Mastering Pace Discipline

Going on group runs is one of my all time favorite things to do

I spend a lot of time with the Evanston Running Club and Precision Multisport (premier triathlon group).

Both groups offer group workouts (duh)

And with the array of athletic capabilities in these groups, there is always someone faster than myself

I love that because it pushes me to become better

(My competitive nature comes out while doing the Wednesday morning interval workouts with ERC)

If you have experience in group runs, you know what I mean

However, there is a downside to this that I’ve fallen victim to time and time again

When you show up to a group workout without any real goal or intention, you can get sucked in to the social pressures of trying to keep up with everyone else

This can mean running too fast and/or too long for your body’s current load tolerance

I’ve heard countless stories of runners participating in a group run, going too hard, and then having some problem that lasts months afterwards effecting their running.

I know because I’ve been there myself…

But a simple trick to avoiding an unwanted tempo run when you just want to do a shake out jog is to set an intention prior to your workout

What do you actually want to get out of the run?

If you’re simply going for mileage at a comfortable pace, know what pace you’re trying to run and find someone in the group running a similar pace

Don’t just show up and run with the front group because that’s where you happened to be standing once everyone started

If you’re going for a tempo run, what pace is appropriate for you? Aim for that pace. Not the pace of the person at the front of the pack.

Essentially, having an idea of how intense and how far you want to run, prior to showing up to the group run, will help you identify unwanted temptations to increase training load unexpectedly. 

This is something I’m working on myself…

I hope to see you out there 

-Dr. Michael