I agree.
However for training purposes, you can find the “ideal” IM run pace.
What happens during the swim and bike of course (pace, nutrition, heat, wind, etc…) will play an important factor for the race/actual run pace.
Fred.
hola.
i wouldn’t worry so much about not having a race under your belt to make you feel you dont know what your IM pace is.
Do this… find out the avg min per mile pace that you can hold for a 10 mile all out run or a one hour all out run.
From this number you can derive a pretty good estimation of what your IM pace is to be.
to the poster that said to do your long runs AT IM pace. horse apples. thats waaaaay to slow. your long run pace will also be derived from this 1 hour pace number.
IM pace is 75-80% of FTPace running
long run pace is 83-87% of FTPace running
hope this helps! =)
It’s not important to be “fresh” for key workouts, but recovery in general needs to be a priority. I like hitting key workouts a little fatigued (key endurance workouts, not key speed workouts). I also like backing up a couple or three monster days. Again, the key is getting recovery in there so you feel fresh at some point every week.
“Hey Jack…it really is not that hard…people get too bent out of joint about specific workouts.”
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- Are you trying to put me out of my job? I spend a lot of time setting up workouts for my athletes so that the whole process seems as complicated as I can make it!! For the ones who seem to be confused by it, I charge extra…
to the poster that said to do your long runs AT IM pace. horse apples.
Mark,
I think that it’s going to depend on your background. For strong runners, who have run for many years, there is possibly a good correlation between the long run pace and what their best case scenerio run pace is in an IM. This of course assuming proper bike fitness and pacing.
For me this worked out almost to a T, and I know others that I trained with at the time who had similar experiences. Over the course of many years of just run training and tri training I put in more miles at close to 7:00 min/mile than any other pace. This was a pace that I could hold comfortably for a very long time, even when very tired. It was also my IM run race pace which I was able to hit dead-on and hold the whole way a number of times in IM races. N=1+, but just another variation on a theme.
I’ll say it again - if you are really serious about performnace in an IM, then however, you achieve it, running strong and steady the WHOLE way on the marathon is the way to do it. Remarkably few people can actually do this, so it’s where a great opportunity really is!
Thanks for the info Mark and Fleck. I come from a running background, off and on for 30 years. 6+ years this go around. Currently running 6-7 days a week and 35-45 MPW. Just started biking and swimming 3 years ago. 3 half-IM’s so far with a full at the end of Sept.
I do now my 10 mile race pace (it’s my favorite distance to race) so I’ll ‘run’ the numbers and see if they make sense.
Thanks again everyone. And OP sorry for the sidetrack
Steve,
I totally agree. My run at CDA last weekend was a textbook example of what you are saying. I started out a bit fast, at least for me, with an 8:30 first mile. I scaled it back to 9:15 and by the last mile I was still sub 10:00 and averaged 9:45 over the 26.2 miles. Consistancy was my mantra. I speed walked the aid stations to allow time to ingest liquids and clif blocks, take electrolyte pills and such but I never stopped. Walking is the killer you have to avoid in order to finish strong. No Ironman Shuffle for me, I was all business, passing about 300 people on the run alone. With a hip and glute issue for the preceeding few months, my longest run was 14 miles, so I’m living proof that sometimes less is more.
And for what it’s worth, I never went into a key workout in a fatigued state. I always completed the workout in the allotted time frame and manner. I took the approach that I had to NAIL my key workouts each week and the rest was fluff. It worked great.
Cheers,
Dave
No Ironman Shuffle for me, I was all business, passing about 300 people on the run alone.
That’s awesome. Congratulations! That is exactly what I am talking about. At whatever level you are at, if you can maintain a strong steady pace for the WHOLE run, your place performance will improve significantly. EVERYONE is running “slow” or shuffling or walking. Even minor increases in run pace can yield dramatic improvements in place performance.
Best wishes for continued success.
I think we’re on the same page here you may have just read me wrong. Most folks would not be getting a whole lot out of doing their long runs at IM pace as it would be TOO SLOW. I suck at Ironman marathoning and run my long runs 30 secs per mile faster than I’ll be doing in the race.
Make sense?
Yes, try 18 sec from 6th place to 5th place (award) or 3 minutes to 4th place… 3 minutes over 26.2 miles! Sounds easy sitting at your desk, but it wasn’t…