How to Pace Your Run

Great Question Kelcy, hope this helps!

How to Pace Your Run Without Fancy Pants Gadgets?

I read awhile back in one of my Triathlon magazines, a Triathlete say "Training before gear or gadgets". Embarrassed to admit, but I have a Garmin GPS that helps me pace and such. It's okay though because I have one Triathlon under my belt...right? Okay so it's still pretty ridiculous, but it was given to me as a present, AFTER my Triathlon. Admittedly that cool nerdy lil' ol' gadget has helped my running.

The question still remains however, "How does one pace themselves without such said gadgets?". As I researched articles to answer this question along with my limited experience as a runner, it seems this is if not the most common, one of the most common questions for experienced runners and beginners. It's all the same "I go out too fast", "There was nothing left in the tank at the end", or "I had to walk part of (insert race distance)".

I know what you are thinking blah blah blah, just get to the point. So here it is, attempt for what runners call a negative split. In my terms it means, start off slow end up faster. In their terms it means the first half of your run should be slower than the second half of your run. A runner could train for this one of two ways. The first, I think is easier and you don't need a track. The second, is well the opposite of the first.

Both ways require running, running and more running so you acquire a "sense of pace". If experienced runners struggle with pacing themselves in races, this means everyone struggles. So onto the first way, it centers around listening to your body. Although we are trying to go gadget free here, a simple heart rate monitor would help a ton. However if you are still insisting on going all "hippie" on me, then use the perceived level of exertion with the talk test.

A bit on the talk test. The talk test is a simple way to measure relative intensity. As a rule of thumb, if you're doing a low-moderate intensity you can string sentences together. For moderate-intensity activity you can talk, but not sing, during the activity. If you're doing vigorous-intensity activity, you will not be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

You're gonna be "jacked -up" race day fight the urge to go out too fast. Shoot for stringing short sentences together. If you can't talk well during the first half of your race you're going too fast! Furthermore you ain't gonna finish without walking or hurting a bunch. Start off SLOW! I can't emphasise this enough. Run slower than you think you can until the half-way point. It's always fun to be an Italian sports car in the beginning, but remember you're gonna be a rusted busted pick-up crossing the finish. And the finish is where everyone has their cameras.

The second way I stole from an article I found. Here is the hyperlink to cut and paste: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263--11797-0,00.html

Be patient with yourself. In the endurance world many say, the first year (at a minimum) of training concentrates on volume, the second year concentrates on speed and pacing.