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

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.

Matt Fitzgerald is an acclaimed endurance sports author, coach, and nutritionist. His many books include How Bad Do You Want It, 80/20 Running, and Chasing Mastery. Matt has also written for a number of leading sports and fitness publications, including Runner’s World and Triathlete, and for popular websites such as outsideonline.com and nbcnews.com. Matt is cofounder of 80/20 Endurance, the world's premier endurance sports training brand, and creator of Dream Run Camp, a pro-style residential training camp for runners of all abilities based in Flagstaff, Arizona. He also codirects the Coaches of Color Initiative, a nonprofit program that seeks to improve diversity in endurance coaching. A lifelong endurance athlete, Matt speaks frequently at events throughout the United States and internationally.