HM pacing advice?
_nikkiwolf_
Posts: 1,380 Member
Hi fellow runners, 
my first half marathon race will be in three weeks from now. By now, I'm confident I can run the distance (ran it three times in training this year), but I'm still unsure on how to plan my pace:
I'm dreaming of running the race in under 2:30:00, which translates into an average pace of 7:07 min/km (11:26min/mi). The suggestions for running negative splits over HM distance I've found were for example: running the first 5 km (3 mi) 5 -10 seconds per mile slower than goal pace, km 6 to 18 (mi 3-11) at average goal pace, and speed up the last bit.
However, I couldn't find any information how to best adjust a recipe like that to a course that isn't flat. My race will include 2km of downhill in the middle of the race. Knowing myself, I'll be tempted to speed up on the descent. But of course I want to avoid running too fast in the middle of the race and running out of steam at the end!
Should I just go by feel and try to keep the effort the same as for the kms leading up to the downhill part, or do you have any other suggestions on how to plan the pace?
my first half marathon race will be in three weeks from now. By now, I'm confident I can run the distance (ran it three times in training this year), but I'm still unsure on how to plan my pace:
I'm dreaming of running the race in under 2:30:00, which translates into an average pace of 7:07 min/km (11:26min/mi). The suggestions for running negative splits over HM distance I've found were for example: running the first 5 km (3 mi) 5 -10 seconds per mile slower than goal pace, km 6 to 18 (mi 3-11) at average goal pace, and speed up the last bit.
However, I couldn't find any information how to best adjust a recipe like that to a course that isn't flat. My race will include 2km of downhill in the middle of the race. Knowing myself, I'll be tempted to speed up on the descent. But of course I want to avoid running too fast in the middle of the race and running out of steam at the end!
Should I just go by feel and try to keep the effort the same as for the kms leading up to the downhill part, or do you have any other suggestions on how to plan the pace?
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Ah-ha. That is a tricky course!! I had the opposite dilemma with my last HM, which had 3 miles of uphill in the middle!
If you wanna get really strategic... I'd stay at race pace by effort until the downhill since it's got some ups and downs in there, and that should even out to race pace. Then I'd use the downhill to do a controlled faster pace (probably 10-15 seconds/mile faster... maybe even 20), and then get back to race pace by effort for the last part of the race -- which looks like it will have its fair share of ups and downs, though much smaller.0 -
It's hard to tell from the graph, but if that big elevation drop in the middle is steep you want to train some downhill running. The idea is to practice flowing down the hill without braking, letting gravity do the work. You'll find that a much faster pace than normal is easy to your heart rate, but it will take some practice to get the technical aspects of running downhill right.
Assuming you master the art of flowing downhill effortlessly, you can try to pace the rest of the race at whatever pace will achieve your goal, and let the downhill be a stretch to make up time you might lose for various reasons. Just remember to slow back down when the downhill is over.
FWIW, the coaching advice I've been given for the steep downhill that starts Boston is to go no faster than 10 to 15 seconds per mile faster than my average goal race pace. The exact amount faster might be different for a half, or for a downhill in the middle, but the concept will be the same. You want to run that downhill faster than your average race pace, but not too much faster.0 -
Thank you for your replies!
The downhill as such is rather moderate - it's 2km with an average slope of -3%; I regularly run both longer and steeper descents.
The little hills don't really scare me too much either - I've run the last part of the course as part of a 10k two weeks ago, and while those hills (or bridges, in a few cases) are steep, they are also really short. They would have killed me half a year ago, but since I moved into a hilly area a few month ago, I think I should do okay... At least I hope so - who knows, at the end of a HM race, maybe the little hills will feel like mountains
It's actually kind of hard to find long flat roads around here anyway, so I'm running up- and downhill a lot during training. Which is a lot of fun (wow, I never thought I'd ever say hills are fun, but they are!), but I hardly ever have a training run with constant pace. If I want to have any chance to make my time goal, I will need to take a little more care about that during the race than in most training runs...
15 seconds per mile (~10s/km) faster than average sounds like a good guideline. I probably would have let the descend lure me into going a lot faster - but I guess that's exactly what I should _not_ be doing when I'm not even past the halfway point yet!0 -
@_nikkiwolf_ How far away do you live from this course? If you are in anyway able to actually run it as a preview, that will help solve a million thoughts running through your head. Even if you just ran km's 4-14 as a preview.0
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This discussion has been really interesting for me. With my first HM 11 weeks out, I'm working on figuring out pacing too, so I can set reasonable goals and train accordingly, then set more reasonable goals based on how training goes.0
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@Stoshew71 That's an interesting idea, thanks!
I didn't even consider that. Unfortunately, it's about 45-50 min of driving away, so that would mean 90+ minutes of driving. I'll keep the idea in mind, though - not this Sunday, but that leaves me one more Sunday before the HM. Depending on how anxious I am by that date, I might consider it important enough to spend all that time in the car 0 -
I've seen pace bands you can get that are tailored to the course profile for an "even effort".
Usually, I will go by HR when the course has significant hills.0 -
The_Enginerd wrote: »I've seen pace bands you can get that are tailored to the course profile for an "even effort".
Usually, I will go by HR when the course has significant hills.
