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Pacing Yourself
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 2010-05-04 1:47 PM |
Member 170  |  Subject: Pacing YourselfOk so I have learned that I have a serious problem with pacing myself. I thought i should be able to go as hard as i can for as long as i want wondering why i was getting burnt out between 2 and 3 miles. Now i have never been really a long distance runner because the army says hey if u can do 2 miles in x amount of time then your good. I have ran long distance before not evne thast long probably max between 5-7 miles but has never been at my own pace (stupid group runs). Anyway so after talking to a few people here on BT they told me I need to SLOW down. So today i got on the treadmil and instead of running at 7.5 the whole time i just stayed at 7.0 and ran 3.5 miles instead of 2 or 3. My question is how long should I stay at this pace and distance? How do I know when I can increase pace and distance? Will it just come natural? And when you guys train do you usually run the same distance or do you incorporate shorter runs and hten longer runs? Sorry for all the questions just trying to figure this whole running thing out for myself. |
| 2010-05-04 2:17 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
Champion 7550    Albuquerque, New Mexico Bronze member | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Depends on your goals. It's easy to get caught up running the same (reasonably comfortable) pace for every run. If you're following a plan, how much detail does it give? If you're just running because you like running, or consider running the most effective way to burn excess calories, that's OK too. Long-STEADY-Distance (the weekly "long run") should be as easy as needed to stay consistent the whole time. Tempo/Intervals are the gut-check runs. |
| 2010-05-04 2:48 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
| Member 170 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Well I enjoy running...but I have never done it much of a long distance and I would love to get to the point where i can run 10-13 miles but i just dont know how to get there. Obviously I just cant go out and run it in one shot but im just wondering when i do run how long should i stay at one distance for? Im in decent shape so im not compltely starting from scratch. I just want to know whats a typical run week like for someone who does OLY'S or sprint tris even? |
| 2010-05-04 3:01 PM in reply to: #2836548 |
Pro 6767 the Alabama part of Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself I'm not sure there is such a thing as a "typical week". Some people like to train to their strengths, some to their weaknesses. Like Mcfuzz said, you have to consider your goals. If it is to increase endurance, I would make sure you have at least one long slow run each week. Remember to increase runs by no more than 10-15% each week. In practice, this means if you run 10 miles this week (e.g. 3 runs of 3-4 miles apiece), next week you can do 11 miles (say, two 3 mile days and a longer 5 mile). I tend to train by time, rather than distance. When I was doing this more regularly (15 years ago), I would just head out for my long run day and go for and hour or so in one direction, then turn around and head back (like Forrest Gump). I don't run so far anymore, since I blew out my ACL 10 years ago, but I still like that approach - I have a trail that runs near my home all the way into Philadelphia if I wanted, which is perfect for that kind of running. By going for time instead of distance, it is easier to pace yourself, since you should be able to say whether you could keep up at your pace for x minutes more, rather than distance which on an unmarked trail or roadway is harder to guesstimate on the fly. Edited by gearboy 2010-05-04 3:02 PM |
| 2010-05-04 3:01 PM in reply to: #2836548 |
Champion 10018 , Minnesota Bronze member | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself I really recommend that you look at using a prescribed training plan. You can find plans on this site or elsewhere. The plans will describe how much and when to run, and what the goal of the run should be (among other things). If you aren't ready for a triathlon plan, you could look at a 10k plan - which would get you ready for the Oly distance run for sure. This might be a good idea if you don't have a triathlon planned for a long while and are interested in just building your base. I really like Hal Higdon's plans, because he has different ones for different types of runners and he defines all terms. 10K plans (and others): http://www.halhigdon.com/#10k The more advanced plans describe more advanced runs, like tempo, speedwork, etc. But if you're new to the distance stuff I'd start with a beginner plan. I know you're away, from other posts, and you could even throw yourself your own little running race. Start a plan and at the end do a timed run. Also, you can use the McMillan running calculator to see your speeds. Take a recent "race distance" run and plug it in. That will show you the amazing ranges you need to consider running in during training. It might be an eye opener: http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm (scroll down to get to actual calculator). Good luck! Edited by BikerGrrrl 2010-05-04 3:02 PM |
| 2010-05-04 3:02 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
Extreme Veteran 465 Atlanta, GA | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Most people say increase your mileage by no more than 10% per week. I would defer to Scout on this. He seems to be the resident running guru. |
| 2010-05-04 3:24 PM in reply to: #2836595 |
