I have an olympic distance race in a couple of weeks and I’m trying to determine the best pace to target for the run. The run is totally flat and non-technical. I did a training run on part of the course today to see where I’m at – 6 miles as 1 mile easy, 3 miles at what I think might be a bit faster than race pace, 1 mile easy, and then 1 mile at a bit faster than race pace again. These were the times:
mile 1 - 8:53, avg HR 135
mile 2 - 6:54, avg HR 166
mile 3 - 6:52, avg HR 171
mile 4 - 6:56, avg HR 174
mile 5 - 9:21, avg HR 148
mile 6 - 6:52, avg HR 170
I think my max HR running is 190 or so but I’m not sure. Anyway, looking at these numbers I’m guessing a target pace of around 7:05 for the 10K with an option to increase after mile 4 if I feel good. What say the running experts here on slowtwitch? Too fast? Too slow? Any other suggestions for calculating a good target pace are welcome.
I would start at 7:15 and try to hang on.
Add 10% to your open 10k pace and that is what I think you can run your oly in. My 10k time is 40 mins and I usually finish my oly in 44 mins.
What pace do you normally run after hammering 40km on the bike? Run 7:05 if you can; in Oly distance, T2 legs are way different than you’d think.
What pace do you normally run after hammering 40km on the bike? Run 7:05 if you can; in Oly distance, T2 legs are way different than you’d think.
Last year at this race I averaged 7:15 miles for the 10K. However I had no pacing device, this year I will have a GPS for that. Also I have been doing many more tempo runs like the one I listed above. Last year I did a lot less “race pace” running. In the past I’ve gone 42:30 off the bike for a 10K but that was a long time ago, I doubt I can get close to that now. I’ve never noticed a big difference in my open and tri running times for 10K and less. Above 10K it does go up a fair bit.
I am hoping with the pacing device displaying current and average pace I can prevent myself from going too quickly. I’m pretty sure that last year I ran my first couple of miles in way under 7 minutes and then melted down. It was ugly near the finish.
I think if you did this race last year, and you have a whole year training under your belt, 10s/mile running pace faster wouldn’t be too much to expect.
What kind of effort did the run you posted take? Were you working really hard or staying relaxed and comfortable?
What kind of effort did the run you posted take? Were you working really hard or staying relaxed and comfortable?
I was focused and had to concentrate to keep pace, but I could have certainly gone farther had I needed to. It was challenging but I didn’t feel maxed out. It’s been a couple of hours since the run and I feel recovered. Of course I couldn’t repeat that this afternoon though:-)
Good because I did not want to have to make you look too-too bad :o) I would try to hold on to the 7:15 pace too. Try it once or twice before race. Maybe a 5k or bit shorter just to gat legs used to the turnover off bike. Seem’s when I wait to long later down the road legs do not respond like I intend them too. Sounds like you are already faster then me anyhow.
Done any all out 5 or 10k standalone races lately? If so, great, but if not, try play with this anyway:
http://sites.google.com/site/garminpower/predict
Also, FWIW, I find instantaneous pace wth Garmin on the run more trouble than it’s worth. Lap Pace, with AutoLap set for 1km works well for me. It’s a bit off for the first bit of each lap, but settles to a nice stable number and I only glance once in a while anyway. I find it helps me to try not go off at the start like I’ve been shot out of a cannon which, as you said, can really come back to haunt you.
I like tracking/correlating HR with pace/RPE in training, but find it disheartening (ha) to look at HR during shorter/harder races, so I don’t display it - although it’s interesting to look at afterwards.
Good luck!
An update after the race…
I hit under 7:00 for every mile and averaged 6m57s at the end of the 10K. 9 days prior to the race I did a 45 minute spin class followed by a 5 mile run on the course. On that run I averaged 6m54s for the 5 miles. I think that workout was key to preparing for the race as I was able to remember that I had run that pace for 5 miles after a bike whenever things got tough.
Also the GPS was a huge help, I only watched 2 fields. Pace and average pace. I didn’t watch HR but I did record it. Looking at the graph after the race my HR was gradually increasing for the entire run and basically maxed out at the end.
So, the lessons are - use your GPS, watch pace/average pace, do a trial brick workout with a 5 mile run a little more than a week out from the race to make sure you can keep pace. Use that knowledge to help give you confidence in the race. Watching pace during the first part of the run is huge – I felt like I was going too slow, so I’m sure that if I hadn’t had it I would have gone out too fast and blown up like I probably always did in the past.
Please ignore this advice/experience if you are in my AG 
Awesome!!! Huge congrats on a solid performance.