Pacing, pacing, pacing...it's tricky! Yes, having been a runner for awhile now, I have always heard about the importance of pacing and training at levels that are not 100% all the time. But I never took the time to literally figure out how to pace. Training calendars usually say, run at 75%. Or run at 90% of your marathon pace. Well, I was lazy when it came to this, so I figured I'd run a "slow" pace or a "medium" pace on those runs. Finally, I have enough data to accurately figure out a targeted pace. But by no means have I mastered it. As you will see today, my legs don't know what a certain effort should feel like. So today, when my legs were a bit tired between miles 1 and 2, I should have known I was going to be over the prescribed pace.
Workout: Run 5k at 90% of your 5k PR.
5k PR = 24:15 (Pace: 7:49/mile)
90% = 26:40 (Pace: 8:42/mile)
Actual Run: 24:54 (Pace: 8:08/mile)
*Glancing at my watch on the last stretch was evidence enough that I needed to slow down drastically so that I wouldn't break a PR on this run. But it's impossible to reduce yourself to a shuffle or walk when you've been going a certain pace. So I figured a lesson had been learned, and I'd apply it to my next paced run.
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