Over the last few weeks I have had a few runners ask me
about pacing and ways to improve pacing. My sense of pacing is pretty good
these days but I have had 30 years of practice.
My sense of pace has evolved to the point that I will confidently bet
anyone $100 on any day that I can run within .5 seconds of 75 secs for 400m on
a track. I just know how it feels from
years of experience. 37/38 thru
200m. 5 min mile so 1.15, 2.30, 3.45, 5
min if I were to carry it out thru the mile.
I do not expect this article to fix all your pacing issues you might have
but I do think there are some ideas in here that should help to improve your
pacing.
Why do I care about pace?
Inexperienced
runners make a few mistakes that have less to do with their fitness and more to
do with not knowing how to run smart.
Running tangents is 1 mistake but that is a topic for another day. Working harder than you need to because your
pacing is erratic is the mistake I am looking to help you correct in this
article.
1) Most
inexperienced runners start off way too fast.
If they are capable of an 8 min mile, they start off at 6 min pace. They feel “great” not recognizing they have a
full 5k to race. As a result, after
running the first mile in 6 min, they do not feel so hot anymore and end up at
a much slower pace and ultimately do not sustain the 8 min average over the
course of the race. You get no credit for a stellar 2 mile time in a 5k
race. The only time that matters is the
full 5k finish time.
2) Inexperienced
runners tend to over-adjust. If they are
off pace, they will surge and trying to make up all the lost time as quickly as
possible. This wastes a ton of
unnecessary energy. Think of a car. If you go 0-60 as fast as you can, your car
works really hard and burns a lot of gas.
If you gradually build towards 60, it is less stress on your vehicle and
burns less gas. Your body operates in a
similar fashion.
Running at a
pace that is within your capabilities helps you reach the finish line in the
most efficient manner. Why torture
yourself with a pace that is unreasonable the first part of the run only to
hold on for dear life the 2nd half of the run? Wouldn’t it make much
more sense to run at an even pace that feels much better to your body? You get to the finish line in the same amount
of time either way but via pacing, you get there a lot easier.
2 examples
of races where pacing has substantial benefits. The 3200m track race (metric 2
mile) is a terrific event for pacing. No
matter what your competition is doing, if you hit your 400m splits each lap
then chances are you have put yourself in position to do well for the last 800m
to have a good race time and beat your competition. I believe the marathon is another excellent
event for pacing. The marathon is about
how many miles you can sustain a given pace.
You want to get to a point in your training where you can click off that
pace for miles upon miles.
The curse of the GPS Watch
Within the
last 10 years, GPS watches have been introduced which are good and bad for
pacing. They are good because you can
get instant feedback. They are bad
because runners tend to rely on the GPS rather than the nature feel of a
pace. Runners with GPS tend to over
adjust a lot as well. They will glance
down, see they are off and start picking up the pace or slowing down until the
pace is visibility back to where they want it to be on the GPS. This results in unnecessary surges and slowdowns
rather than smoother pickups, slowdowns if you adjust over the course of a full
mile. Runners also tend to constraint themselves to a particular pace they have
established for themselves with the GPS when the weather conditions, course or
how you feel that day dictates a different pace. Also, GPS watches are not always
accurate. On a trail with lots of turns,
they are rarely accurate. They are not
accurate on a track especially if you are moving fast because you are turning
too much to get an accurate read. On a normal run, a GPS can be with +-5 sec
per mile accurate which if you learn to pace effectively, you can accomplish on
your own. For road races, often the
course is longer on your GPS (there are lots of blogs/articles as to why so I
won’t get into that). So if you rely
just on your GPS rather than the mile markers on the course, there is a good
chance you will not be on the right pace you have targeted for the event you
are in. As an example, a couple years
ago I was running 6.10 pace for the Toronto marathon as I had planned. Since it was the first time I had raced with
a GPS, I made the mistake of not realizing the GPS measured the course as 26.5
instead of 26.2. I was close to a PR on
my GPS thru what it thought was 26.2 but since the finish line was not there,
it doesn’t count.
