15 replies to this topic

[Morgs]

Hi,  I apologise in advance if this question has been asked and answered (I couldn't find it though)  I've followed a training program, and now a week out from the HM, I've realised, "Do I run at the "easy" pace?" No-one told me what my race pace is/should be/or how do I know what it should be?  Or should i just know? (cause I don't).  Thanks

[Bellthorpe]

What times have you done in shorter races?

[vat]

What Bellthorpe said.  Also, you'll be able to get a rough idea from your speeds in training - you'll typically be a bit faster than those.  The guesswork is how much.  Your profile says you did a 2:03 in a half back on April 3 - you'd probably expect to see a bit of an improvement over that time, if only from getting a better feel for the distance.

That said, race pace is one of the great mysteries in running.  It's one thing to say "I can do X, I should be capable of Y", quite another thing to do it.  Sometimes you run Y, sometimes you take longer than Y, and then, occasionally you run faster than Y.

[Morgs]

Bellthorpe, on 22 April 2011 - 11:31 AM, said:

What times have you done in shorter races?

I run 10ks between 53 - 59 mins
12 ks anywhere from 1:13 to 1:18
15 1:27 and
21 in 2:03

I am very confused at this "race pace" pace.

[TheRuns]

Ok your race pace, as far as I can gather from your question, would see you complete a HM in 2:03. SO your race pace would be 5:50 per km. Most of the time I follow any program, the race paces are specified by distance eg 10K pace, HM pace etc. I am by no means an experienced runner, but I believe the pace difference between 10k and HM would probably be something like 10-20 sec/km. My most recent 10k was 44:49, my most recent HM was 1:38:22. My 10k pace was 4:27 or so, HM pace was 4:40 something. So race pace depends on distance.

You don't run at easy pace, you don't run at long run pace. Your pace will be closest to tempo pace (or whatever the program calls it). I think the last program I followed (a pretty simple one) gave my tempo pace as 4:43. My HM pace wasn't far off that.

Once you have a new race under your belt, all the other training times should be adjusted accordingly.

I hope the above clears seomthing up for you. Good luck in your race!

[Bellthorpe]

I didn't realise you'd already done a HM, and so recently.

Only you would know if you can run your next one faster, based on how hard your previous one was. If it left you almost dead on the pavement, you probably can't. If you finished waving to the crowd, you can.

So let's say that you aim to do a little better, 1:59.

Divide that by 21.1, that gives you 5:38 per kilometre. That's your race pace.

Or have I misunderstood the question?

[Jimmy4990]

Morgs, on 22 April 2011 - 10:52 AM, said:

Hi,  I apologise in advance if this question has been asked and answered (I couldn't find it though)  I've followed a training program, and now a week out from the HM, I've realised, "Do I run at the "easy" pace?" No-one told me what my race pace is/should be/or how do I know what it should be?  Or should i just know? (cause I don't).  Thanks

http://www.exrx.net/...Calculator.html
I recently decided what race pace I wanted & then did 100's of k's in varying intervals at that pace. Worked for me so I am thinking it can work for you also. Your current half pace is about 5.50p/km Why not learn to run at 5.40p/km and your new half PB will be sub 2:00 . Also just incase you are unsure. Your 'race pace" is a variable depending on the distance. i.e most people have a faster 10k race pace than marathon race pace.

Edited by Jimmy4990, 22 April 2011 - 01:18 PM.

[TheRuns]

Bellthorpe, on 22 April 2011 - 12:58 PM, said:

Or have I misunderstood the question?

I don't think so. The point behind race pace that the OP needs to realize is that it is a desired (yet realistic) pace.

[Morgs]

Thankyou!!!!!!!!   No one misunderstood my question and you have ALL been incredibly helpful and have given me great advice/help.  My first HM wasn't great, it was a terrible run and prior to starting the race my goal was to finish and to use the run as my long run for the week, and I had no idea what I was doing.   Thankyou all once again.

[sammo72]

'morgs', i have very similar times to you and currently run my half at between 1:50 and 1:55.
it all depends how fast i go out and how i pace myself during the early stages. my 1:50 was almost an exact split, but my 1:55 was a massive blow-out.

if you are aiming for a sub 2hr, as 'bellthorpe' detailed, start off at a 5:38 pace and hold on for as long as you can.
and if you feel good after 15kms, try and pick it up.

if there is a marathon at the same event, you could always stick with the 4hr marathon pacer for the first section until you get comfortable.

what event are you running at ???

