Pacing

zildgen

New to EN and coming from HR based run trainng. I have read the e-book on pace training but have some questions.

How long does it take to transition to pace trinaing? I find that unconsciously I will maintine HR at the expense of pace for long runs and for the interval runs will pace way to fast.  Does it just take time?

Any suggestions on how to set my Garmin for runnning with pace. I am currently using avg pace, last lap pace (1 miles) and actual pace setting as well as the virtual training partner  but finding that trying to use the actual pace is almost impossible as it fluctuate by 10-30 sec when I look at it. Is that normal or am I just unable to maintain a constent pace?

 The avg pace and LL pace are good but seem to be a little late to make adjustmets as I can get way behind or way aheah on longer runs.

Using Garmin Works I have set my pacing zones and was wondering how tight a band I should use. Currently I use 5 seconds on either side for a 10 sec paceing window. Is that to big a window or to small?

Overall the virtual partner seems to work the best for me right now but was wondering if some of you EN lifers with more experience had ideas for a better set-up so that I can use my Garmin  to better dial in my pace training?

Steve West

@Dewey I am new to EN as well but as a marathoner I have been using HR and Pace for a few years. I have 2 main screens on my 310xt.



1. current HR, overall average pace, current lap pace (95% of my time looking at this screen)

2. total time, overall average pace, total distance (rarely look at this)



This way I can focus on not blowing my HR out the window if I attack a hill, moniter my current pace and see the impace on my overall pace.



Coaches and others my have different views, like I said I am a newbie here too,



Run Strong

Nemo Brauch

Somewhat depends on where you live and if you are training or racing.. If you are in a city with lots of buildings, some folks have found "current pace" is just not all that helpful.

Where I run I have wide open sky so for training I look at Current Lap Pace (with Lap Time and Lap Distance being the other 2 things that show on the screen). This lets me focus on the work at hand for the interval given (whether in time or distance). I put HR, Total Time, and Total Distance on my second screen. I only look at HR as a backup guide to get a sense for what my HR does at different efforts. It doesn't govern my training paces at all (unless something really funky is going on indicating maybe I'm sick or too fatigued).

For racing I change out Lap Distance for Total Time on that first screen (and set the watch to "auto Lap" each mile- that way I know where I am overall).

talltim

Hi Dewey.  I've been using Garmin for ~ 2 yrs. and for training, what Nemo said. I look at HR, Lap Pace and Lap Time, scrolling screens.  It keeps me honest on the pace even when/if the HR seems a little wacky.  

Also, I find that using the auto-lap for 1 mi repeats is pretty helpful, since it keeps me from repeatedly looking at my watch when I'm at the end of a hard effort and likely to fall over or run into something or someone .

Michele Cellai

For the long rns- usually in season, I do not auto lap at every mile. Some of the intervals will cover several miles, so I tryto keep it even, especially if I have a hilly run

zildgen

Thanks for all the suggestions. Switched screens around and seemed to go better on today's run with the lap pace as the big number, Current pace and LL Pace as the smaller numbers. Not nearly as much fluctuation, pace was much steadier.

Another question: How wide should the pace zones be? For example target HMP is 10:34 so I set the zone for 10:29 - 10:39. Is that to wide? Thanks again for all the responses.

jburbatt

You might want to avoid putting HR on your screen if you are finding yourself changing pace to maintain HR until you are comfortable running at pace only.  Like Nemo, I'll check my HR when I've downloaded the info if I'm feeling off and want to see if I'm fatigued or sick.  But it doesn't dictate my real-time training.

tuckerm

I agree with Jennifer, drop HR from your screen. Look at it after when you are checking your data.

How long should it take to transition to pace training? One run. Set your pace goals and maintain them.

And 10 seconds wide should be a fine spread. I think that is what I have and seems to work fine.

zildgen

@ Jennifer and Tucker HR dropped. Also running in AM prior to daylight has helped as well as have to listen for the beeping instead of looking at the scroll.

tuckerm

Ah yes, the dreaded beep. I learned how to maintain my pace just so I wouldn't need to hear that little whip.