First ½ in years.... (Read 713 times)

After starting with a ½ as the first race I trained for, I have focused on 5km down to 800m for the last 2-3 years. Now I'm racing in the Army Run in Ottawa on 21 September. How do I pace this thing? mta: PB: 1:31:40..... first race I trained for Recent race result: 5K 17:14 & 17:16 in may. modified again to add link to race report

Thanks. I'm thinking about 40 min for the first 10K, and go from there. Aiming at just under 1:25. I should note that even with my noticible lack of real speed at the end of track races, I'm better at shorter distances, so I'm not expecting to go under 1:20 or anything.

Aiming for 10K in 40 minutes sounds like a good plan. At that point you'll be far enough into it that you won't need a game plan anymore--you'll just react to how you're feeling.

Big help: running with the women's leaders for the first half of the race.

Carrots are always nice, especially elite carrots. Nicely done Craig.

This was a nice half, especially considering the paltry mileage you've been doing. I always assumed you were more inclined towards speed than endurance but now I'm not so sure. If you could build up to 60 mpw or more and hold it there for a year or so I believe you'd see MAJOR improvement at all distances. It looks like the disconnect between your shorter and long race times has been more due to training than anything else. Well done.

Nice job! I actually did a run in Kingston on Friday. I was there on biz and took my gear with me, so when work was over I headed down to the waterfront, ran across the bridge to the military academy area and ran around a bit. The fun of being a runner...pack your shorts and go.

Cool. I should update that profile, I'm actually down in Oromocto NB right now, a bus went up for the race from the base. I'll be back in Kingston next month, so I might just wait until it's right again. RMC campus is nice, and Fort Henry (the fort on the hill overlooking RMC campus) is a great spot for hill repeats. My favorite Kingston run is a long one, up Rte 15 to Kingston Mills, cross the locks, back down Montreal Street to downtown, and cross back to the base on the causway. If you're ever there and looking for a long run, it's ~25km from the base, running the loop from downtown would probably put it around 22-23.

This was a nice half, especially considering the paltry mileage you've been doing. I always assumed you were more inclined towards speed than endurance but now I'm not so sure. If you could build up to 60 mpw or more and hold it there for a year or so I believe you'd see MAJOR improvement at all distances. It looks like the disconnect between your shorter and long race times has been more due to training than anything else. Well done.

I'm sure you're right, but being in the military (field time, courses, etc) and a winter sport (curling) have taken their toll on my consistancy. Not that I don't want to, but I'm not sure I ever will buckle down and do it, to be honest. On the other hand, this was basically, for me, a perfectly run race. I don't think I left more than a couple seconds on the course, and I wobbled the whole way from the finish to the recovery tent. I wasn't more than 13 seconds either way from my average pace, and I dropped some very good runners in the second half of the race, which I don't normally do even in 5K's. Anyway, it's another data point, and maybe I will be able to stick some milage after seeing this. Thanks for the comments, all.