"I think I can...I think I can...I think I can..."

If you are a runner and participated in a race, you have by now discovered the importance of pacing. Usually it's learned the hard way. You start out too fast and end up wheezing, staggering and praying for the finish line. Sound familiar?
So you learn and hold back in the beginning making it to the finish line without vomiting. WOW! I have arrived! So you become a good conservative runner finishing barely breathing hard. Now what do I do?
Perfecting your pace can be a tricky, but important art. A clock is important to most of us as runners, but inevitably we run more by "feel". We decide to speed up, slow down, or hold steady based on how much 'discomfort' we can manage. Your brain reads whats going on in your cells and tissues and uses that information to get you into a rhythm as you settle into a pace. Learning how these internal sensors work is the key to developing a better pace.
Feelings of fatigue are often just in our head. Our bodies have much more in reserve than our head is telling us. We have to train our mind! Our bodies naturally protect us by anticipating the finish in order to keep us from reaching a failure point before we finish. Our brain receives signals from the body and checks in with all the necessary systems asking, "do we have what we need to perform at this level"? Then your mind adjusts the body accordingly. So how can we prevent the brain from hitting the brakes prematurely?
Experience, experience, experience!!! The more your experience fatigue, the more your body becomes in tune with its limits. This is best done by training at race pace periodically. Negative-split training is a good simulation of this conditioning. Running the second half of your workout faster than the first half will train you to override your mind when it tries to slow you down. This will enable you to say "no" to what your mind is trying to tell you from the signals your body is sending.
Learn to read these signals and override them by pushing through to the finish. So when you hear the coach yelling "push", set your mind on the finish line and you can slow down when you finish :)