.  I believe that it is important to have a wide range of paces, but that can depend on the runner.  It is actually very difficult to have a range of paces to train at.  

There is one other variable related to easy pace that I have discovered through my own training.  The complexity of the development of a runner affects easy pace relative to speed.  In other words, take the current version of myself, at my fastest which is a 1:05 half marathoner in 2019, vs a couple of older versions of myself(let's say when I was a 1:16 half marathoner in 2004, and a 1:10 half marathoner in 2011).  During my training around 2004, I would say that my easy pace runs were not as much of a range as they are now.  I think a lot of them were something like 7:00-8:00 miles. Now, that range has shifted to a much wider expansion of around 6:00-10:00 miles.  But also, I run higher mileage now-so you have to factor that in too.  While I have gotten faster at racing because of consistency, higher mileage, and faster workouts, I have also gotten better at running slower.  If you want to get faster, don't just practice running faster; practice running slower too!  Several Kenyans I have talked to told me how easy they run sometimes(yes 10:00 miles).  But when they go to work, they get serious about running 4:00-5:00 pace.  While the Kenyans are the world's fastest distance runners, they probably are also the best at running a huge range of paces.  

Thanks for reading,

-Chris Sloane

Feel free to leave any comments below and feel free to reach out to me for coaching coachchrissloane@gmail.com.   

Every Race Jersey 1999 - 2019

1997 - 2001

Quince Orchard H.S.

Photo: 1999 MD State XC Championship: 17:15

2001 - 2004

Virginia Tech

Photo: 2002 Hokie Invitational 8K: 25:43

2009 - 2010

Georgetown Running Co.

Photo: 2010 Colonial Half Marathon: 1:12:57

2010

Georgetown Running Co.

Photo: 2010 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler: 54:16

2010

Potomac River Running

Photo: 2010 Pikes Peek 10K: 32:54

2011 - 2012

=PR=

Photo: 2012 Virginia Beach Half Marathon: 1:09:27

2013 - 2014

=PR= DC ELITE

Photo: 2014 US Half Marathon Championships: 1:07:29

2015 - 2016

Saucony

Photo: 2016 Jacksonville Half Marathon: 1:06:50

2015 - 2016

Saucony

Photo: 2016 US Half Marathon Championships: 1:08:33

2017

Capital Area Runners

Photo: 2017 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler: 51:06

2018 - Present

MCRRC ELITE/CEP

Photo: 2019 Houston Half Marathon: 1:05:25

Sub 5:00 pace: The Breakthrough at the 2019 Houston Half Marathon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv2I5EM-tuM&t=7m34s

 

In 2016, I ran an epic 1:06:50 (5:05 pace) at the Jacksonville Half Marathon.  In November of 2018, I finally broke that time by running 1:06:37 at the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon.  Still, I hadn't really broken through to that next level.  There was more in me ready to be unleashed.  Photo below of Indianapolis.

January 20, 2019

49:54.  Mile 10.  5K left to go.

It began building...we could feel it, that anticipation to unleash what we had left in our tanks.  We had been racing sub 5- minute miles for 10 miles, and now it was time to see who had the strength and speed the last 5K.  All we could hear were our footsteps and breathing-which was barely controlled right up to the edge.  That threshold.  I just needed another 15:30 5K.   

------------------------------------------------

The Chevron Houston Half Marathon is one of the fastest half marathons in the country.  I first ran this race back in 2014(you can find that race report on this blog), and ran a PR back then of 1:07:29 (that breakthrough was sub 5:10 pace for the first time).  The course is flat like a track, fast, and minimal turns.  The competition brings world class runners from all over the world, and some of the fastest U.S. half marathoners.  I walked outside of my hotel ready to do a shakeout run with Silvia, when I saw someone who looked familiar and knew immediately who it was.  He won this race in 2014 in 61 minutes.  I only saw the back of his head but I knew who it was.

It was Meb.  I introduced Silvia to him, and the guy is the nicest dude in the world.  He asked what our goals were, wished us luck, and even when we came back from our run he waved back at us again.  Meb is one of my favorite modern runners-he sets the example of what running really is-a lifelong sport.

On Saturday, I met my coaching client, JP, who I have been coaching virtually.  It is tough but we communicate well, which helps since I cannot see him run.  He is progressing well, and he ran the 5K Saturday morning in 15:38 for 3rd place.  He ran track and cross country for Texas A&M.  Silvia and I were also fortunate to meet Steve Magness, the coach at University of Houston, and who co-directs High Performance West.  I follow his podcast on coaching along with Jonathan Marcus.  https://www.scienceofrunning.com/?v=7516fd43adaa

JP (Pictured above)

THE RACE
January 20, 2019
Houston Half Marathon

Silvia and I jogged to the race start where we were put into the B section of the elites.  This race is super stacked with world class athletes.  They had a short separation between the A and B elites, so I crossed the timing mat 5 seconds into the race.  I worked my way into the race, opening up with a 5:05 first mile.

