One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of runners make is that they run at the same pace every time they step out of the door. The majority of the time that pace will actually be too fast.
The introduction of training plans to my running saw my enjoyment go through the roof and a large part of that, is nearly every time I put on my trainers, I’m running at a different pace.
I know. I’m talking about myself again. Sorry. But I think it’s a good example of the variety you can have with your running. Take this week for example, these are the difference paces I will be running at.
3:00/km – 1.6km – 8 x 100m strides (twice)
3:15/km – 4km – 20 x 200 metre reps
4:00/km – 5km – parkrun
5:20/km – 40km – Long Run/Easy Runs/Cool Downs
5:45/km – 4km – Warm ups
That’s quite a big variance across my training. I do run more miles than most, but this week my mileage will be around 55k (35 miles), so it’s not huge.
44 of those 55 km will be at my easy pace. Everyone’s easy pace will be different. There are a number of ways of finding your easy pace. It’s estimated it should be approximately 90 seconds per kilometre slower than your 5k pace.
When you are running easy your heart rate should be low (Zone 2 on your Garmin if you like those stats).
The easiest way is just to judge your own perceived effort out of a score of 10. You should be around the 3 or 4 mark and this means you can comfortable hold a conversation without getting out of breath.
That’s a nice thought right? To find running easy “80%” of the time? If you’re not, then your easy pace is too fast. It’s that simple.
If you just slowed down on most of your runs though, you’re fitness will regress. So what you need to do is the other 20% of the time is run at a high effort level.
So a 7 or 8 out of 10 for perceived effort. Zone 4 or 5 on your Garmin and at a level where you cannot talk to others around you because you are breathing heavily. How often do you do that?
You might argue that it’s not much fun or you don’t like doing effort sessions. I understand they are not for everyone, but if you do put in that hard work, for just 20% of the time, your fitness improves and with it, your other running will feel even easier.
I ask all of the runners I coach to rate every run they do for “Enjoyment” and “Effort Level”. 90% of the time if their effort level is high (8-10) then the enjoyment is also high. It’s only when they fall into that grey zone (5-7) that the enjoyment really drops. The same applies for the easy runs. If the effort level is 4 or below, the enjoyment tends to be 8-10, almost every time.
Let’s finish with a question. How many different paces will you have trained at come the end of this week? If it’s less than 3 then I suggest some small adjustments to your running to maximise your enjoyment.
If you want to improve your running and start enjoying it more, why not join Team Orange and have your own bespoke training plan.
