31 March 2009

Perceived Effort

I decided to run the Ashland Railroad Run 10K this coming Saturday. Last year's race was my 10K PR (45:29). But, I'm not shooting for my PR this year but running with a friend to help him set a PR. We're going to aim for a sub-50. So, this morning, I wanted to see if I could do a tempo run at about 7:45-7:50 to see if I could get the rhythm.

Warm-up mile was pretty normal. Then I picked it up to what I thought was about 7:45. It felt hard, though -- I assumed it was because I had done the Ukrop's 10K only 3 days ago and my legs were still tired. I hit the end of the mile and hit the lap button -- only 8:00! That was really discouraging, not because of the time but because it felt like 7:30. So, I did what any smart runner would do and slowed down.

The second fast mile didn't feel any easier even though I figured it was about 8:15. In fact, it felt harder. Hit the lap button -- 7:50!

So, naturally, I slowed down even more. Yeah, right. That mile actually felt better but, go figure, that mile was 7:14.

Lesson learned: perceived effort is a poor predictor of actual pace.

Second lesson learned: determining actual pace on an unmarked route and checking pace at 1 mile intervals is not highly effective. A Garmin or Pulsar are almost essential -- but that's an expensive solution.

Third lesson learned -- or, maybe just a rhetorical question: How in the world am I going to be of any help to my friend on Saturday if I can't judge pace any better than I did today? (Of course, maybe today my internal pace-o-meter was just out of whack.)
TEMPO SPLITS:
1.00 x 8:53.96
1.00 x 8:00.07
1.00 x 7:50.31
1.00 x 7:14.62
1.26 x 10:14.44 (8:07.65 mpm pace)
Run well, y'all,
Bob

5 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

good of you to pace for your friend. Hope it was tired legs and that your perceived effort will better match your body on your next run :)

Mark said...

Good running, Bob!

Crabby McSlacker said...

It's so funny that our perceived effort bears so little relation to reality!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Bob, I'm so glad it's not just me! I have such a hard time maintaining an even pace because perceived effort is a poor predictor of actual pace.

I thought practicing this skill would hone it, but maybe that was just wishful thinking . . . .?

Michelle said...

WOW You are fast and speedy!!