| Member 170 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself BikerGrrrl - 2010-05-04 3:01 PM I really recommend that you look at using a prescribed training plan. You can find plans on this site or elsewhere. The plans will describe how much and when to run, and what the goal of the run should be (among other things). If you aren't ready for a triathlon plan, you could look at a 10k plan - which would get you ready for the Oly distance run for sure. This might be a good idea if you don't have a triathlon planned for a long while and are interested in just building your base. I really like Hal Higdon's plans, because he has different ones for different types of runners and he defines all terms. 10K plans (and others): http://www.halhigdon.com/#10k
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| 2010-05-04 3:26 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
Runner | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Firstly, what's your current 2 mile time? If you're doing about 16:00 (8:00 pace) for that, you need to be running the majority of your runs at around 9:30 - 10:00 per mile pace. Secondly, as to building volume, it's what works for you. You have a basic level of fitness. Now you need to cultivate and grow it. Let's say you're running 3x week now, with about 2-3 miles per run. First thing I would do is add another run, for about the same distance as the others. Now you're up to a minimum of 8 miles a week, almost all of it at a steady, comfortable effort. If you're huffing and puffing, you're going too hard. If you can sing cadence, you're going at the right pace. Give that schedule a week or two, then see if you can add in a fifth run, same pace. Now you're up to 10 miles, still almost all comfortable. After a week or two at that, see how you feel. Any sharp aches/pains? Are you able to get through the runs without too much difficulty? If you can, take two of those runs a week, and add 1-2 miles on them. Now you're up to around 12-14 miles a week. Hold that volume for another two weeks. Add another couple miles onto those two runs. So that means you have 3 runs at 2-3 miles, and 2 runs at 4-6. Repeat this process, adding miles to those two runs, or adding miles to the other runs. Any one run should be no more than 30% (give or take a few) of total weekly volume. If you like, you can do one of the shorter runs as a moderate effort. NOT 2 MILE RACE EFFORT. Moderate. Harder than cadence run, not as hard as PT test run. Hope that helps. |
| 2010-05-04 3:32 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
| Member 170 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Do you think it is better to focus one or the other..time or distance> or can you work at both ive been told that if you add distance to you runs then the speed will just come |
| 2010-05-04 3:44 PM in reply to: #2836683 |
Runner | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself italiantp3 - 2010-05-04 4:32 PM Do you think it is better to focus one or the other..time or distance> or can you work at both ive been told that if you add distance to you runs then the speed will just come I think that you can measure both, but only concern yourself with one. You should be concerned with tracking volume (time OR distance), and effort (pace, perceived exertion, or heart rate). I like distance and RPE, but I will do time and RPE as well depending on the time of year. In my example, I did miles, but that is more because of habit than anything else. I could have easily said 20-30 minutes rather than 2-3 miles. One is no better than the other. Speed will come with patience and practice. The more time you give yourself, the more improvement you will see. The more practice you get (the more often you run), the more improvement you will see. I strongly advocate for lots of running at easier efforts, with a few harder efforts mixed in, because I have seen the effects first-hand, and there are lots of people who have as well. |
| 2010-05-04 4:07 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
Champion 19812 MA | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Listen to Scout his advice will help you. I made big gains by running more often. I went from running 3x a week for 4 years, last year I did 4x a week sometimes 5, this year built up to mostly 5x a week mostly easy some harder. For me running more often has improved my durability and also my ability to pace myself. I was quite pleased at my last tri when I negative split the run slightly and all 4 of my laps were within 40 seconds of each other for 3.4 miles...to me that comes from running more often. |
| 2010-05-04 4:19 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
| Member 170 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Thanks ya i think I like the idea of saying im going to run x amount of minutes and not worry about how many miles i get in those minutes and hopefully ill see improvements..my biggest weakness right now is pacing myself i tend to start off to hard which doesnt allow me to go furhter but maybe if i have in my mind that im going to run for a hr ill slow down |
| 2010-05-04 4:45 PM in reply to: #2836830 |
| Lafayette, CO | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself italiantp3 - 2010-05-04 3:19 PM Thanks ya i think I like the idea of saying im going to run x amount of minutes and not worry about how many miles i get in those minutes and hopefully ill see improvements..my biggest weakness right now is pacing myself i tend to start off to hard which doesnt allow me to go furhter but maybe if i have in my mind that im going to run for a hr ill slow down Good for you! I can tell you're really working hard to reprogram your brain here and it's not easy. Especially not with the Army mentality and not wanting to show any weakness to your buddies. I find that when I need to stop pushing myself time is the right mentality for me. Saying I'm just running for 30 minutes means I'm out there for the exact same amount of time no matter how hard I push. If you say 3 miles your brain thinks if I push harder and go faster I'm done sooner. Good luck and stay safe! |
