Pacing yourself on long runs

TheEnglishman

I've no real idea how to pace myself on a long day out, especially is there's hills involved. Now running was fairly easy, but always happened on flat courses. I just ran consistent 10 minute mile and I knew I'd be ok over a marathon distance. But I'm lost trying to figure out how to pace myself when cycling hilly courses.

So I got myself a cycling computer with cadence, speed, heart rate and even gps data slung in. All manor of stuff.

But I've no idea how best to go about using this data to figure out pace. Is it a case of cycling at a heart rate I know I can keep up - say something around 150bpm? Do I peak out HR up hill and drop the HR on the descents and flat bits? Is cadence useful for pacing myself up hills? Or is all of this just useful for training and rubbish when out on a course?

Basically I'm suffering data overload, so any tips, especially ones won on the road, will be appreciated

ThatBikeGuy

I've never used any data except for the basic speedo. I just judge by how i am feeling and especially on longer rides i take more food so that i am keeping the energy levels high, coupled with a few energy drinks it has always served me well.

The closer i get to home i generally push myself harder, depending on how much energy i have left.

steve6690

I've recently started cycling and am trying to build the mileage with lots of long steady rides. I use a heart rate monitor to help me with pacing. I never let it get higher than 85% of maximum on the hills which is about 160 bpm for me. On the flats etc I try and keep it to around 140-150 bpm. If I keep to that, I can pretty much keep on going for a couple of hours without really needing to stop.
I'll probably start doing some speedwork after christmas.

andyeb

I would recommend setting your heart rate monitor to display as a % of your maximum heart rate, then pick a figure and stick to it. I use 73% for "Long Steady Distance" rides, as a pace I could easily sustain all day. Experimentation is key, but be aware you will be switching over to anaerobic respiration (which is not sustainable) if you go much above 85%.

TheEnglishman

andyeb wrote:

I would recommend setting your heart rate monitor to display as a % of your maximum heart rate, then pick a figure and stick to it. I use 73% for "Long Steady Distance" rides, as a pace I could easily sustain all day. Experimentation is key, but be aware you will be switching over to anaerobic respiration (which is not sustainable) if you go much above 85%.

Good one - will try over the weekend on the long training runs!

StillGoing

Or zones. To train for endurance you need to be in zones 2/3. It's difficult to avoid going into the higher zones on tough hills; if you've got no easy gears left on a climb and can't go any slower to keep the HR down, it is inevitably going to rise the more tired you get.