Breaking It Down
In a recent post, What Pace, I gave a shout out to a new app in the app store, Tracks Splits. This free and simple app takes your most recent race of any distance and helps you calculate workout paces for your track workouts. My first running coach David Haywood developed the app.
The app is not just about training paces for track work but breaking down those paces down into 100-meter increments.
Why is that necessary?
I have been guilty in the last few training seasons of relying on my Garmin to help me stay on pace, always keeping an eye on the Average Lap Pace.
There are a couple problems with relying on that technology.
- It is not always accurate and it often takes a portion of the track to find your pace.
- The pace around the track doesn’t have to be consistent to hit the or ‘lap time.’
The goal of most track/speed workouts is not to see how fast you can run the workout, but how to control your pace and be consistent based on your current level of fitness.
One great way to be consistent is to break down the workout into smaller increments than laps. Track Splits gives you the workout in 100-meter increments. You can see how the app works and calculates your personal times at this post, “What Pace?”
Coach David describes the reasoning behind this breakdown this way:
A track is a perfect place to hone your pace. By checking your splits every 100 meters, you can adjust your speed accordingly. For example, say you are off your pace by a second every 100 meters for the first 300 meters of a 400-meter interval. It is easier to adjust your pace at every 100 meters than trying to make up the time the last 100 meters.
Remember the key to a good track workout is to hit your paces. You should not run the workout faster just because you can.
During the next training season, I am going to go back to being more consistent around the track and the Track Splits app will help. It is going to take some work on my part to make sure the track is marked in 100-meter increments, but I know it will be worth the effort.
