Runners: Time or Distance?

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  • McCloud33
    McCloud33 Posts: 959 Member
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    Usually more of a distance person, but I usually have a pace that I'm trying to maintain as well. Sometimes I bargain with myself and say "if you can do x distance while maintaining y pace then you can stop for the day...otherwise it's an extra 1-2 miles at the slower pace" If I get to the turn-around spot and am not at my pace, then I keep running. Most of my runs are out and back since I live WAY out in the country and my only loop is 9 miles.
  • steph2strong
    steph2strong Posts: 426 Member
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    Both. I work on improving my 10 km time, within a set time run.... ex. run 55 minutes- 10 km in 44 min, 7.5 miles total.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Time. Or ultras would be the new 5k...
  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
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    Distance. My phone now tells me splits, I find those times interesting--gives me a better feel on pace.
  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 596 Member
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    Always distance with a pace goal in mind depending on what my plan for the day is.
  • bradcfairchild
    bradcfairchild Posts: 74 Member
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    I've run off and on since I was younger. Never been on a team but I have run all kinds of races. I've been in great shape and not so great shape, like now. I sometimes use a spreadsheet when I have an event coming up. I'm building towards an Ironman in August 2016. First time I did an Ironman I set and held to my goals pretty close. This time I have one goal, to finish with a smile on my face. I have intentions instead of goals on the spreadsheet Sometime I do my intention and sometimes I don't; sometimes I do less and sometimes I do more. Right now my longer runs consists of creating a path on Google Earth, finding an easy to recognizable place and turning around (about 1/2 the distance I want to run) when I come to it I usually turn around but sometime the Advil is making me feel good and I run a little further. :wink: You can add some distance easier 1/2 way through a run than when you are dragging in at the end of your run. I run away from my house so I'm not tempted to stop early with loops. I do loops though on shorter runs I just run whatever then I use Google Earth-Ruler-Path to see what I just did. Time and speed aren't really important to me at the moment. I'm just glad to be able to run longer distance. I'm hoping the pounds start melting away sooner than later (actually they are). Running with extra weight is murder on your body. Hope that helps. Everyone is different, different goals, different situations... The hardest thing I've ever done was to find my max heart rate. That was 10 years ago. Speed training and hills are hard. Those things all have components of distance and time and effort and they all depend on what shape you are in at the time. Don't forget they gym, core workouts, eliminating stress, eating healthy, and all the rest. :blush:
  • filovirus76
    filovirus76 Posts: 156 Member
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    "If you run for a time, what happens when you're not back home when your time runs out?"

    I never shortchange my time. A minute or two longer never hurts. I have a few different finishes to every route depending on how much time is remaining. I'm usually pretty close though.

    For instance, my workout for today is: 55 mins - 10 min warm-up, tempo training (5 min intervals of tempo X 4/5 min moderate X 3), 10 min cool-down. I'm more concerned about sustaining a pace rather than a distance.
  • rea1980
    rea1980 Posts: 93 Member
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    I do a mix of both it depends on what my workout goal for that day is distance intervals vs timed intervals, Building mileage for a race vs junk miles. One is not better than the other, they both have their place in my opinion.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    Usually it's distance. However, now I'm hoping to work towards a sub-2hr half marathon time by the autumn I begrudgingly have to do speed work more regularly, so time is more of a factor.
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    On my daily runs, I run for a set amount of time. When I do my long runs on the weekend, I usually run a specific distance.

    Pretty much this.

    It really depends on the goal of the workout. If it is a specific set of timed intervals then I go for time. If the workout is specified as some sortof endurance run, I will usually go for distance.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    Distance. I am just getting back into it. Distance first, then comes improving the pace.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    Like many others who responded, I do all of my runs based on time except for my long runs, which are based on distance. I started doing this when I used Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 training plans which are set up this way, and I like it because you always know how long your run will take. It's not always exact because I always have to get back to my starting point or my destination and that sometimes ends up being an approximation, but it's usually within a minute or two of my intended time.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
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    I think in terms of distance, but right now I'm in a training plan that has a some of the workout stated in time. For example, today's speed workout says 3 miles easy, 20 minutes at T (lactate threshold), 2 miles easy. Saturday is 13 miles, Sunday is 60 minutes. I go with the flow.

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