"At what pace should I run in a race?" or "I want to have such and such a result in 2 months. What pace should I train at today?" These questions are often asked by runners as they begin training for their first competition.
These questions are based on two assumptions:
- When starting training, you firmly know the result you will get or want to get.
- Anyone can achieve the results they want in a couple months of training.
The problem is that an amateur runner is not a car that just needs to get a maintenance checkup, change oil, fill up a full tank and go full throttle. Everyone's body is different, and the reaction to the load is individual. Some people find training easy, while others "digest" it slowly.
If you are new to racing and want to run your first start, any assumptions about the right pace or result are fantasies. To make them a reliable guide, you'll have to give yourself time to train and finish at several races.
By the way, the OMY! Sports app provides just such a long-term benchmark.
By the way, the OMY! Sports app provides just such a long-term benchmark.
Do training sessions provide an answer to the question of competition pace?
In training we try to "feel" the race pace. But this is not a guarantee of a specific result. Why? Training and competition are two different states of a runner. In training we give ourselves the moral right to try and make mistakes. That's why most of the training takes place at a pace that is very different from the competition pace. In competition, we are mobilized and determined to show maximum effort (and pace), endurance, and will.
Each new race will add up and refine your training pace and expectations for the next competition. Even those who have participated in dozens of races for different distances in different conditions and know their strength well, have several variants of the planned pace in their head - the desired, "plan B" and "plan C".
Each new race will add up and refine your training pace and expectations for the next competition. Even those who have participated in dozens of races for different distances in different conditions and know their strength well, have several variants of the planned pace in their head - the desired, "plan B" and "plan C".
The pace of the competition is not only in your hands.
It does not depend only on us and our current condition. The result on a particular course is largely determined by external factors - weather (cold, hot, dry, wet, etc.), course profile (elevation gain over the course), altitude, the surface you are running on (asphalt, arena track or dirt), the level of support on the course and much more. But most importantly, you don't know how you will wake up the morning before the race. Fresh and full of energy or tired with cotton legs.
How to plan a race without a pace?
If you don't have a lot of racing experience, you may want to take a different approach to planning your effort. The most reliable way to run optimally in terms of performance and reliably in terms of the probability of achieving it is to focus on your heart rate.
Your heart rate objectively shows your current capabilities and your ability to cover the entire distance at a steady pace. A heart rate plan will allow you to spread your efforts over the entire distance so that you can run it from start to finish.
Each person's heart rate zones can be estimated from a minimal set of information - at first it is enough to know your maximum heart rate. From this, you can then build a plan to run a specific distance. It is important to remember that 5 km and 21.1 km plans are different in structure and heart rate values. You can afford to run 5 km in the 4th heart rate zone, but you can't run a half marathon that way (or rather, you can't finish it).
A good coach knows how to plan a specific start according to your heart rate. Before your race, ask your coach in the OMY! Sports app.
Train with us, compete and gain experience to learn your competitive pace.
OMY! Sports
Your heart rate objectively shows your current capabilities and your ability to cover the entire distance at a steady pace. A heart rate plan will allow you to spread your efforts over the entire distance so that you can run it from start to finish.
Each person's heart rate zones can be estimated from a minimal set of information - at first it is enough to know your maximum heart rate. From this, you can then build a plan to run a specific distance. It is important to remember that 5 km and 21.1 km plans are different in structure and heart rate values. You can afford to run 5 km in the 4th heart rate zone, but you can't run a half marathon that way (or rather, you can't finish it).
A good coach knows how to plan a specific start according to your heart rate. Before your race, ask your coach in the OMY! Sports app.
Train with us, compete and gain experience to learn your competitive pace.
OMY! Sports