This just answered a question I had about wearing a HRM when racing. I was thinking I would so I could help know how my pacing is.0 -
MNLittleFinn wrote: »The_Enginerd wrote: »I've seen pace bands you can get that are tailored to the course profile for an "even effort".
Usually, I will go by HR when the course has significant hills.
This just answered a question I had about wearing a HRM when racing. I was thinking I would so I could help know how my pacing is.
HR is a good indicator. I just completed a 10-mile race this weekend that had a significant downhill portion between mile-6 and mile-7. As mentioned above, what you really want to do is "flow" down the hill and that means getting just a little lower in stance to allow the legs to just roll underneath of you without overstriding. Getting your feet and legs out too far in front of has the effect of braking as well as applying an incredible amount eccentric contraction to the muscles. If your heart rate doesn't come down, even by a little when going downhill, you are going too fast (YMMV).
For example, I entered this long downhill section on Saturday, according to my GPS and HRM watch (I've cross-referenced this with my chest strap HRM and they typically agree within 1 bpm), I was at 52:15 in the race at 6.13 miles into the race. That gives an overall pace up to that point (a mixture of uphills and downhills) of 8:31/mile.
The elevation was 468 feet above MSL (GPS) and my short-term pace was ~7:50/mile as I entered the top of this stretch. I had just finished climbing up a grade when I began this descent. My HR was 171 bpm (my lactic acid threshold HR is ~ 174 BPM). As I accelerated down this hill, my HR gradually decreased down to 159-160 BPM (into my "Zone 3" endurance zone). In 4:00, I had travelled 0.55 miles and had dropped to 335 feet above MSL (~-4.2% grade). My average pace over this stretch was 7:16/mi, well within my comfort zone for maximum speed (which is about 6:30/mile). For comparison, my average heart rate was 165 bpm over the entire race and this stretch contributed to lowering the average. On the steepest hill climbs at the end of the course, my HR stayed around 170 bpm even though my pace during hill climbing dropped to around 10:04/mile.
My GPS watch is very, very accurate and I was pretty much running the tangents of the course. And although I don't focus on heart rate during the race, I've run enough to get a sense of where I am without consulting my HRM.
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@The_Enginerd Thank you for that suggestion!The_Enginerd wrote: »I've seen pace bands you can get that are tailored to the course profile for an "even effort".
Usually, I will go by HR when the course has significant hills.
I didn't realise those existed - I only knew the pace band generators that spit out time and distance for generic races, not including elevation. After your post I had a look and found a place that offers including the course profile, even for new courses which they didn't have in their database, and they were willing to do it in km for me
Now I'm hoping the pacebands will arrive on time - still a bit of time until May 8th, so there's hope.
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i recently put out a request on running groups on FB to see where ,if any, local races have pacers.
pleasantly surprised to find quite a few.
runnersworld also has links to volunteer pace groups,and indeed paced races locally.
good luck.0 -
I am a half-marathon pacer for Beast Pacing beastpacing.com. I certainly agree with the above. Don't forget to account for not being able to run all the tangents. For example, I generally pace at 2:00. That's 9:09/mile. But I run 9:03-05 knowing we will often end up running 13.2-13.3 miles in total. Works every time.
Food for thought.
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@cw106 There won't be any pacers for my goal time, unfortunately. According to what I have found, there will be pacers for 1h30, 1h40, 1h50, 2h and 2h10. My goal is 2h30, so all of those would be pushing it a little
Hopefully at my next race I will be either faster, or find a slower pacer. Following someone who knows what they are doing would be really helpful, I'm sure.
@TomZot First of all, it's awesome that you volunteer as a pacer! I really admire you for that.
And thanks for the hint - that sounds like a good point to remember! I'm glad you mentioned it - otherwise, I probably would have had an average of 7:07min/km in mind. The fancy course-elevation-adjusted pace bands I ordered last week arrived today; if I take 4 seconds off each split, that will hopefully be enough to compensate for missed tangents. Provided I am able to follow to follow the pace strategy in the first place
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It's a lot of fun. Can participate in some cool events and pay it forward.1
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It's a lot of fun. Can participate in some cool events and pay it forward.
I love this! I am thinking of looking into becoming a pacer. I helped "pace" my friend for the Flying Pig marathon last weekend and we had a blast. It was so much fun to run in a relaxed environment without worrying about PRs and stuff and running at a pace you know you can sustain. It was a whole different perspective on the race and I liked it!
I think pacing a 2 hour half marathon sounds like an ideal job! That's a huge goal for a lot of people and knowing you helped them to achieve it must be really rewarding!1 -
@_nikkiwolf_, provided the mile markers are there and placed correctly, you should be able to use them to check your split times against the actual course distance with the pace band. For my upcoming race, I've built the course into Garmin and will have a virtual pacer at my goal time. Garmin doesn't have hills accounted for, so I also have a hill adjusted pace band that should arrive this week_nikkiwolf_ wrote: »@TomZot First of all, it's awesome that you volunteer as a pacer! I really admire you for that.
And thanks for the hint - that sounds like a good point to remember! I'm glad you mentioned it - otherwise, I probably would have had an average of 7:07min/km in mind. The fancy course-elevation-adjusted pace bands I ordered last week arrived today; if I take 4 seconds off each split, that will hopefully be enough to compensate for missed tangents. Provided I am able to follow to follow the pace strategy in the first place
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