| 2010-05-04 6:45 PM in reply to: #2836874 |
| Member 170 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself Good for you! I can tell you're really working hard to reprogram your brain here and it's not easy. Especially not with the Army mentality and not wanting to show any weakness to your buddies. I find that when I need to stop pushing myself time is the right mentality for me. Saying I'm just running for 30 minutes means I'm out there for the exact same amount of time no matter how hard I push. If you say 3 miles your brain thinks if I push harder and go faster I'm done sooner. Good luck and stay safe! lol you hit it right on the DOT. I do that all the time when im runnign esp on the tread mil i say ok 3 miles well shoot the harder i run it the sooner its over with but that mentality isnt going to get me past 3 miles sooooo im going to try and flip it and say i have to run for x amount minutes adn we will see how many miles i do |
| 2010-05-04 8:00 PM in reply to: #2837068 |
Master 2406 Bellevue, WA | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself italiantp3 - 2010-05-04 4:45 PM lol you hit it right on the DOT. I do that all the time when im runnign esp on the tread mil i say ok 3 miles well shoot the harder i run it the sooner its over with but that mentality isnt going to get me past 3 miles sooooo im going to try and flip it and say i have to run for x amount minutes adn we will see how many miles i do All my workouts are by time, not distance. There is no such thing as "go harder to get done sooner". I have a target pace or a given set of intervals or whatever to do during that time, but there's no shortcut. An hour run is an hour run, whether it's a 7:45 race pace run or a 9:30 easy run. Works for me. BTW, a friend of mine is ex-Army, a high school football player and a kid's coach today, and he just CANNOT slow it down. He's had two knee surgeries and ankle problems, yet still hammers out a 21 min 5K once or twice a week. I've tried to get him to go for a longer, slower run but his idea of running is always "as hard as you possibly can to reach the finish line, almost puking while gasping for air". That's not the right approach to anything longer than a 5K, and even for that it's probably not good. Edited by brucemorgan 2010-05-04 8:06 PM |
| 2010-05-04 8:10 PM in reply to: #2836386 |
Veteran 126 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself italiantp3 - 2010-05-04 11:47 AM(stupid group runs). My knees are proof group runs suck. Slow down to get faster. |
| 2010-05-04 8:49 PM in reply to: #2837068 |
| Lafayette, CO | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself italiantp3 - 2010-05-04 5:45 PM lol you hit it right on the DOT. I do that all the time when im runnign esp on the tread mil i say ok 3 miles well shoot the harder i run it the sooner its over with but that mentality isnt going to get me past 3 miles sooooo im going to try and flip it and say i have to run for x amount minutes adn we will see how many miles i do I told you I'm working with my Army friend. I know what you're thinking! So, I am going to urge you for awhile to try not to look at how far you get in that time. With treadmill running that's really tough as you have to set a pace and there's a digital read out but try. You can come back to distance later. I LOVE my Thursday recovery runs because I go out and run totally by time and don't think of distance at all. It's just an easy run. I often try to pick a new trail just so that I don't know the distances in my head and while I do gather the info on my Garmin I don't judge my pace on these runs. It's all by RPE and I keep it at about a 4. |
| 2010-05-05 7:25 PM in reply to: #2837224 |
| Member 170 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself BTW, a friend of mine is ex-Army, a high school football player and a kid's coach today, and he just CANNOT slow it down. He's had two knee surgeries and ankle problems, yet still hammers out a 21 min 5K once or twice a week. I've tried to get him to go for a longer, slower run but his idea of running is always "as hard as you possibly can to reach the finish line, almost puking while gasping for air". That's not the right approach to anything longer than a 5K, and even for that it's probably not good. that made me laugh! thats so true tho the army just drills that into us from basic traning and then when you do group runs they are NEVER slow no matter what the distance is its always a fast run between 7 min and 8 min mile pace then you look bad if you fall out so everyone has the go hard or go home mentality..im learning slowly but surely to try and slow down and hten when i have to run with army people i guess ill have to "go hard or go home" ahhh |
| 2010-05-05 7:28 PM in reply to: #2837320 |
| Member 170 | Subject: RE: Pacing Yourself I told you I'm working with my Army friend. I know what you're thinking! So, I am going to urge you for awhile to try not to look at how far you get in that time. With treadmill running that's really tough as you have to set a pace and there's a digital read out but try. You can come back to distance later. I LOVE my Thursday recovery runs because I go out and run totally by time and don't think of distance at all. It's just an easy run. I often try to pick a new trail just so that I don't know the distances in my head and while I do gather the info on my Garmin I don't judge my pace on these runs. It's all by RPE and I keep it at about a 4. your right running on the treadmil its hard not to pay attention to distance but i been covering it with a towel and hten i just peak every now and again...i have to suck it up and get outside it just sucks cuz its really rocky terrain |
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