Running a race is some sort of a project management.

You need to plan your route well. As quoted by Steven Convey – You need to have the end in mind. Thus you need to plan for several multiple milestones with certain timing. Each time you hit your race milestone; you should maintain your running momentum and aim for the next milestone. After you hit your 5km mark, aim for the next 10km mark. Do not slow down and lose the momentum.
Meeting milestone after another milestone and you will be able to complete the race swiftly and satisfactorily in no time. There will be times for you to slow down the pace or take a break and get a sip of water. However the momentum should not be slowed down.

Similarly, project managers should start their planning and hit the various milestones swiftly. Once the milestone is achieved, then the team should be looking forward to achieve the next milestone more aggressively. Aim to achieve various activities and start to clear them quickly so as to meet the next milestone and eventually finish the whole project.

However, many project teams that I knew started the project very well and aggressively. When they hit or achieved the major milestone, they started to slow down the tempo and getting more complacent with their achievement. As a result, the team faced many unknown issues and unplanned time delayed. Thus a Project Manager should be alert at all times and encourage the team to be vigilant for any unplanned issues and risks.

The project quality will be at stake, if such things not taken care of.