[Morgs]

Sammo,  I hope to run next weekend Geelong Half, and then GOR half two weeks after.  It will depend on my toublesome achilles.  I'd like to do these two runs then rest the achilles ( I know it should be the other way around but I've been working so hard just to get the distance)  But I have actually no idea how you "actually run the HM"  everyone puts a lot of emphasis on times, splits etc... So, I'm just really learning from others and forums such as this, as I go along.  In all honesty just running that distance for me is a HUGE accomplishment.

thanks for the reply!

[NKOTB]

Morgs, on 23 April 2011 - 03:03 PM, said:

Sammo,  I hope to run next weekend Geelong Half, and then GOR half two weeks after.  It will depend on my toublesome achilles.  I'd like to do these two runs then rest the achilles ( I know it should be the other way around but I've been working so hard just to get the distance)  But I have actually no idea how you "actually run the HM"  everyone puts a lot of emphasis on times, splits etc... So, I'm just really learning from others and forums such as this, as I go along.  In all honesty just running that distance for me is a HUGE accomplishment.

thanks for the reply!

Morgs,
I am not sure what you have in terms of timing device. A lot of people have their Garmin watch which will give them the km time split. ie the time you took to run the last km. So if they are aiming to do a certain overall time, say 1:45 hour for the HM then they will need to do average 5 min/km. Given your recent HM time and you weren't smashed after that, why not go for sub 2 hours. Here's a simple approach. To do sub 2hr you need to roughly run 28 minutes per 5km. So at the first 5km mark you should be at about 28 minutes (hopefully not much faster), 56 minutes at the 10km,......1:52 at the 20km. You only need a stop watch and remember the 5km splits. Hope that helps. The only other advise I have is to ensure you don't start too fast, if you can check your time at the 2 km mark and ideally it should be around 12 minutes. Make sure you are not breathing too heavily in the early stage of the HM as that will indicate you are going a bit too fast which will make for an unpleasant finish.

New_Kid

[racer]

Morgs, on 22 April 2011 - 10:52 AM, said:

Hi,  I apologise in advance if this question has been asked and answered (I couldn't find it though)  I've followed a training program, and now a week out from the HM, I've realised, "Do I run at the "easy" pace?" No-one told me what my race pace is/should be/or how do I know what it should be?  Or should i just know? (cause I don't).  Thanks

I would race to how U feel on the day - don't wear a watch cause that just places limitations on you on the day - work it out "on the run" - start the race by running to a pace that U FEEL U could last the whole distance, then increase your pace to something slightly faster (as most people tend to be conservative in their estimates of what they can really do) and see how U go: this will most likely be your threshhold or tempo pace - in my whole racing career I have never worn a watch and its stood me in good stead - Having said all that, I also use a general (& conservative) rule of thumb for 1/2 marathons - 10k split should be about 7% slower than your PB 10k and this pace should be able to be maintained to the end - so based on your PB of 53 mins U should go thru the 10K split in about 56.43, (1hr 59 min 40 secs pace for 1/2 marathon)- good luck & don't forget to rest up

[Quinkin]

I race mostly by feel, and the race pace usually looks sfter itself. For a half marathon I hold back the first the 5km and tell myself the race doesn't really start until after half way. Early on if runners are going too fast I let them go either they are better than me, or I will run over the top of them in the last half of the race.

[Pink Lady]

I get the idea of 'race-pace' but to me that does not suggest that I ought to be running at the same pace every km.
Well to be honest I can't do that anyway.
My pace varies enourmously depending on the terrain. Up-hill I am slow so down-hill I like to stretch out and enjoy the ease of the moment. Therefore my 'race-pace' is inevetibly an average that i would like to achieve overall - calculated as suggested by several knowledgeable runners in previous entries in this discussion.

Having said that - perhaps I am doing it wrong.PL

[fluidmoves]

Although i have not completed a HM yet and so cannnot speak from personal point of view in terms of race time.  My work collegue who is helping me put together my running program for the next 5 months for the Melbourne HM is a very experieced Runner, Triathlete and ultra marathoner. Today i showed him this website
http://www.mcmillanr...gcalculator.htm
It was the first time he has seen it and we tried it out based on his best 10k time both his HM and Marathon paces were within a minute or so of the estimated times. He was very impressed with it and will be using it to help some of the other people he works with. He also loved it for the Training pacers etc that the calculator estimates out and they were spot on in the sense of the times he was telling me i need to be doing earlier in the week to train for my HM later in the year based on my 10k time and recent runs in R4K and puffing Billy Run. I originally found it after someone posted on  a forum on here somewhere. hope you find it useful.