Still struggling at dialing in my "easy pace" (Page 2)

My 5K time is about the same as yours. My "easy pace" is 8:30-8:40, my "recovery pace" is 9:00-9:15, my "tempo pace" is 7:20-7:30".

To me "easy pace" is my everyday pace where I just run and don't think about how fast I am running.

400 & 800 repeats based on a very recent 5k in which he had gas left in the tank...at a projected 10k pace from that...very conservative.

Man I have got to follow up to this more quickly, this is hard to answer questions from several different people, but freaking amazing getting all this feedback!

First one I remember: Question to the OP : when you did the 40min test with the 30min all out, did you get a distance on the 30min portion ?
I did and i'm trying to remember...I believe I did 4 miles in that 30 min portion, but I slowed towards the end. I remember my total of the entire 40 being 5 miles, and doing about a 10 min mile warm up.

Regarding the 10k "test" that you've brought up...that was not a test at all. That was actually an easy run, so it was not a typo, it took 58 minutes. The point I was making in referring to that was that a year ago I raced a 10k and did it in about 55 minutes, this weekend I ran an easy 10k and took 3 minutes slower. I don't know what my all out 10k would be. The idea of doing it in 48 minutes sounds so farfetched to me because I've just never imagined being about to run one that fast.

Also, the 5k that I've done has been part of a triathlon, not a stand alone...not sure if that matters at all or not. Maybe I'd be faster in a stand alone? Or maybe not, maybe the cycling warms me up for it, i have no clue.

I didn't have any intention of doing another test, especially with the recent success I'm having by ignoring heart rate. I still look at it after my run, but not during. I'm developing a good sense of when I'm going to hard and pull back a bit. I'm also still walking for about a minute for every 10. That really has helped me deal mentally with long runs, and keeps my breathing in check. Plus I've found that overall I'm faster when I do this, and don't experience the massive slow downs towards the end of the runs. I've had better overall times, and have felt that I could easily do more miles than when I don't walk at all.


Not sure if I missed any questions, i'm sure I have. But right now my goal is to survive the brutal conditions that Louisville is going to dish out so I plan to start doing my long runs in the middle of the day to try and get as used to heat as I can. And I'll probably just stick with the slower runs, with the occasional jumps during. I know I'm enjoying running a lot more now, so that's the biggest battle!

"If it were me, I would figure out the rather large discrepancy between his 5km and 10km times before zeroing in on an interval pace. They really don't jive. "

No, they don't at all and thats something i'm trying to figure out. However, I haven't done a 10k in quite some time. However, since that last 10k, i have done a half ironman where I averaged 9:05 min/miles. (yes, another data point!) That race was about 4 months after the 55 minute 10k I did.

So, clearly my running improved over those months. I'd really like to try and do another 10k race and see if my 10k times have kept pace with my 5k. My 5k's really dropped heavily over last season...going from 25 to 22 by the end of the summer. Some of this may be mental too, because I never thought I had the ability to even run a sub 8, then well, I did. I haven't had a 10k since then with my boosted confidence. I think that really may be the root of the discrepancies between the two distances.

When you did the 21:30 equivalent 5k, was that on your GPS watch or is it what the race told you ?

Personally, I think it's worth zeroing in on your paces if you plan to do interval, threshold or tempo work. If it's for your long runs, much less important.

I think you've answered your own question.

re; running in the heat, heat acclimitization is a physiologic process that is kidn of independant of fitness. Army studies have used 45 minutes of "sweating" for 1-2 weeks and gotten good adaptation that was not furthered with more time in the ehat. Obviously if you're used it mentally that's good as well.

Personally I'd do most of my training in teh cool of teh AM or evening to get good quality training in. Plan to "sweat" 45 minutes a day for 1-2 weeks prior to the race and you should be good to go. Doing some "race simulation" long runs in the heat will be good for that mental component and to practice nutrition & hydration strategies. A heat acclimatized athlete needs more fluids going into the body than a non-acclimatized one. You'll have ot experiment with calories & mineral / electrolyte replacement as well.

Ugh...do you have any idea how difficult that race is!! From what I hear it's one of the most challenging half marathons in the country. Hills galore!

Technically that was an extrapolated time because the run was short by about a quarter mile or so. I was at 19:50 at around 2.85 miles, and I had been getting faster as the race went on, so I was guessing I'd have finished around 21:30. And that was my watch time, which matched the race clock.

Probably won't be doing much interval or threshold work though. But i haven't looked ahead in the training schedule. I'm following the Be Iron Fit intermediate plan, which seems to be nearly all z2 running with occasional z4 intervals mixed in.

That's interesting, I wasn't aware of that. I'd obviously much rather run in the morning, than the heat, and figured the more of it I do the more I'll get used to it. So you're saying I could just do a couple of weeks of that closer to the race and be as acclimatized as I'll ever be?

Thanks again for the advice.

You could try this
http://www.badwater.com/training/webbonheat.html


I find it important to do some runs in the heat just to dial your pace in and get a good feel for how much of a difference there can be. While you have rightfully stopped pacing yourself off HR, look at your HR between two runs, one early AM and the other in the middle of the afternoon.

No but possibly 80-90% acclimated. I just wouldn't advise doing all your training in the heat b/c it will compromise the quality overall. you'll have to see what works for you. Lots of folks are eager to overdo things, no need to with heat.