problems with pacing

ntlbell

I'm having a real hard time of it trying to figure out pace.

My problem is I'm running far too slow or far too quick.

I don't use any "gadgets" and was wondering if anyone has any good tips for pacing?

I want to be able to move from 10 min/mile pace to 9min/8/min at will and have a good idea that i'm roughly in or around.

at the moment it's either run at my slowest pace or my quickest i can't seem to find a middle ground and it's getting a bit frustrating.

RoyMcC

Get the gadget, if you really want to be accurate with your pacing.

Or do have you access to a track? Run a mile session, adjusting your pace appropriately at the end of each lap to your target time. You ought then to get an idea of how it feels to run at a particular pace.

But even the best and most experienced runners will not be able to run to an exact pace without checking the watch against distance run.

Peckham

How about just running at a pace where you could hold a conversation. Fitness will come over time when doing that, and eventually the pace at which you can hold a conversation will fall.

Are you pretty confident on the distances you're running? - i.e. are you comparing like with like when comparing miles (i.e. one could be 0.9 miles and one could be 1.1 miles).

ntlbell

Peckham wrote: »

How about just running at a pace where you could hold a conversation. Fitness will come over time when doing that, and eventually the pace at which you can hold a conversation will fall.

Are you pretty confident on the distances you're running? - i.e. are you comparing like with like when comparing miles (i.e. one could be 0.9 miles and one could be 1.1 miles).

I can keep to a comfortable pace ok, my problems start when I want to increase for a few miles.

for example two days a week I do a 5.5 mile run mapped on googlemaps so I hope the mileage is correct and I want to do 2 miles at 8 min pace or there abouts and i find i just end up building up to close to flat out and can't control the pace if i try slow down I end up going back to my normal pace.

the rest of the week i'm doing my LSR or normal runs which i run at my "comfortable pace"

WhitestBoyAlive

On my paced runs (no gadgets) i run by how by how much effort i'm putting in - How heavy i'm breathing

You just have to make sure that you keep the effort consant and not keep second guessing your self

This is the trial and error tactic but you'll be move intune with your body

(and make sure your warmed up - effort levels feel higher in the frist couple miles if the blood and muscles aren't warmed up)

Gadgets -

How Strange

I bought the garmin forerunner 50 with footpod this year and I find it great for pace. I know what my steady, race, lsr paces are and I know if I'm slacking off or going to fast (for an lsr). It's also good for speedwork. I think the set is about €100 or so in runways.

ntlbell

How Strange wrote: »

I bought the garmin forerunner 50 with footpod this year and I find it great for pace. I know what my steady, race, lsr paces are and I know if I'm slacking off or going to fast (for an lsr). It's also good for speedwork. I think the set is about €100 or so in runways.

I keep meaning to buy one the last year, every month something turns up to rob me of it tho

cfitz

I think what you're trying to do is fairly difficult. Switching from one consistent pace to another would probably be difficult enough for a lot of quite experienced runners. It's a pretty nifty thing to be able to do, but I don't think you should be overly concerned with it yet. Judging by your paces, maybe you're biting off more than you can chew with the '5.5 miles with 2 faster miles' - maybe just do the 2 faster miles for a few weeks and see how you get on. You could do the other 3.5 miles another day if you were worried about reducing your mileage.

--amadeus--

I'm assuming you have a basic stopwatch?

Even if I'm running without a gadget I usually have a stopwatch and I run a fairly small set of routes and each one I know roughly the splits. So from my front door to the end of teh bridge is a mile, from there to a certain bend in teh path is another mile and so on. So I can check my pace as I run, even without a Garmin. Over time you'll work out what effort = what pace. Rather than using an online pedometer if you can estimate distances for teh run you'll be better able to verify your pace as you run.

And long term that'll be the answer anyway - experienced runners are (in my experience) pretty good at judging pace by intensity so as you get more and more miles under your belt you'll get better at judging how fast you are going.

The other thing is that the more you run teh more you build a range of speeds. Real novices tend to have one pace that every run is at. As you get more experienced you develop a "fast" pace and a "normal" pace. As your training gets more complex and you develop experience and do races you end up with all teh in between paces (interval, LT, 10k, PMP, LSR etc). Again there is no point forcing it, it'll happen in time.

Gringo78

If you want to go low price gadget, buy a low end heart rate monitor, they can be got for less than €40 and run by heart rate, forget about pace. When you're starting out running pace is always hit and miss to train by, even with a Garmin, as your capability can change rapidly with increased training and weight loss making it difficult to work out what pace you should be training at. With a heart rate monitor, work out your max heart rate once, then work out your training zones and they pretty much don't change. i.e for me, a heart rate of 140 is an easy run, 170 HR is my 10 mile pace. These aren't going to vary by more than a few beats but the pace will change as I get fitter.

ntlbell

--amadeus-- wrote: »

I'm assuming you have a basic stopwatch?

Even if I'm running without a gadget I usually have a stopwatch and I run a fairly small set of routes and each one I know roughly the splits. So from my front door to the end of teh bridge is a mile, from there to a certain bend in teh path is another mile and so on. So I can check my pace as I run, even without a Garmin. Over time you'll work out what effort = what pace. Rather than using an online pedometer if you can estimate distances for teh run you'll be better able to verify your pace as you run.

And long term that'll be the answer anyway - experienced runners are (in my experience) pretty good at judging pace by intensity so as you get more and more miles under your belt you'll get better at judging how fast you are going.

The other thing is that the more you run teh more you build a range of speeds. Real novices tend to have one pace that every run is at. As you get more experienced you develop a "fast" pace and a "normal" pace. As your training gets more complex and you develop experience and do races you end up with all teh in between paces (interval, LT, 10k, PMP, LSR etc). Again there is no point forcing it, it'll happen in time.

I don't actually have a stop watch.

What sort of nerd am i :mad:

I understand what your saying and I'm probably trying to get a bit too fancy too early.

--amadeus--

No stopwatch :eek:

Any cheapo digital watch will have a basic stopwatch on it, if you are trying to get a handle on your pacing from the time elapsed on your kitchen clock or something you'll be trying for a while :P

And I don't think you're getting too technical but if you want to do what you are trying to do effectively you need the tools for teh job.