Train by numbers, race by feel!

Numbers are for guidance in a race - if you use them at all.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

This is a good rule, but obviously racing on feel relies on your experience of racing. I personally try to use all the data at my disposal to set my pace, usually following the rule feel > pace > heart rate.

So generally start out at an effort that feels hard but sustainable and check that the pace numbers are sensible given your training data. After one km, even if I feel like crap and am running slowly, if my heart rate says I'm still in Z2 I'll try to push the pace and hope I feel better (or at least not feel any worse) once I settle into it; similarly if I'm way into Z4, dial it back a bit at least for the first half of the run. Running to a set pace or heart rate and ignoring all other factors would just be ridiculous.

+1

I feel HR maybe a bit over Pace "initially". Don't let the HR creep up to red-line levels in the first 1-2k. But most runs I feel aren't pan flat, so pace can generally be iffy. What if the first 2k are uphill, or downhill?

Feel can be great, just really try to train yourself to intially run "slower" by feel than you will run overall. More than likely you're on the right pace/effort rather than going way too hard.

Good luck!

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Carson Christen
Sport Scientist / Coach
Torden Multisport

In Oly and Sprints I tend to set of a kind of upper bounds with HR. i.e.

"Don't go past 165 in first 2km"

is a common one. But overall I just push as hard as I can sustain. If you have any concept of your body it is fairly hard to blow up in a 5k/10k (outside of butchering the first little bit and setting a bad pace for the entire event)

I record HR during races, but never look at it. Through training and race experience I have a pretty good idea of what pace I can hold. If I'm struggling to hold a pace I know I should be holding, then it's a hard day and I think about contingencies like slowing down. If my expected pace feels easy, then I will use pace to keep myself in check and not push too hard until later in the race. If I were in a position where I expected to be challenging for a podium spot, I'd probably feel differently about that last bit.

I would expect pace to be better in the first ~2km since it is more reliable than a HR that is probably climbing. At a 10km race in March, it took 4km for my HR to really settle at a constant. I guess generally, it's this lag that puts me off using HR more than I do. I didn't have a HRM on during my last Olympic.

And finally, since the results don't rank you based on HR, pace wins again!

Cheers!

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Munq

Ones finish time

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

You can be more aggressive in an Oly - I tend to use HR both both bike/run, but i will definitely unleash the pace if I'm feeling good on the run, and unleash early. I've been burned by that approach on HIM, so I don't unleash in HIM until the final 6 miles of the run, and by then, I have a pretty good sense of what's going down.

Personally I train with heart rate and race by pace. But that works for me. I know coming off the bike in a Sprint or Oly what I can do. After a few years of heart rate training I know what it feels like when my heart rate is too high.

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Ian

Feel & pace combo

Train by pace and race by feel and pace combined. Whether a triathlete or single sport runner I have athletes race by feel and check their pace at predetermine increments (depends on the athlete's mentality/what they are comfortable with and the race) to assess where they are vs perceived effort. That said, by the time the race rolls around athletes have a good sense of what different paces feel like through training.

It's a 10k. You should be going HARD. It should suck.

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"Just don’t abandon everything you’ve ever learned because of something someone said on the internet." - Eric McGinnis

If your pace is 6:30-6:15 you shouldn't be using Pace or Heart Rate. You should be just trying to go faster than your competition.

Try racing without anything, not even a watch and see how you do. During training see how you feel and compare it to your numbers. A lot of people PR when they just run by feel

I forget who said it but it was something like
During an IM run at a pace that you want to go faster
During a HIM you should feel uncomfortable
During an Olympic you should feel like you are to stop
During a sprint you should feel like you want to die

Love it and it's pretty accurate.

But the last few miles of an oly, I try to go into red as long as I can.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

pace will dictate HR, not the only thing but if it's high and you slow down your HR will drop.

You should search the forum for the Hr/power arguments. Same thing.

Ultimately though running fast is what gets you to the finish line the fastest so I'll vote pace while I vote for PRE as well.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta