I’ve worn a Garmin Forerunner for a long time. Long enough that I should probably know every feature inside and out.
I don’t.
Every season I end up discovering something that’s been sitting on the watch the entire time. Not hidden — just unused. Recently, that feature was the Race Pace strategy.
I had seen it before but never trusted it enough to try in a real race. A marathon is not the place for experimentation. So instead, I signed up for the Atlanta Spring Half Marathon and decided this would be my test run.
What the Race Pace Feature Actually Does
Inside Garmin Connect you can search for the specific race you’re running and load the course onto your watch. Once it’s there, you choose a goal time and then adjust how you want to run it.
You can tell the watch:
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Whether you want a negative split
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How aggressively to attack downhills
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How conservative to be on climbs
From that, the watch generates mile-by-mile pacing targets based on the terrain — not a flat average pace, but a strategy.
That matters more than it sounds.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve stopped trying to force even splits on hilly courses. Even pacing and smart pacing are not the same thing, especially in Atlanta. Running the same pace uphill costs too much energy, and you never get it back.
So I set a 7:00 goal pace, slight negative split, and conservative climbing effort.
Race Morning: Immediate Payoff
The moment the race started, the watch changed how I experienced the course.
Instead of reacting to hills, I anticipated them.
If the upcoming split was slower than goal pace → a climb was coming.
If it was faster → downhill opportunity.
That sounds simple, but it removed a surprising amount of mental effort. Normally you negotiate with the course mile after mile:
Is this hill worth fighting? Am I losing time? Should I push?
Now the decision was already made.
Relax on climbs. Work the descents.
The Accuracy Question
The mile splits weren’t perfectly aligned with the course markers. Likely GPS drift from buildings or slight course measurement differences.
But that didn’t actually matter.
The value wasn’t second-by-second precision.
The value was directional accuracy.
Even when the marker came early or late, I still knew what the next segment demanded — effort or restraint.
And that’s what pacing really is.
The Result
Late in the race I felt good and started pushing the pace. I ended up averaging under 6:50 pace, faster than my original plan.
What impressed me most wasn’t the time — it was the control. Even while speeding up, the strategy still helped because I understood whether I was pushing into a costly mile or a forgiving one.
Instead of fighting the course, I was cooperating with it.
Final Thoughts
Testing this on a hilly Atlanta half marathon was the perfect proving ground, and it passed easily.
I won’t run future goal races without it — especially something like the Flying Pig, where terrain matters more than raw fitness.
Fitness gets you prepared.
Strategy lets you use it.
And apparently my watch knew that long before I did.
