You just finished a 10 mile tempo run at your goal marathon pace. It went well, but it was a tough workout that leaves you wondering how you’re going to maintain that pace for another 16 miles. You begin doubting your fitness and if you will be able to achieve your goal on race day.

Fast forward to the race, and you find you can easily settle into your goal pace and you click away the miles through the first half no problem. It does eventually get tough later into the race, but you manage to hang on and finish strong. How did it all come together for the race when you could barely finish 10 miles at that same pace back in training? There are several factors that can cause your race pace to feel harder during a training run.

Race Day Adrenaline

The excitment of racing is a real thing. In a racing environment, many runners are filled with excitement and nerves as they get ready to push themselves to the max and see if they are capable of achieving the goal they have trained for. The extra adrenaline primes the body to run fast by increasing alertness and pumping more blood to the working muscles. During a regular training day, you don’t typically get the same race day adrenaline rush, leaving your body not as ready to push to its potential.

Taper vs. Training Fatigue

Don’t underestimate the power of the taper. Sometimes a cut-back leading up to the goal race is all that’s needed to be feeling strong when it counts. All of those goal pace workouts were done with cumulative fatigue during the peak of the training cycle.

While the heavy training does leave you feeling more sluggish for your key workouts, it is needed so the body can adapt once there is a chance for recovery during the taper phase. Remind yourself that you shouldn’t be going into every workout 100% fresh, and that it’s not supposed to feel easy and will help simulate the late stages of a race when fatigue sets in.

Competition & Having Other Runners

Sometimes it can be difficult to stay on pace when it is just you out there running a workout because you have to rely entirely on your own pacing skills and gauge of effort. In a race, you will often have several other runners around your speed who you can stick with. This can be a useful way to not overthink hitting a certain pace and instead just try to chase down someone who is your speed or just a bit faster.

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t deviate too far from your originally planned race strategy. Different runners have different pacing strategies and you have to learn what works for you. If you’re a runner who prefers to start races conservatively and try to pick it up throughout, trying to stay with someone who takes it out hard and tries to hang on will likely not end well for you. Instead, it is best to have a general pace range in mind that you plan to start out at and see if there are others around you in the race who are planning to start out at the same pace.

Different Mindset During Races

This one ties somewhat to the race day adrenaline. When it’s time to race, runners are thinking to themselves that this is when it counts and when it’s time to go all out. Having this mindset will lead your mind to prepare your body to run its hardest. Blood flow increases and muscles are primed to fire. During a standard training session, you know that this isn’t the actual race. Sure, you want to perform well during your workouts and feel good hitting your paces. But knowing that this isn’t when it really counts the most allows your brain to subconsciously hold you back.

So while you may feel you are pushing yourself pretty hard in some workouts, this subconscious mechanism is likely keeping a part of your physiological capability reserved. Instead of being able to tap into this remaining potential during a workout, you will fatigue and begin to slow down before reaching that point.

Weather / Better Conditions on Race Day

This is a big one particularly for fall races where much of the training cycle is done during the warmer summer months. High temperatures and humidity will have a considerable impact on your paces, often as much as 10-20 seconds per mile. So a workout at your goal marathon pace during a hot day now becomes the same effort as a hard threshold run that redlines you sooner than it should have. If your race day weather conditions are much better than your training cycle, you will feel much better at any pace.

So how do you manage your race day expectations and pace goal for race day? Focus on going by effort during training sessions. If you’re hitting pace for most of the key workouts without straining too hard, that is a good indicator that you will be able to run that pace for the race. Remember that most of these workouts will be done during high volume weeks where you have accumulated a considerable amount of fatigue, and you have yet to absorb the stimulus from the training you are putting in. So your goal pace feeling harder than it “should” does not necessarily mean you are lacking fitness or are not ready to hit your goal. Adaptation to the training, a proper taper, and an extra burst of adrenaline on race day will get you there.