EASY RUN PACE

One thing I forgot to mention about Saturday’s race and running by feel vs. checking my splits is that my first mile was way too slow. I ran it in 7:19, which is just above my average pace for the race, however, we lost about 65’ of elevation during that mile. Of course, looking at my watch at mile 1 wouldn’t change that fact, but it may have planted the seed that I should be able to run harder for the remaining 4 miles. Or perhaps I could have checked what pace I was running prior to hitting the downhill stretch. But I don’t know how accurate the pace feature is either.

I will say that I could probably benefit from a more dynamic warmup routine, rather than just running 2 miles with a couple of high knees and butt kickers. Funny, being a mid-January race doesn’t really make one want to spend more time outside doing a full warmup.

Okay, today’s topic focuses on easy run pace. I hear it all the time, “most runners run too fast on their easy days and not fast enough on their hard days.” After reading Run Like a Pro and 80/20 Running I’ve been trying to put together a spreadsheet of the various terms and efforts for each training intensity and how they all relate to one another. Basically, I started with a 10-point Perceived Effort Scale that includes Rating, Description, and Internal Cues. From there I layered in Zone, Pace, Race Distance (that I could hold that pace for), and Workout Type (that I could run each pace at – i.e. is it steady-state, fartlek, 5k pace, etc.). Finally, I added Intensity (low, moderate, high) as outlined in the 80/20 program. I could also add in Heart Rate, but I don’t fully trust the measurements from my watch. For the paces I punched my recent race results into Tinman’s Pace Calculator. These results happen to correspond to a 3:30 marathon, so off to the side I also included the paces for each intensity if I improve to 3:25 or 3:20 shape.

After laying all this out I was really confused by what my easy run pace should be. Again, the concept of 80/20 Running says that 80% of your runs should be at a Low Intensity and the other 20% should be at a Moderate to High Intensity. In the book, Matt Fitzgerald says that for most runners the split is closer to 50/50. Prior to putting together the spreadsheet that I mentioned above, I assume for me a Low Intensity would be around 9:30 pace, which is like MP + 90 seconds per mile. However, as I re-read parts of the book it says “the boundary between low intensity and moderate intensity falls at the ventilatory threshold (VT), which is where the breathing rate abruptly deepens. This is slightly below the more familiar lactate threshold.” Again, in terms of my fitness, I could run as fast as 7:50 pace, which is :10 faster per mile than my MP.

I bring this all up because it was really confusing to me because NONE of my easy runs are EVER done faster than MP. I don’t understand how “most runners” are able to run 50% of their mileage faster than MP. My best guess is that maybe it’s a fitness thing and that this applies to newer runners. I’ve coached some new runners and their training runs were all faster than their MP. Or maybe it applies to younger runners. Perhaps when I was in my 20s I could hit those paces, but not in my 50s.

I was originally thinking this will be great, I’ve been running too fast on my easy days. I’ll slow down and then have more in the tank for my hard workouts. Now I’m like, “I can actually run faster on my easy days? Then would I have the energy for my hard days?” I guess my key take-away is that I don’t have to slug along at 9:30 pace on all my non-workout days. Also, listen to my body and do what it’s telling me.

Quote of the day;

“The process of becoming is better than the being.” – Unknown