Graded Pace
I have a question on Z2 pace running on an incline. The plan says to run 15 minutes total at zone 2 on an incline or 3% or greater. I ran it trying to hold the 7 min / mile pace today. I was definitely pushing it but not an all out. My question is do I use the norm graded pace or pace going forward? For a numbers stand point my Z1 pace is 8:06 and zone 2 is 6:56. I averaged it 7 min / mile and pushed from there. But my runs were a tad slower than 7 up the hills generally greater than 3% grade, but the norm graded pace was ~6:35-6:15 on the inclines. I tried to run on feel and could feel a strong effort. I guess that that would be a 6 min / mile NGP going up hill, but before I try to really hit those paces I wanted to ask so I didn't overdue it.
I did a search on the forums and did not find anything regarding this issue. I apologize if I missed it.
Comments
What does your z2 pace 'feel' like on your usual route? Now, hit the hill repeats at that 'feel'! Yes, pace will be slower than you like to see, but you will reap the rewards later. You sound like a strong runner. I'd bet that you can get away with overshooting this effort more than the rest of us average runners where overshooting an effort could risk injury. In my experience, when I overachieve on stuff like this, I might not get hurt that day, but sometime in the near future.
In short, correlate the feel from Flat Land Paces and use that as a guide on the Hill Repeats.