Move Your Arms Faster and Your Legs Will Follow!

Pacing and Arm Swing

This week, I spent time as a Monday morning quarterback, analyzing my simulation run from last week. Pacing came to mind and from there a thought about arm swing formed.

I went out too fast for the simulation run. I have had a similar issue with my tempo runs where I go out too fast, peak, and can’t slowly bring the pace back down to make a symmetrical graph of pace over time. This week, I nailed my tempo paces and had some gas in the tank for the last portion of my tempo run.

Last week, I had trouble with my “fast” run. This week, I did a better job at keeping my pace consistent, until the last mile. I had trouble lifting my legs fast enough. After the run, I assumed it was due to a strength issue, but as I thought about it more, it might be related to an arm swing. The experts say to move your arms a little faster and your legs will follow. Maybe that is the cue that I need. This week the “fast” run moves up to six miles. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll concentrate on my arm swing if my legs aren’t moving fast enough.

I thought more of the pacing plan for my time trial. In the past, I have tried to run even splits for my 5K and 10K time trials. I have not tried to run a negative split. Perhaps trying to run negative splits for a 5K will slow me down at the beginning and keep some gas in the tank for the end. Do you have any experience with pacing 5K races? Do negative splits work? Please let me know in the comments below.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Received a Job Offer!

Image
This is my 100th blog post. I have gone from a student who did not like to write in elementary school, middle school, high school, and undergraduate school, to a graduate student who tolerated writing a thesis, to a principal who needed to write at least once a week, to someone who writes when he has something to say for fun. I started this blog to share what I have learned and to demonstrate to a future employer that I know how to communicate. I guess it’s appropriate that my 100th article is job-related. I was offered a job! It was a remote job with flexible hours and a six-figure salary in instructional design. Unfortunately, it was a scam. Something felt off from the initial email, but given how AI is used these days, I chalked it up to someone using AI poorly to communicate with potential applicants. Below, I will share the red flags I saw and explain how the scam works so you can protect yourself and your friends and family. Something Was off
Read more

“Let’s go!” vs. “No way!”

Image
I didn’t plan well for my planned pace run. I have learned I am a better runner when training for a race or time trial because I have a plan. Since recovering from injury, I have been running every other day, so 3 to 4 times per week, which roughly constitutes a plan. Last week, I wanted to transition back to running 5 to 6 days a week. I had the following plan in mind. Sun: Recovery Mon: Base Tue: Recovery Wed: Speed Thu: Rest Fri: Pace Sat: Long However, I wasn’t able to get my run in on Wednesday. At the time, I thought it was okay and could flip-flop it with my Thursday rest day. However, on Thursday, I was extremely busy with housework and could not pull myself away for a run. When Friday came, I thought I was ready for a pace run. I figured I hadn’t run for two days; my body must be prepared. I did not account for the fact that I was under-fueled on Thursday and Friday. I failed to comprehend that the housework I did on Thursday was a full-body workout. Friday was also one of the
Read more

Don’t Let Strava Steal Your Low Heart Rate Training Mojo

Image
This is a friendly reminder that what you value might differ from Strava. I have been on the low heart rate bandwagon for a while. By keeping my heart rate low for 80% of my runs, I can develop my aerobic system and allow my body to do more at a lower heart rate. For example, last week, I had my best base run of 2024. I ran 5.2 miles and averaged 10:24/mi. My heart rate average was 138 BPM, and I spent 99% of my time in Z2 or lower. I was stoked to see these statistics at levels I had not seen since training for my last marathon. After I loaded the run into Strava, I scrolled down to the section that indicates when your fitness has increased. I looked, but this run did not trigger the criteria for Strava to show that I improved my fitness. Then, I looked at the relative effort section, and Strava reported that my effort was lighter than my three-week average. I ran further and faster with a lower heart rate, and my effort was lighter; what? I felt great, as if I had improved! I thought
Read more