Calculating your running speed can be important to those training for certain times in races, such as the Good For Age times in the Abbott Majors. It can also help you to calculate pace for a half marathon or just to help you figure out how long you’ll be out training for so you can plan running fuel. Whether you’re a beginner or a long-time runner, calculating your running speed can be the difference between getting a PB and struggling through a race.
Some people begin races too quickly, so calculating your running speed before a race can help you determine how fast or slow you should be running to get the time you want.
A quick and easy way to calculate pace is to divide your running time by the mileage. For instance, if you ran 3 miles in 30 minutes; you ran ten minute miles.
There are plenty of calculators online for tracking pace, such as this one, that will advise what your running speed is whatever distance you put in.
A decent smartwatch will also be able to help you check your pace when running. Some, like Garmin, have pace alerts; meaning you can put in the range of the pace you want to be between and it’ll confirm when you’re above or below that time to keep you on target.
If you don’t have a smartwatch that does this, and you run with your phone, you can also set some apps to provide pace updates. Strava and Runkeeper should be able to provide this.
Calculating running speed has been helping runners for years and will help many more to come. You’ve just got to make sure you’re calculating correctly.
