Why doing time trials will make you race fast
What’s the difference between a time trial and a race? Short answer: A lot.
This past week was my recovery week before my speed block. I love doing time trials during this week. (I did a 1mile and 3k time trial
Even though my main race is a 5k in 10-14 weeks, this early on I don’t feel my body/mind is ready for the full 5k distance and speed.
I view the trials personally as a 90-95% effort to see where I’m at. It’s a snapshot of my fitness at the current time. Not an all-out race. I’m also not tapered or fresh for these.
also care how my body and mind responds to the stress of something close to race pace. Am I really tired halfway? Is my brain freaking out and panicking. (yes your brain and you are two different things)
I don’t get caught up in “how slow” I am as I don’t really care. It’s not a place for me to race myself. Just a barometer.
If you don’t do them, I recommend doing them throughout your pre-season and race-specific season.
There are a lot of diff ways to do it but for me, I do a distance half – 75% shorter than my main race.
For 10k to marathon people, I wouldn’t do more than a 5k or 8k time trial. Anything more is too much stress too soon.
I try to aim for a pace that should be where my fitness is – you can adjust your pace throughout the whole tt.
- On Thursday For my mile time trial, I was dead on at 5:21. And I felt good.
- On Sunday for my 3k time trial as part of a long run I was aiming to do 3:40s, then 3:30s, then 3:20s. I got very close and I felt pretty good.
Thx for reading – If you’re feeling this or got questions hit me in the comments, share and save it for later! I’m out here trying to help y’all all run faster as you get older 😬🙏
