Inrecent years, technology has entered amateur sports in a big way: when you train, you wear very precise and sophisticated instruments on your wrist that can report a lot of data. Some are indispensable during training while others generate interesting data to be analyzed at a later time. The central parameter of any run is definitely pace: the measure of speed as a function of how many minutes it takes to run a km (min/km). Continuous recording of this parameter allows you to store how many kilometers you covered during your workout and in how long.
I remember measuring my first road workouts using a foot pod that had to be calibrated very well to estimate pace and distance traveled. The first gps I had used in the early 2000s was structured around two components: the wristwatch that displayed data and a signal detector that had to be strapped to the arm instead. It took minutes before it connected to satellites but was already able to provide reliable values. Over the years, these instruments have evolved more and more from large bulky wrist computers to modern small and lightweight wristwatches.
Pace is a key element
If you are a neophyte, you can rely first on simpler parameters such as elapsed time or total distance. But when you start having more specific goals, you can’t neglect your running pace.
Pace is an objective measure of your performance. If you run 10 kilometers in 50 minutes you have run at 5 min/km average regardless of whether you are tired or rested, hot or cold etc. This allows you to compare two performances obtained in two different periods and thus evaluate your progress. Over time, if you are following a training program, you should become progressively faster or otherwise able to sustain similar speeds at a lower level of effort.
Unlike heart rate, pace can be a term of comparison between different athletes. The maximum or threshold heart rate value cannot determine who is the stronger among two or more athletes. On the other hand, if you are able to travel a given distance at a lower pace than others, you are definitely the faster one.
Pace is the parameter that measures your performance in the race. This means that as each competition approaches, you can do “race pace” tests that serve to tell how close you are to your goal. To do well in a race, you don’t have to run it first in training to make sure you succeed. But you can, by running at race pace, realize the kind of effort and how long you will be able to sustain it. If your goal is a 10k you will need to be able to repeat 1000m several times at race pace. If you are preparing for a marathon you will need to be able, in the weeks leading up to the race, to do some long repeats (4/5 km example) at a pace equal to or slightly above race pace.
Unlike heart rate with pace you get a direct measure of all efforts of very short, short, medium and long duration. I can ask you to run at a given pace either 100m or 10km and I will always have an accurate measure of your result.
The Training Zones
As with heart rate, you should also do a test for pace to estimate your threshold speed. Based on this parameter you can calculate your training zones for running. Below you will find an example of a Training Zones structure divided into 7 different intensities according to anaerobic threshold pace. The structure of zones can vary from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 10. The type of classification depends on the preferences of each athlete and, as far as I am concerned, each coach. The greater the need for detail in the division of labor the greater the number of zones used.
-
Zone 1
: Very light greater than 129% of SA -
Zone 2
: Light 129 to 114% of SA -
Zone 3
: Moderate 114 to 106% of SA -
Zone 4
: Lasts from 106 to 100% of the SA -
Zone 5
: Very Hard 100 to 97% of SA -
Zone 6
: High-intensity short work from 97 to 90% of the SA. -
Zone 7: Speed work over 90% of SA
Practical example for an athlete who has a threshold speed of 4:40 min/km.
Zone 1
–:– 6:01
Zone 2
6:01 5:19
Zone 3
5:19 4:56
Zone 4
4:56 4:40
Zone 5
4:40 4:31
Zone 6
4:31 4:12- Zone 7 4:12 –:–
If you do not have the ability to do a functional assessment test you can estimate your SA speed as the maximum pace you are able to maintain for about 60 minutes. For novices, even an evaluation over 45 minutes can be meaningful.
What workouts can I do based on pace?
Virtually all of them. You can structure both medium- and long-duration work with steady, varied or progressive gait and speed work. Compared with heart rate, pace can also be used well to define different paces within the same workout between active phase (repetition) and recovery. Pitch is a precise measurement and does not need an adaptation time like the heart, which adjusts with some delay to sustained effort.
More difficult is to use pace as your training parameter on hilly trails where speed is a function of road gradient rather than sustained effort. In these situations, to keep effort constant, it is best to monitor heart rate or better yet watts, which give us a measure of effort independent of the slope of the climb.
This makes you understand how choosing one main parameter to follow in constructing workouts does not exclude the others. Rather, monitoring all parameters, both taken individually and as a function of others, allows a more comprehensive analysis of your performance.
main image credit: travelarium on DepositPhotos.com