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If you are intent on running Peachtree faster than last year and perhaps even setting a new personal best, read on. Mark Wetmore, the head cross country coach for the national champion University of Colorado Buffaloes is fond of saying "You can only run as well as you are prepared to run." This article should help you prepare better for Peachtree and as a bonus you can apply the concepts to other races year round.
It goes without saying that to run well in any race you need to have a good solid training plan leading up to the big day. Without a plan none of these training ideas will do you much good. The plan should include a good build up, consistent mileage, sufficient recovery from your hard efforts, and proper rest and sharpening before the race. Rather than the basics, this article will focus on some specific information that will help you to run faster and maybe even a little smarter at Peachtree.
Since Peachtree is a 10K (6.2 miles), your workouts should be focused on building your aerobic capacity. A good way of doing that is doing one threshold run a week starting about 6 to 8 weeks from the race. This run can be from 3 to 6 miles and be done 10 to 30 seconds per mile slower than your goal race pace - the longer the run the slower the pace. Make sure you warm up beforehand and cool down after with a mile or two of easy running. It is also a good idea to choose a running route that is like Peachtree, i.e. gently rolling with some good down hills. Your last threshold workout should be about two weeks before the race. Practice running an even effort: you should finish strong but controlled.
Since Peachtree does have some hills, you should also incorporate some hill training into your running. The hills in the race tend to be long and gently sloping, therefore so should your training hills. Try to do two to three workouts where you do three to five repeats up a 600 to 800 meter hill, with the jog down as your rest. Make sure the effort up the hill is hard, a bit harder then you would run in the race, but you should be able to get faster each repeat. Give yourself at least a week in-between these workouts, as they are pretty tough.
While it might not seem like it in the race, there are significant downhills during Peachtree as well, so it is important to focus on your downhill form. Going downhill you should be relaxed and smooth, with little or no stomping. Your shoulders should be over your hips and not leaning forward, which prevents you from taking full advantage of the downhill. To become efficient at running downhills you need to always concentrate on your form, even on the easy days.
Many runners have done great training leading up to the race only to have it ruined by poor planning and strategy during the race. Make sure all of your running gear is set up the night before and ready to go. Give yourself ample time to get to the race and do a proper warm up. You can use up a lot of energy stressing about the small things when you should be relaxing and preparing yourself mentally for the race. A good warm up should include ten to twenty minutes of easy jogging and at least four or five 75 to 100 meter strides, where each stride gets a little faster. However, depending on your seed number this may not be possible, so do the best you can to jog a bit before you are in the starting corral, and do some stretching while you are waiting to start. Always make sure you are also drinking water before, during, and after the race.
Some race strategies seem to work better than others at Peachtree. First and foremost, don't get caught going out too fast. This is easy to do with the downhill first miles. You want to be relaxed and comfortable during the first half of the race. The halfway point is really where the race starts. Many people also make the mistake of charging up the first hill. You should run the hills hard but controlled, just below your maximum effort. Work over the crest of the hill and build some momentum to cruise down the other side. Everyone will always have something for the finish so concentrate on passing some people before you turn left on 10th St. and working hard until you get to that last downhill. You will be amazed at how many people you can pass doing this. Finally don't stop at the photographer's overhang before the finish. Don't laugh - this happened to the second place finisher last year.
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