How to hone your pacing skills
How to Hone Your Pacing Skills RunFarGirl.com
Beep. You check the watch for your pace. And you get instant feedback from your GPS watch that either leaves you pleased or makes you pick up the pace.
But what if you didn't have the GPS watch? Would you be able to accurately determine your pace based on how you felt? If the answer is "no" then it might be time to ditch the GPS watch and hone your internal sense of pace. If you've been relying on your watch then it may take a bit of work, but most likely it will result in better performances.
Guess your Pace.
Head out for a run with your GPS watch. At different points along your run take a guess at your pace and then check your watch. Try to be aware of how you feel and associate that feeling with the pace you're running. Rank your effort on a scale of 1-10 (10 being that all out spring in the last 100m of a race).
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Effort Runs.
Plan several runs where you leave your GPS watch at home, instead take along a simple stopwatch. On one run focus on what you think it "easy" effort like a 3 or 4 on your effort scale. On another try to run "up-tempo" more around a 7 on your effort scale. You can calculate your pace when you get home if you want and see how you're effort matches up with your average pace.
Trust the Track.
The track is probably the best place to hone your pacing skills. Leave your GPS watch at home and opt instead for a stop watch. Instead of focusing on hitting certain paces, change your focus to hit a certain split. For example if your goal is to run 800m at 7:00 min pace, you'll want to run it in 3min and 30 seconds, which is one lap in 1:45. You'll want to hit the 200m mark on the track between 52 and 53 seconds. So instead of relying on your GPS watch to tell you if you're on pace try to check your splits on the track. Be sure to check in with how you feel with a given effort. Depending on how many intervals you're running your effort should be around an 8 or 9 for each interval.
Race Naked.
Sign up for a 5K and commit to not wearing your GPS watch. Don't wear a watch at all and focus on how you feel, see if you can tune into your internal pacing. Try to start slow and then push yourself on the effort scale finish as close to a 10 as you can. Chances are if you leave that GPS watch at home you'll learn to run a lot faster.
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Sarah is a certified running coach with the RRCA and USATF. She and her husband Mark Canney, CPT CSCS collaborate in coaching clients of all ages and abilities to help them reach their running goals. You can learn more about their coaching services HERE.
-Sarah
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