It’s a tricky thing when you talk about speed. I try to keep everything in perspective when pace comes up with runners and non-runners. I understand that you used to run a 5 minute mile in high school, but my goal is not to run a mile as fast as I can… it’s to run several as fast as I can.

The way I look at it is that someone’s 8 minute pace is fast when compared to a 10 minute pace. And that 10 minute pace is fast when compared to a 12 minute pace. And that guy’s 8 minute pace? Well, that’s slower than Meb’s Boston Marathon winning pace of sub 5’s. What I’m trying to say is that someone’s “fast” is always someone else’s “slow” and making comparisons can drive you crazy.

 

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That being said: I wanna go FAST. Haha. Don’t we all? In less than 10 days I’ll be running Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. It’s a 12k race that draws a lot of attention for fast runners and costumed runners. I’ll be running up front with the faster pack. I typically don’t train for speed at shorter distances, but my 10k PR is around a 7:15 pace and my half marathon PR is around a 7:25 pace. If I’m running 12k (7.46 miles), is it fair to assume that I can keep that 7:15 pace?

Based on last year’s finisher results, a 54 minute finish (7:15 pace) would put me somewhere around the top 500 (overall), so I guess it’s time to throw some goals out there:

A Goal:
52 minutes. This is right at a 7 minute pace. It’s not a flat course, so I can’t just sprint through it.

B Goal:
Sub 54 minutes. A 7:15 pace seems very doable for 12k, but as I said earlier, I don’t really train at that pace. Typically I float in the 8-8:30 range so I’ll have to hit the gas a little bit.

C Goal:
Run, finish, grab my medal, take lots of post race photos and enjoy the finish line festival… this one seems very, very doable.

I’ll throw on some speedy shoes, compression socks, sunglasses (because it makes you look at least 30-seconds faster) and make a run for it

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Registered runners receive:

  • Official Under Armour Runners’ T: New design for 2014 race!
  • Map My Run Membership: Free three-month MVP trial
  • 15% off a Fitbit product
  • Finisher Medal: YES! The medals are back!
  • Awards: Seeded, Sub-Seeded and Centipedes will compete for awards
  • Race Bib with Timing Tag: Set a PR with our timing technology!
  • Course Entertainment: Local bands and DJs will be placed strategically along the course playing and spinning exciting, uplifting music to help you achieve that PR
  • Finish Line Festival: Entertainment, partnership activations, consumer engagement and tens of thousands of runners celebrating their accomplishment!

There is still some time to register for the event if you want to run fast, slow, medium paced, in costume… but the race is on May 18 and online registration closes soon.

 

Bay to Breakers 12k, May 18

$5 off code: PAVEMENTRUNNER5 – Register now.

 

When you are training, do you mix in speedwork?