Middle Management

I remember my last race, I hit a wall halfway through and it was the worst second half ever.  Usually the wall comes about ¾’s of the way.  But halfway makes for a tough 2^nd half.

Middle Management

How to avoid slowing in the middle of races

By Pete Magill
As featured in the June 2010 issue of Running Times Magazine

Few runners train for the middle of a race.

Let's face it, there's nothing glamorous about those middle miles. They lack the visceral rush of charging off the start line. Or the heroics that fuel our sprint to the finish. In the middle, pain is just pain. And miles are just long and hard.

"Why couldn't Pheidippides have died here?" said Frank Shorter, passing the 16-mile mark during one of his first marathons.

Most of us know the feeling. Those of us who entered this sport as high school milers learned early on about the peril of the third lap, that gruesome mid-race stretch where dreams are dashed and legs turn to stone. Age and longer races have brought no relief, with the "third lap" trailing us like some malicious, companion shadow.

So what can we do? How do we stop the middle of our race from spoiling our best-laid plans? One thing is certain: Until we start employing training and racing strategies to shore up the middle, we can never hope to overcome middle-of-the-road race performances.

Continue reading from runningtimes.com here.