I did a 10k about 2 weeks ago and finished in 1:22:36. It was my first 10k and had a ton of hills that I walked the entirety of. My splits were:
12:34 (I ran a bit more than normal. Go go race adrenaline)
12:41
13:39
13:55
14:35
13:33
8:51 (the last .11 miles)
Since this race had so many hills is there another race that you've done recently? Because of the hills, it might not be a good fitness test race. If this were your current fitness, then these are the paces I calculate for you:
How does the 5K of 39:35 compare to your current PR (or recent time within the last 6 months)?
Your calculated mile race pace is 11:27 min/mile and calculated 400m is 2:20 (9:20 min/mile). What's interesting is that if you are run/walking a 13:44 min/mile with a 16:00 min walk and a 2:2 interval, then you're running an ~11:35 min/mile for 2 minutes. So essentially, you're running roughly mile pace for 0.172 miles and then walking 0.125 miles. But even getting anywhere close to a 8:30 min/mile means you're going faster than calculated 400m race pace. That's really fast for your calculated fitness level and likely places you in a huge hole for later in the race.
To hit a 13:19 min/mile, then it would be 16:00 min/mile walk with 11:00 min/mile run using a 2:2 interval.
A big key to run/walk (and essentially all running) is your Lactate Threshold. Your ability to maintain a pace roughly for an hour. The faster you run past that pace, the more fatigue you build-up. Run/walk is primarily based on Lactate Threshold pacing. The idea is that you run for a brief period of time, then walk to allow your body to clear the fatigue, and then start running again. All runners have unique qualities that we naturally gravitate towards to maximize our abilities. Some people are really good at Lactate Threshold runs, and others are really good at maintaining a single pace for a long duration. These two people may end up having the same average mile pace but approach how to get there differently. Interestingly the person good at LT runs may not be able to maintain the same pace at a single pace, and vice versa the single pace runner may not be able to do the LT runs. What's critical for all of us is to find out what works best for us through trial and error.
As an example, per my calculation my mile race pace is 6:01 and 400m is 1:14 (4:56 min/mile). The fastest mile I've ever done is 6:42. And I've never sniffed a 4:56 min/mile, no matter the distance. I am not good at Lactate Threshold paced runs. I am not a good run/walker as speed intervals (essentially the same as run/walk) are the biggest problem area in my running repertoire. I could run a 8:00 min/mile for 8 miles significantly easier then doing speed intervals of 6:45 min/mile and recovery running for 8 miles. If the above paces are accurate for you, then you are an excellent LT runner and are a great candidate for run/walk.
I only did a couple mile son the treadmill. About all I can take before boredom sets in. I never did manage to make a 12 min/mile when I went out to run yesterday. Slowest I managed was 11:30 min/mile when running. I kept thinking I was going slower and then I'd look at the watch and go, nope.. still faster than I thought. I should probably note that I am a super fast walker so maybe that is throwing everything off for me and why 12:00 min/miles seems so slow.
So what this really says to me is your question is: I want to run a 12:00 min/mile, but biomechanically I can't get it to work. I can't run slow enough without feeling like I'm not running anymore.
Is this an accurate rephrasing of your thoughts on an outside 12:00 min/mile pace? If so, I know a few people running in the 14:00-15:00 min/mile paces that might be able to make some suggestions to you on how they biomechanically are running those paces.
Were you capturing this 11:30 min/mile pace via "lap pace" or "instantaneous pace" on the Garmin? I'm partial to lap pace because of the wide variability of instantaneous pace. I also find that when people use instantaneous pace, they are constantly making micro adjustments to their pace to try and stay within a window. Mentally this is taxing. And based on my research it may actually increase the perception of effort. Thus causing an easy "physical" pace to become harder, even though it isn't per se.
I really only feel like I need the walk later in the run. With the 10k I ran, I think I ran 3 minutes or so before stopping to walk then resumed my intervals of walking/running. The recovery on that first spurt was rough because I ran my throat dry and didn't bring water with me. Still managed to recover enough to kick off next interval though.
So as we discussed prior, if you skip a run/walk interval then you put yourself in a deficit to what your training style is. It increases your fatigue sooner and will make the run more difficult at the end. If I were to advise you on race strategy, I would recommend doing your best not to skip any of your normal run/walk intervals, and to try and make your first run sequence your slowest.
Try it and see if the run goes better. Essentially by starting slower in the beginning of the run/race it allows all of the body's mechanisms to be primed and ready to go.
Oh in the case, guess I'm pretty even split.
That's ideal. Anytime you fade at the end of a race or any training run suggests that the pace was too much for you. So if during training you find you're constantly finishing your runs slower than you started, then try starting even slower until you finish at the same pace or faster. This will help retrain your body (especially for race day). But if you're even splitting then you should be fine here.
Here's the key question - If I were to say run as slow as you can whereas it feels as if you never need to take a walking break, what pace would that be at?
The one thing I'll add is that I only train at my desired race pace or faster for about 20% of my total weekly time training. The other 80% of the time I train slower (much much slower). So you might also find that you'll race faster by training slower. I race a marathon in 7:44, but today I ran a 10:07 min/mile (granted I'm still recovering, but it's still to say I train slow).
Lastly, based on Galloway's website it would appear a 90:180 or 120:120 (in seconds) run interval doesn't really appear.
Looks like you should be more in the 30/30 or 60/30 area. Have you tried those intervals for longer distances?
And based on his magic mile calculator your training paces should be around a 16:53 min/mile.
Although, I'm in no way a Galloway expert.
Thoughts?