Learning to Pace
So how do
you learn to pace? A good starting point
is a 400m oval track found at most high schools or colleges. The
second best option is a route with mile markers. McMullen greenway, Mallard Creek Greenway and
Mcalpine Greenway all come to mind as good places if you can’t find a track
here in Charlotte NC.
Let’s say
you are capable of 8 minute miles. Break
that down to 400m so you are down to 2 min per lap on the track. You can break that down to 1 min per
200m. Start your run and take a peek at
the 200m. If you are around 1 min,
great. If you are a bit over or under,
remember how it felt to run the first 200m and try to run a bit slower or
faster for the next segment.
At the 400m,
check that you are on track for 2 min.
Make the same adjustments but this time, try not to check the pace until
800m. Basically, try to get to checking
every 400m. I recommend hitting your lap
split on your watch each 400m if you are measuring by the 400m. Trying to calculate math in your head as you
run because more challenging than you would think especially once you start to
get tired. Once you
feel like you have locked in the feel, try checking every 800m and then every
mile.
Tips for Maintaining your Pace
1) If your route is hilly, being 5-10 sec off on a hilly
mile vs. a flat mile is minor and expected deviation. If you try to maintain the same 8 min pace on
an uphill segment, you are working much harder.
There is a good chance on this same course, it will get smoothed out by
a downhill portion where you can go 7.45 to offset for example an 8.15.
2) High school cross country runners are notorious
for this but it happens at all levels.
The gun goes off at a race and the first 400m is like a mad sprint! It is ok to establish yourself in the race
especially if you are a front runner and you are on a course that narrows
quickly. But, you have to remember you get zero credit in this sport for
running half, ¾ or even 90% of the race well.
It’s not like football or basketball where you accumulate points vs your
opponent and then can glide the last part of the race. If you are racing at 5k, the entire 5k counts
so therefore you need to plan to pace yourself thru it. Run aggressive the first 400m but do not get
carried away and instead use all the folks going by you as motivation to catch
them as the race progresses.
3) Be aware of your surrounds. Again, if you have raced in town and have
some friends and rivals in a race, if folks that are usually faster than you
are in front of you, you probably should not be in front of them unless you are
having a stellar day. Vice versa..if there is someone you usually beat in a
race, you should be in front of them.
4) Use pace calculators. Cool Runnings is good for multiple
distances. You can tinker with a
specific finish time or a specific pace.
The other link is my favorite for tinkering with half marathon and full
marathon paces. In the 8 min pace
example I have been using, your goal 5k time will be 24.51. 8 min,16 min, 24 min, 51 sec.
5) Build towards your goal pace. You may ultimately be targeting 8 min miles for your half marathon but 12 weeks before you race is it reasonable to click off 8 min miles? Probably not. Your fitness is most likely not there yet. Try 8.15 pace then after a few weeks, 8.10, 8.05,etc. The other approach is slowly add more distance to running at that pace. 12 weeks out maybe you run 2 miles at that pace towards the end of your long run. 8 weeks out, you are able to maintain 4 miles at that pace.
6) Practice paces a bit faster than goal pace. Push yourself and see how it feels to maintain a pace faster than your goal pace. This will not only stretch you but might help make your actual goal pace feel a bit more comfortable on race day because you have gone faster.
6) Practice paces a bit faster than goal pace. Push yourself and see how it feels to maintain a pace faster than your goal pace. This will not only stretch you but might help make your actual goal pace feel a bit more comfortable on race day because you have gone faster.
Summary
Do not be a
slave to the pace! While targeting a
pace is smart running, how you feel, weather conditions, and course conditions
can have a major influence on a run.
Some days, these influences will throw your pace way off. In these situations, I encourage runners to
give it the same effort as if they were running their goal pace but be less
concerned about the actual pace because it is a bit beyond your control. If you know me at all, I always preach having
fun! Certainly improving your pace can
help make you a better runner but don’t get pre-occupied with it. Remember to enjoy running.
Happy
Running!!!
