The Ultimate Pacing Practice

The Ultimate Pacing Practice

Workout - The Ultimate Pacing Practice

  • 15min @ 6'30''/km
  • 3 lots of:
    • 4min @ 5'45''/km
    • 3min @ 5'00''/km
    • 2min @ 4'30''/km
    • 1min @ 3'00''/km
    • 3min rest
  • 12min @ 7'00''/km
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A rundown of Top 3 running interval sessions for pacing from This Messy Happy. The video is worth watching. The core workouts are below so you can get started this week. Watch the full video for the rest.

Key points

  • Pacing drills train your body to recognize each race pace (5k, 10k, half-marathon) by feel, without relying on a watch.
  • Start with 10 to 15 minutes of easy jogging plus dynamic drills and strides. Finish each session with a cool-down.
  • Keep perceived effort (RPE) steady within each set: roughly 8/10 for 10k pace, 9/10 for 5k pace, 7/10 for half-marathon pace.
  • Easy recovery periods should last about half as long as your hard efforts.

Workout example

  1. 10k pace intervals. 5 to 8 repeats of:
    • 5 min at your 10k race pace
    • 2½ min easy jog or walk recovery
    • The effort should feel the same from the first rep to the last (RPE around 8/10).
  2. 5k pace pyramid. After a 15 to 20 min warm-up:
    • 1 min at 5k pace (RPE 9) + 30 s jog
    • 2 min at 5k pace + 1 min jog
    • 3 min at 5k pace + 1½ min jog
    • 4 min at 5k pace + 2 min jog
    • 5 min at 5k pace + 2½ min jog
    • Then work back down through 4, 3, 2, 1 minutes, keeping the same recovery ratio.
  3. Paced variation 1. Three rounds of a 10-minute block:
    • 4 min at half-marathon pace (RPE 7)
    • 3 min at 10k pace (RPE 8)
    • 2 min at 5k pace (RPE 9)
    • 1 min all-out
    • 3 min easy walk recovery between sets.

Closing note Test these workouts over the next week and adjust the paces to your numbers in the Pacing app. Regular repetition builds race-pace awareness and gives you confidence on race day.

References

Inspired by This Messy Happy

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