Fitness Gets You Fit, Pacing Wins Races.
If you’re new to running, you likely have no idea how to run at a set pace (speaking from experience). To test this, go run a mile and try to hit a specific time — 6, 8, or 10 minutes. It doesn’t matter what time you choose. Just set a goal and try to finish as close to that time as possible without looking at your watch.
I’ll bet you’re off by 15+ seconds.
Not knowing how to run specific paces can hurt you in a race. You either go out way too fast and tank on the back half, or you play it too conservative and finish knowing you had more in the tank. Both scenarios can leave you disappointed in your performance — and that’s no bueno.
Don’t believe me? Look at elite marathoners. Their mile splits are usually within just a few seconds of each other from the beginning to the end of the race. If you asked one of them to run a 5-minute mile without a watch or pacer, chances are they could get within a few seconds of it. That precision comes with experience and practice. You may never become elite — and you may not want to — but you can absolutely benefit from learning how to pace accurately.
Luckily, we have tools like fitness watches to help us amateurs out. You should be setting specific pace targets in your training and working to hit them. My Garmin loves to beep at me mid-workout when I’m going too fast or too slow. I use those moments to check in and take a mental note of what that pace actually feels like — especially during intervals. Then on the next rep, I adjust and try to dial it in more precisely.
Another great (and often dreaded) pacing tool is the treadmill — aka the “dreadmill.” We dread it because it’s boring, but it also feels harder than running outside. I think there are a couple of reasons for that:
You’re not actually going anywhere. You’re running in place, which can make it mentally tougher.
You’re forced to hold a specific pace the entire time.
If you look at your data in TrainingPeaks or any other platform, your pace line probably isn’t perfectly flat. Maybe you ran four 8-minute miles, but within each mile your pace fluctuated between 7:30 and 8:30. We naturally surge a little faster and then back off a little slower. The mile pace you see is just the average — it doesn’t mean you ran that exact pace every second.
On a treadmill, though, you don’t get those fluctuations. If it’s set at 8:00 pace, you’re running 8:00 pace the whole time. No surges. No easing up. I think that consistency is part of why it feels harder.
A great drill to improve pacing is to choose a set distance — 800 meters, 1K, or 1 mile — and try to run it at a specific pace without looking at your watch. When you finish, check your pace. Rest, then repeat and adjust. Over time, you’ll get better at recognizing what different paces actually feel like.
Pacing matters. The better you become at it, the better you’ll perform — both in workouts and on race day.
