The Art and Science of Perfect Pacing (Members' Exclusive Show, Now Unlocked for All)

Quick heads up before we start: this is not a brand new episode. If you are one of our Members you will have heard it in full about six weeks ago, when we released it as a Members' only Applied show. But we thought it was too interesting and relevant to stay behind the paywall, so we have cut it down into this shorter version and opened it up to everyone, partly because we want sports science to reach as many people as possible, and partly because it is a taste of exactly what supporters get every week, ad free, alongside our Discourse community! So join now and get it early, ad-free and with post-pod chats!

The show was sparked by Gareth's admission that he paces his Zwift time trials by "trying not to die", which, as Ross points out, is already a sign the pacing has gone wrong. Pacing is not about reacting to fatigue once it arrives, but about managing effort now based on its future consequences. Using the analogy of a budget, we look at the two things it defends against, depletion of fuel like carbohydrate and creatine phosphate, and accumulation of heat, hydrogen ions, and other metabolites, and why good pacing is a skill that has to be learned.

From there we get applied. Why has elite pacing become flatter over the generations, why can you never bank time in a long event when the 400 and 800 metres break that rule, and how should you actually pace a hilly time trial? Drawing on Remco Evenepoel's world title ride, we anchor everything to FTP, unpack the concept of W', your anaerobic battery, and show why the extra effort you should spend climbing or into a headwind is far smaller than instinct suggests.

Whether you are chasing a marathon PB, a Zwift time trial, or simply trying not to blow up halfway, there are practical lessons here to get you to the finish faster. And if you enjoy it, this is only half of the full discussion. The complete version, plus a new Applied show every week, is waiting for you in the supporters club.

Links

• Ross' PhD was on the anticipatory regulation of performance. That is, pacing. This is the main summary article that came out of that PhD and related work
• The physiological regulation of pacing strategy for performance. Another review article from Ross' PhD work
• The Hazard Score, and how RPE interacts with distance remaining to regulate pace, as discussed on the podcast
• The paper that analyses world records and shows the surprising finding that performances have been unlocked with faster starts and smaller endspurts
• Entropy and positive pacing in the 800m. Nice accurate conclusion, the rest, we aren't so sure we understand!

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