How to Run the Perfect Race: Better Racing Through Better Pacing

by Matt Fitzgerald

Bestselling author and coach Matt Fitzgerald explains how to train for and execute a perfect race. Master the art of pacing and run your next 5K, 10K, half-marathon, or marathon at your real limit.

Every runner knows pacing is critical. It can be the difference between a breakthrough workout and a backbreaker, between a PR and a DNF. In How to Run the Perfect Race, acclaimed running coach Matt Fitzgerald reveals how conventional training and device overdependence keep runners from accessing the full power of pacing.

With a mix of fascinating science and compelling stories from every corner of the sport, Fitzgerald demonstrates that pacing is the art of finding your real limit—running at a pace to finish the workout or cross the finish line completely out of gas. This quintessential running skill unlocks hidden potential and transforms the sport, enabling runners of all experience and ability levels to continually improve their race execution.

Training plans for 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon events will hone your pacing skill through improved body awareness, judgment, and toughness. Choose from four plans, novice to expert, for each race distance. How to Run the Perfect Race equips you mentally and physically to become a better runner, capable of knowing and executing your best effort on any given day.

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2024

About the author

Matt Fitzgerald is the author of numerous books on sports history and endurance sports. He has enjoyed unprecedented access to professional endurance athletes over the course of his career. His best-sellers include Racing Weight and Brain Training for Runners. He has also written extensively for Triathlete, Men's Fitness, Men's Health, Outside, Runner's World, Bicycling, Competitor, and countless other sports and fitness publications.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the updated/revised version of On Pace. It's not clear exactly why a new edition was needed so quickly, or what the actual differences are, as I didn't compare them side-by-side. Regardless of the reason(s), at this point it makes sense to just ignore the earlier version and read this one.

The book is divided into two main parts. The first deals with the value of proper pacing, with real-world examples of both good and bad efforts. The anecdotes are supplemented with physiological research, all of which points to the fact that yes pacing is important, and yes a runner can get better at it with careful practice. But this is so obvious and well-understood that it doesn't actually provide much value to anyone who's run more than a couple of 10k races and suffered during the last couple of miles because they went out too fast.

The second half of the book provides 4 levels of training plans ranging from beginner to elite in four popular distances: 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon. But even the "beginner" level starts with 5 days of training per week, and goes up from there. In other words, these are all meant for experienced runners looking to hone their abilities to predict a sustainable race pace and maintain a variety of specific paces during both training and competition. All of the plans are listed in plain text format rather than in tables, which is less than useful, and seemingly designed to entice people serious about using them to purchase the digital versions from the author's coaching website.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Recommended for anyone looking to improve their distance running.