One KM Pace Times
Last week Lazy Runners were testing out their one km times and finding out how fast they can push that one km
Timing your one km at different levels gives you an idea of the possibilities that can be done in a race, especially a 5km or 10km race

Knowing how fast or slow you can run one km , allows you to work out what pace can be achieved for your longer distances. If you are comfortable running 1 km under 5 mins then your 10km should always be under 50mins, if you are a steady 6min/km runner then you will run the 10 under an hour

This week we tested a comfortable one km and then tried to run one km very fast…somewhere in between the fast one and the comfortable should be a pace that you could sit on and maybe push yourself a bit in a race.
The way to run a  10km faster is not to get out there everytime you are running 10km and say I’m running it faster today…often you find you run it slower or fail as you go out too fast and lose speed on the way back.

The 10km is…a long way...I like to break it up into 10X1km races

The one km is a simpler goal and can be managed. What you need to do is find your race pace in your one km and use the method I describe above, not your fastest one km (as you will never maintain that speed over 10km ) not your most comfortable, but a place in  between, where you are pushing a bit but you can maintain the push.
For instance I like to sit on under 5min km when I’m running (not all the time but when I feel like pushing my pace a bit). I use one of the Lazy Runner courses where I know all the 1km land marks and I just make sure that at each one km mark I’m a few seconds under…sometimes I can be 15 seconds under sometimes a few seconds over, but at least I can adjust it in the next km.

I prefer this method to halfway splits; I think that by the time you get to the halfway point you may have stuffed it up! You could of run out too fast and then cannot maintain the pace on the way back, or you could have gone too slow out and not have enough time to make up the difference. But at every km if you are sitting under the pace you want to be on you can be sure that you running the right race for you...and of course Lazy Runners always speed up it he last 500meters and finish strong…so you know you are going to get your PB!

The 10km is a long way, and if your goal is to run it under a certain time, I recommend you break it into little goals…each time you achieve a little goal it’s great and then you
are on the countdown to achieving your overall goal

So next time you choose a 10km fun run…for instance the Lazy Runner Fun Run on April 11...start planning your race
Find out your one km pace that you think you can maintain over 10km, multiply it by 10 and that is your goal race time…now start using that race pace...especially out on the Lazy Runner Ho Hum Runs

You could start with maybe doing the race pace every second km, so warm up for one km, then race pace , then your pace, race pace etc to the end...see what difference it has on your overall time
Or try going out at race pace for 5km and then coming back at normal pace...then next time going out for 5km at normal pace and using race pace on the way back...the possibilities are endless!!
Remember this is your personal race pace, no one else’s you are just challenging yourself and you own fitness and speed…

Also note don’t do this style of running everytime you go out there...try it once a week just to challenge yourself and push it a bit more, make sure your other runs are enjoyable and fun...you don’t want to be pushing yourself too hard everytime you are out there or you will start to dread pulling on the running shoes
I plan to do a lot of this type of pace work with the groups in Program One, with the focus race being the Lazy Runner Fun Run…and it is also good to do it in a  group, as it’s more motivating and challenging