From the July 2004 issue of Runner's World
Race Day Rules
Know the course. "If you know how the hills and turns go," says Sinclair, "you can more easily match your efforts to the course. Also, study the last mile. In fact, run it as a warmup. Look for markers a certain distance from the finish so you can expend your final energy at the right time."
Stuff You Need To Know
Pace Intervals (PI): For 8-minute pace (49:40), run 2:00 (for 400 meters), 4:00 (800m), 6:00 (1200m). For 7-minute pace (43:28), do 0:53 (200m), 1:45 (400m), 3:30 (800m), 5:15 (1200m). For 6-minute pace (37:15), it's 0:45 (200m), 1:30 (400m), 4:30 (1200m). Recovery is a 1-minute jog (after 400m reps), 2:00 (800m), and 3:00 (1200m). Note: For both pace and speed intervals, run 2 miles easy plus four 100m strides before each session, and 2 miles easy afterward.
Speed Intervals (SI): For 8-minute pace, run 1:53 (for 400m), 3:45 (800m) 5:38 (1200m). For 7-minute pace, do 0:49 (for 200m), 1:38 (400m), 4:53 (1200m). For 6-minute pace, it's 0:41 (200m), 1:22 (400m), 2:44 (800m), 4:08 (1200m). Recovery is jogging half the interval distance (i.e., 400m jog after 800m rep).
Lactate Sessions (LS): LS training involves running about as fast as you can for 1 minute, followed by 3 to 4 minutes of slow jogging.
Strides (S): Over 100 meters, gradually accelerate to about 90 percent of all-out, hold it there for 5 seconds, then smoothly decelerate. Walk to full recovery after each. Strides aren't meant to tire you out. Just the opposite. They'll add zip to your legs.
Six Top 10-Ks
The Great Race of Agoura 10-K (March)
Voted "Best L.A. Race" and "Best Post-Race Party" in 2003. Easy to see why: Great T-shirt and huge goodie bags for all; Olympic-style stadium finish; slightly downhill over the last 3 miles; and burritos! (Along with several dozen other foods.) GreatRaceofAgoura.com; (818) 313-2102
Pearl Harbor Bike Path 10-K (March)
First of all, it's in Hawaii. So in March, if you live anywhere north of Phoenix, the PHBP 10-K means a race in the SUN. Second, it's a cozy hometown event usually won in 35 minutes and change, so you'll be right there in the pack with decent odds of scoring some hardware. Third, you pass by the USS Missouri, the last of the great battleships--and it's gotta-see-it-huge. And fourth, it's in Hawaii. mprrc.com; (808) 295-MPRR
Crescent City Classic 10-K (April)
You'll never get to play in the Super Bowl or the World Series, but you can race in Louisiana against (well, be in the same race anyway with) the planet's greatest runners; in 2002, five of the top 10 world-ranked 10-K men and women lined up for the CCC. And you get a sprawling two-day fitness expo, with hundreds of running-gear vendors, cool Cajun-country T-shirt, beautiful tree-lined course, and raucous New Orleans-style postrace par-tay! ccff.org; (504) 861-8686
Bolder Boulder 10-K (May)
The race motto is: "Oh Yes You Can!" and all 48,000 starters here are treated as invited guests by the 100,000 screaming spectators who line the course, and those fans inside the U of Colorado stadium make each entering runner feel like Frank Shorter at Munich. Along the route are the Boulder belly dancers and senior women doing the cancan, overhead are Air Force jets, halfway down are parachutists. All in all, a most memorable Memorial Day experience. bolderboulder.com; (303) 444-RACE
Peachtree Classic 10-K (July Fourth)
Yeah, it's hot. Humid, too. And the Atlanta course is tough with hills at 3 and 5 miles. But every year, 55,000 get to start, while thousands who didn't get in sit home with broken hearts. How come? Because of the challenge, because of the Peachtree's history and reputation, because of the T-shirt you'll get to flaunt back home, because you get to be one of the cells in the body of the world's largest 10-K event. Reasons all why this baby fills up in a day. atlantatrackclub.org; 404-231-9064
People's Beach to Beacon 10-K (August)
Runners from 41 states and 16 countries (2003) take a winding course through picturesque Cape Elizabeth, Maine, traversing the same turf that race founder and 1984 Olympic Marathon champ Joan Samuelson trained on. Finishes at Portland Head Light, the world's most photographed lighthouse. Limited to 5,000 runners, and it closes fast. www.beachtobeach.org; (888) 480-6980
