Pace Test

Yonili

I just finished another 5k pace test on a track. My normalized pace (training peaks) is faster than absolute pace. Doesn't appear to be any GPS elevation error. In the past I used my absolute pace to set zones. Doesn't it though make more sense to use normalized?

Thanks for insight.

Yonili

Silly me. Of course one uses the absolute. Normalized is relative to threshold value and therefore would be calculated relative to previous value and thus incorrect.

Coach Patrick

Wow, your answer was a lot better than mine would have been. Normalize really accounts for the "true cost" of that run across varied terrain....so it will often look faster than what you actually ran. So running up a hill at 7:30 pace might actually be a NGP of 7:00/mi (your calculated effort). It's a nice to know value for race analysis, but in most other cases we use the absolute value!