Thursday, May 28, 2009

Find a Friend, Part 1

#4. Find a friend (or two) during the race.

One of the strategies I use for longer races in particular is to run near/behind/slightly in front of people for a period of time. This helps me to refresh my mental concentration and keeps my pace steady. The trick, however, is to find someone or a group that's moving at the pace you're moving at (otherwise it kind of defeats the purpose).

So, around mile 3 on the course, where, given all the fits and stops that will come from cramming 10,000 people into Prospect Park's narrow thoroughfares, check out who's running near by you (not check out in *that* sense, though I suppose you could ... :-)), and find a friend or two who is hitting your pace. You don't have to stick with them the entire race - you/they may speed up/slow down, or someone may get dropped at the water stop. But then just start again.

This, I think, may prove especially key as you take on the final stretch out to Coney Island.

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