How I Pace my Runs

It is very difficult for me to know the difference between paces. Thankfully, the majority of my runs are completed at an easy pace, and my heart rate determines my pace. However, hill repeats, intervals, tempo runs, and marathon pace runs require different paces. My GPS watch displays pace, but I find it to be laggy. It feels like it takes an eighth of a mile for the watch to adjust to a pace change. My solution is to use tenth-mile splits. For quarter-mile intervals, I use twentieth-mile (0.05 mile) splits.

In the picture above, you see the notes I make myself to help me with my splits. I put the time intervals in my watch as a workout. The 25 minute tempo workout consisted of:

• 10 minute warmup at 11:35/mile
• 5 minutes running at 9:35/mile
• 5 minutes running at 9:00/mile
• 5 minutes running at 9:20/mile
• 5 minutes running at 9:00/mile
• 5 minutes running at 9:35/mile
• 5 minute cool down at 11:35/mile.

Since my paces are all close to ten minute per mile pace, I use the difference between a ten minute mile and my prescribed pace to track my progress. A ten minute mile is one minute or 60 seconds per tenth-mile.

The 11:35 per mile warmup is 695 seconds per mile, which is 69.5 seconds per tenth-mile. Since it is a warmup, slower is better; so I rounded it to 70 seconds, which is 10 seconds slower than my 10 minute base. When I start the warmup, I say to myself, “Point 1, 10”, corresponding to my first check-in point in one-tenth of a mile. When I finish the first tenth, I refresh my memory of what I just did and say what I need to do next. I say, “Point 1, 10. Point 2, 20.” When I complete the second tenth I say, “Point 2, 20. Point 3, 30.” This pattern continues, and I wrap around when I hit 60 seconds. When I complete the fifth tenth of a mile I say, “Point 5, 50. Point 6, 0.”

For tenth-mile splits that are faster than ten minute miles, I subtract from 60. A 9:20 mile is 560 seconds per mile or 56 seconds per tenth-mile. The difference between 60 seconds and the split time is 4 seconds. In this case, I am subtracting four from the seconds. I say, “Point 1, 56. Point 2, 52. Point 3, 48. Point 4, 44,” and so on.

I find checking in every tenth of a mile keeps my pacing in check. If I am ahead, I can slow down; if I am behind, I can speed up. Either way, I can check in at the next tenth of a mile. How do you pace your runs? Please share below in the comments section.