For an ultra how do you pick a pace?
I'm considering a 50k in dec... and probably will just run my normal long run speed and just try to crack 5 hours... but If I really wanted to give it my best... how do you pick a reasonable pace? and then when you get to say 60k or a 50 miler... how is it different?
Speed my steps along your path, according to your will.
Wasatch Speedgoat
You will know when the time comes or you will pay for it and will be forced to slow down. It also depends on whether it's a road 50k or a trail 50K and how much climb there is. If it's road, you can run almost your marathon pace, maybe a tad slower...staying at your long run training pace is a good way to start. If your feeling good at mile 25, then pick it up and catch those in front of you.
In 100 mile trail races, to me it is a glorified hike. Hike fast uphill and run the downhills.
Best of luck!
Steve
Life is short, play hard!
You'll ruin your knees!
I don't know that I pick a pace so much as a pace picks me. And I never get picked first!
I use a goofy process to help create and expectation for my finish time in an ultra by looking at previous results for the race and identifying a "percentile range" that I think I may be able to finish (such as "cusp of top 1/3 and middle 1/3" or mid-pack, for example). I will take that target and overlay historical finishes.
So for example, if I feel I can finish mid-pack, I look at the times for previous mid-pack finishes to establish a time goal. Then, I will look at names of finishers in/near the mid pack and see if I think I can hang with those guys/gals (If I know any of them). If I don't know any of them, I might search other race results to find how those people finished relative to others that I do know and adjust accordingly. This has proven pretty accurate in my last few races.
It helped me finish ahead of UltraSteve, so I may apply for a patent!
Good luck!
Lynn B
""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)
Oh snap!
I usually start slow... really really slow. Painfully slow. Then I'm able to stay that way most of the day... and night... and next day. It helped me finish ahead of Lynn B, so I may apply for a patent!
A couple beers in middle of the night at miles 52 and 75 helped too.
Oh snap! I usually start slow... really really slow. Painfully slow. Then I'm able to stay that way most of the day... and night... and next day. It helped me finish ahead of Lynn B, so I may apply for a patent! A couple beers in middle of the night at miles 52 and 75 helped too.
Ha! wait...
BTW, they still have me as DNF on the Bear site! I hope they get it figured out by the time I need to report a qualifier on the HR application!!!
who knows...
Someone once told me, "Be patient, let the course tell you how to run it." It might seem a bit obscure, but it echoes what has been said here. As for myself, I tend not to pick a pace for ultras as much as I pick a "feel"--meaning that if I plan on running a race easy, then I will go out easy and constantly adjust my pace so that it feels easy; if I plan on racing it or shooting for a particular time (e.g. 50 miles sub 9 hrs), I will adjust accordingly but continue to focus on the feel of the pace (leg transition, heart rate, breathing etc.). Ultimately, there is no equation that can tell you your pace that is itself not refutable by the fickle triad: the day, the course, and your body.
As has been mentioned several times here, what feels "easy" for an ultra will depend on the distance. Usually, it will be slower than the average pace run in training (and thus may at first feel "agonizingly slow").
I always talk myself into running a pace that I think is so conservative that I will be able to pick it up the last 5-10 miles of a 50 mile race - It never ends up that way, but I do end up with pretty even splits.
I kind of got the idea for the marathon... I basically want my HR to stay below 150 for the first 15 miles or so... then I know HR creep will start pushing it... For an ultra how do you pick a pace? I'm considering a 50k in dec... and probably will just run my normal long run speed and just try to crack 5 hours... but If I really wanted to give it my best... how do you pick a reasonable pace? and then when you get to say 60k or a 50 miler... how is it different?
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !