This week kicked off track workouts for the Rye Triathlon Club (I'm the "run captain," which means that I create workouts, provide tips, attempt to run with many folks, rely upon a cadre of volunteers to help with pacing on long runs, and generally try to help our triathletes with their running). Although the chilly temps and gale force wind kept attendance quite low, a couple hardy souls came out to set baselines. My workout of choice for this? The mile run.
In this age of precise instrumentation and GPS-based watches, I still rely upon the construct of a track mile to tell me where I am in my training. Full disclosure: I spent the bulk of my competitive running career as a miler, so it's clear that I love the distance. But to me, not only does the mile blend elements of strength and speed, it's an easy distance to cover, AND we can all come up with an average mile pace based on the last 5K, 10K, or half marathon we've done that gives us a frame of reference.
That reference point is useful to understand one's level of fitness as well as what needs to be done to improve both now and throughout the season. The mile is also useful in beginning to establish a sense of pace. EVERYONE that has run a mile knows the fun feeling of going out WAY too fast for the first 400M and paying for it in the 3rd 400M. Understanding the point at which oxygen debt sets in or learning how to cruise along at a pace that's right on your border line is very important for racing. The mile brings all of this home since it's short enough to do relatively hard and long enough to allow you to think about your pace per 400M, a very useful tool to get your body used to starts, surges, and overall pacing.
Now, telling a few runners to "go out and run a mile and pace yourself" is admittedly quite hard when they don't yet have a sense of pace. But very quickly, they realized what was too fast as my runners all did their first 400s WAY faster than their ultimate average pace would be. But that's a valuable lesson, not only for future miles but also for racing. Whether you're in a running race or a triathlon, going out too hard too early spells doom. I know because that's how I ran for most of my career. Even pacing for me didn't show up until I was too old to go out crazy fast anymore, and the discovery of consistent pacing opened up a new world of somewhat less suffering over my race distances. Understanding the mile pace at which you're comfortable is a big part of that, both mentally and physically (stay tuned for a blog on "scarring" in the near future...no, that is not a typo).
My runners did well...both exceeded what they felt they could do, though I'm sure a certain amount of "track bravado" helped. Still, we could establish baselines for what their track workout paces would be going forward, and we were able to create a view into what race performances might look like given work throughout the season and the ability to maintain a pace slightly slower than what they did but still quick.
Personally, I have not done a one-mile baseline setting for this season...I've done several track workouts incorporating miles and 800s at paces that I feel I should be able to handle given current fitness and recent/past performance, and thus far, my sense of my fitness has been accurate. However, my gut tells me that I'll get out there soon just to see where I am regardless of the other workouts. Don't tell my coach. ;-)
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