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| Running "all-out" in a race (Read 428 times) |
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posted: 7/4/2008 at 10:38 AM |
I'm relatively new to running, and definitely new to racing, so I am not sure how one should run in a race. Is it alright running ALL OUT (and by "all out" I mean over 90% of your max HR most of the time) or I should try not to do such a great effort in every run? I suppose you are suppose to give yourself 100% in a race (after all, it's the reason why one works out!), but I don't know if maintaining such high HRs can damage your health.
As an example, this is my HR of my first 10K race... Any comments?
Cheers |
PRs
5K 21:44
10K 51:35 51:09 48:41 |
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posted: 7/4/2008 at 10:56 AM |
I can't think that racing with a v high HR can damage your health! Probably the opposite! (you just don't want to be doing that in training all the time!).
BTW - why the dip in hr just before your push for the end? Were you psychologically preparing yourself for the final sprint? Interesting. |
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posted: 7/4/2008 at 12:24 PM |
My answer would be that whether or not you go "all-out" depends on your goals, the race, and your experience. I think that 10k's are a little too long to go all out, and that you should be in control for almost the whole thing.
I don't think that maintaining an unusually high HR is bad for your health, but my guess is that for many, the question is academic. I know that if I found out that racing was bad for me, I would still do it.
You say, "Is it alright running ALL OUT... or I should try not to do such a great effort in every run". I just want to clarify that you should be doing almost all of your runs at an easy pace, but it's okay to give a hard effort during every race, provided you don't race too often. |
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posted: 7/4/2008 at 2:42 PM
modified: 7/4/2008 at 2:43 PM |
First of all, no worries about sustaining the high heart rate.
As far as what heart rate you'll see in a race, it does depend on the distance. If your race was a marathon, you'd be in a bit of trouble if you started out at 90+% (you'd be going out too fast). If you were racing a mile, you would be underperforming at 90~91% (since an all-out mile should really get you close to 100%).
As it turns out, the 90~92% range is just about right for 10k.
But here's the thing -- heart rate can be skewed high by heat, dehydration, the amount of sleep you got, and lots of other factors. So if you try to race purely based on heart rate, any one of these factors could make your heart rate be higher than it should be for your pace. You could end up slowing down to match your HR, and underperform.
It's tricky and takes racing. They key is to run lots of races at different distances. You'll start to develop a feel for your pacing -- you'll know at the end a race whether you still had some in the tank, or if you coasted in on fumes, and you can use that knowledge to your advantage down the road. Focus on learning how the paces feel, rather than what heart rate they elicit. |
20th Century: 800m: 2:04 |1600m: 4:37 |3200m: 10:06 |5k: 16:23 |10k: 35:38 |15k: 54:20
25k: 1:35:59
21st Century: 5k: 19:42 |10k: 43:00
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posted: 7/4/2008 at 10:48 PM |
Thanks everyone for your replies!
> They key is to run lots of races at different distances. You'll start to develop a feel for your pacing -- you'll know at the end a race whether you still had some in the tank, or if you coasted in on fumes, and you can use that knowledge to your advantage down the road. Focus on learning how the paces feel, rather than what heart rate they elicit.
GREAT advice! So, the "feel for one's pace" is something that can be developed... Good to know, because after running for not that long I find it VERy strong to hold myself and run at a slower pace. For example, I have a 5K race on Sunday and I intended to do a very easy 3 miler today (~9:30 min/mi)... I ended up running at 8:23 min/mi, quite close to my 10K pace :s I hope this develops with time!
Oh, and that dip is because I had a side stitch and had to walk for 1 minute (shhh, but don't tell anyone! lol), I wish my mind could control my HR so accurately! ; ) |
PRs
5K 21:44
10K 51:35 51:09 48:41 |
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