I love this race.  The course is fast, flat, like a track.  The competition is world class, the winner runs just inside or right at 60 minutes.  It was awesome to return here 5 years later.  The weather was a bit chilly- temperatures at the start were in the high 30s.  I wore 2 pairs of lightweight gloves(the cheap pair on top of the nice pair), a hat, and CEP compression socks.  Mile 2 was 5:01, and then I began hitting some sub 5s.  My third mile was 4:56, and my 4th mile was 4:55.  By now I had been running with a few other guys, and as we approached mile 5, a 5:03 split, we caught Fernando Cabada(the 2:11 marathoner was clearly having a rough day).  He then asked, "What pace are you all running?" A guy who had been running with me answered, "5:00 pace."  I heard that loud and clear, and it bothered me.

I thought to myself, Chris, you did not fly out all the way from DC to run 5:00 pace.  Last December(2018), I ran the CIM Marathon in a new PR of 2:25:05, but it was also a mixed emotions race because I was on pace for a 2:17(went through half in 1:08:40), and I was aiming for the 2020 Olympic Trials Qualifier(standard is 2:19:00).  35K in of the 42.2K race I was on 2:18 pace.  It was difficult to swallow that one, however it was a big improvement off my last marathon- I find the distance is improving for me as I age.

I did not come out here just to run 5:00 pace.

I then made a bold move.  I left the few runners I was with and I hammered mile 6, 7, and 8 in 4:54, 4:54, & 4:56, and then went ahead to work towards catching another pack of elite runners.  I had gone through 15K in 46:30(a PR) and was averaging 4:59 per mile.  I had never been here before.  It was the danger zone, the unknown territory.  But I continue to push.  I then caught up to the next pack, and together we rolled through mile 10 in 49:50-something, which was a 10 mile PR.  Again, new territory.

5K to go.  I felt I had what it took to run close to 1:05 flat.  I knew I could do it.  Just hang with the pack.  I felt so strong!  I knew I had the speed and strength for the last 5K, and perhaps a really good closing kick.  We hammered it out and approached the downtown area where the last mile is literally a straight shot to the finish.  We approached mile 12 with 59 minutes and 50-something seconds on the clock, which was so awesome.  Never have I run so fast!!  I flashed back to when I was in high school when I ran my first sub 5:00 mile.  Here I was running 12 in a row on my 13th.  I thought back to one of my favorite quotes from Once A Runner:  

“...Or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the heart of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messengers delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race dark Satan himself till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straightaway....They'll speak our names in hushed tones, 'those guys are animals' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a gut, show them a clean pair of heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leave our feet! We can, by God, let our demons loose and just wail on!” 

― John L. Parker Jr., Once a Runner

The Last Mile.  

I cannot count the amount of sub 5 minute mile repeats I have done on the track.  I have done them over and over and over again.  Now, my body was saying it was ready.  It was ready to put it all together.  The last mile of the race we stormed towards the finish line.  We went through 20 kilometers in just over 62 minutes, and our last 1.1 kilometers-according to the splits below, was a mighty 4:45 pace!  The last 3 minutes of the race we headed straight towards the finish in downtown, and as we approached mile 13 in 1:04:50-something, the last .1 mile was an all out sprint between the 4 of us.  I unleashed a kick like none other I have had before.  I battled with one of Canada's top runners Chris Balestrini and Mexico's Daniel Ortiz Perez.  The race announcer was going crazy as we all made a mad dash for the finish line.

Split	Time Of Day	Time	Diff	min/mile	miles/h
5K	07:16:43AM	00:15:37	15:37	05:01	11.94
10K	07:32:09AM	00:31:03	15:26	04:58	12.08
15K	07:47:36AM	00:46:30	15:27	04:58	12.07
20K	08:03:16AM	01:02:10	15:40	05:02	11.90
Finish Mat	08:06:31AM	01:05:25	03:15	04:45	12.58

My official chip time was 1:05:25, an average of 4:59.4 per mile!  I had finally averaged under 5:00 pace for the half marathon!

Splits: 5:05, 5:01, 4:56, 4:55, 5:03, 4:54, 4:54, 4:56, 5:00, 5:02, 5:03, 4:58, 4:59

But immediately after I finished, my attention switched to finding the other runner.  No not the guy I battled with.  Not Meb.  Not the guy who won the race.

No, I was focused on finding Silvia finish her race.

Silvia came through in a new PR of 1:21:16, which she most recently beat at the DC Rock and Roll Half Marathon, finishing that race in 1:20:39!  She also just broke 60 minutes for 10 miles at this year's Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, running 59:34(edit: 59:48 converted from the 9.96 mile course).  Over the past year, Silvia has become one of the best runners in the DC area.  She ran her current PR of 2:48:38 at the California International Marathon last fall.

We both are working towards the Ottawa Marathon this coming May.