Ok, I don't run enough, so I run too hard most of the time, even if I try not to. My easy days are not easy enough, and my hard days are likely not hard enough.
Anyway, how do you pace long runs if you are training to run 50-100 miles on race day?
I'm just ramping up from an injury, and I'm not training to run 100 miles any time soon. Maybe 50 next year.
However, I believe that training the way you describe was the main cause for my injury. I was trying to break my PR in most runs, and I'd say 80-90% of my volume was high intensity.
I'm doing two things to change my habits:
* Really taking it slow. 90 sec/mile slower than PR pace for that course. It feels awful to come in 15 minutes slower over 10 miles, but I'm really happy that I'm able to ramp without injury.
* I'm limiting my high-intensity miles to 10% of total. Miles earned up-front. That means that for every mile I want to go fast, I need to run 9 miles slow first. For example, I'm going for a PR on an 8-mile loop this weekend. I allow myself that because I've run more than 72 miles slowly since my most recent fast run. As I begin to feel better about my injury status I may up the high-intensity share to 20%, but I don't think general guidelines are to above that.
3/8 Way Too Cool 50k WNS
4/19 Tehama Wildflowers 50k
KillJoyFuckStick
Ok, I don't run enough, so I run too hard most of the time, even if I try not to. My easy days are not easy enough, and my hard days are likely not hard enough. Anyway, how do you pace long runs if you are training to run 50-100 miles on race day?
Find a chatty runner and hold a conversation with them while on your long run. This is just about guaranteed to slow you down to a comfortable long run pace.
You people have issues
Faster Than Your Couch!
Most of my long runs are probably too fast, but the same happens to me in races, too. I just rely on my miraculous ability to recover on long distances.
I set out at a pace that is a bit slower than my usual non-race pace and try to maintain that. However, I never wear a watch or GPS, so I have no clue about how fast I actually am. I just go by effort. When I can't run up certain hills but need to walk them, or when I realize that I'm having trouble on technical (rocky) flat stretches, I see that my pace has been too fast, that I'm getting tired, and that I need to recover, then speed up a bit again. So I then take the next few miles slow, and when I feel stronger again, I try to go back to my "usual" pace, but likely I'm slower than "usual" then because I'm already a bit tired. It is a continuous adjustment of pace that I'm doing, while trying to give my best effort.
That's how I get to my long-run pace, I only know what my pace was at the end of the run, and I go by effort while out on the trail.
Edit: I have a "forever pace", that is the pace that feels as if I could run it "forever". On uphills, that can be very slow, but on flats, it is often almost my "usual" pace. So when I get really tired, I try to maintain the "forever pace", and push myself to run as much as possible, so that I won't lose too much time overall by walking too much. I guess the mix of "forever pace" and some walking in the end makes up my "long-run pace".
Run for fun.
+1
or recite Gettysburg address or sing to yourself
or do a tempo run the day before
or a 4.2 mi race the day before with rocks, roots, mud, and hills - when you haven't been able to train on rocks and roots cuz they've been buried under snow
I have had trouble finding my pace when training for a 100 miler the past three years. I was trainiing for a rails-to-trails type race and was concentrating on mile pace, walk/run schedules, eating, hydrating, etc. This year I am training for the Black Hills 100 and am freaked out by the difficulty of a mountain trail race. I went into training only thinking about getting through it. My training is going much more smoothly and my 40 mile training run last week was a breeze.
My new attitude of getting through it in under 32 hours has helped. I was listeneing to audio books to relax, but now am comfortable with no distractions for 10 hours. I do not pay any attention to my pace, just walk all the uphills and whenever I feel the need to take a break. My downhill and level pace is best described as a slow trot. I just tell myself "this is what I'm doing today, so if it takes all day, I'm going to enjoy it". My ultra pace has gone from 5 mph to 4 mph, which I am able to keep steady throughout a 40 mile run. At that pace I could finish in 25 hours, so that gives me an additional 7 hours.
For me, what is working is a new perspective on finishing the race. We'll see how it goes on June 29th.