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How to Avoid Blowing Up with Correct Pacing

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Pacing in endurance sport is one of the most essential aspects of performance. Regardless of your ability, if you start the race beyond your level of fitness you will slow down at the end. The severity of how much you slow down (blow up) will depend on the race duration and how far beyond your ability you went at the start. Heat and Glycogen: Two Factors Slowing You Down In some cases, the amount you slow down may be so drastic you are forced to stop. Blowing up can occur for two reasons. Heat:. You can only handle small variations in core temperature (97 °F (36.1 °C) to 99 °F (37.2 °C)). If you accumulate heat at a rate faster than your body can cool itself, you'll be forced to slow down to avoid heat illness. Sugar: As humans, we can only store a few 100 grams of glycogen (sugar) in our muscles and liver. We use glycogen aerobically and anaerobically as a high octane fuel for situations where fat can’t be used to produce energy fast enough. Starting too fast can us