Do you ever pick up your pace during a training run so you don't get passed?

I love these guys, who kill it on every training run, kick it in the last 200m etc...

even at my best level (15/5k) my easy days would be 8+/mi it was always a kick to hear someone at race say "...but I pass that guy all the time on my training runs" but they weren't at the track when we were doing intervals/tempo/etc

My area is practically deserted, so I basically never have to worry about this. But of course, sometimes I'll get the occasional walker heading my way, so I tend to pick it up and pass by as quickly as possible to avoid the akwardness.

on the other hand wrote:

I was trying to butcher a Churchill quote and apparently failed.

it's okay, i obviously failed at trying to use humor as well. cheers to you, my white stripe riding friend!

hey seriously, enjoy your running. i think the original question, that of 'do competitive juices run when people come up on your shoulder' is an affirmative. deciding when it matters, or if you even log it is another question.

Conundrum wrote:

I was doing a relaxed longish training run when a hear this heavy breather getting closer and closer behind me. I felt my automatic response was to pick up my speed to make it more difficult for him to pass. I even might have a little.

Yeah man, that was me and can I say? I was running so hard to keep up with you that I almost blew a lung...

Watch your back because I am THE competitive heavy breather and I might just beat your azz someday.

^Chill out, you're on a message board.

I don't mind when people pass me, even if I magically ascertain (as most people on this board seem to think they can) that I am faster than them. I'd much rather them plod along ahead than stick behind me huffing like my asthmatic shadow.

I pick up my pace to avoid letting rollerbladers pass me on the path.

By his breathing, I knew he was pushing it pretty hard, and that I was a better conditioned and faster runner.

How do you know from his breathing, if you don't know whether he's doing a "fast" 4 miles tempo run, or whether he's on the last couple of miles of a 20 mile long run?

Training is not racing.

on the other hand wrote:

Any one else feel guilty sometimes passing a masters runner/woman/fat person trying to lose weight who is obviously giving it their all? I usually blow by them to minimize awkward contact time but I also fake heavy breathing so they don't get discouraged getting passed effortlessly.

I used to do exactly the same thing or cross onto the other side of the street so they wouldn't notice much

Runners coming behind me - a different matter. I went about 10 years without anyone coming past. Once there was a guy closed pretty fast and I was already moving. He closed right up and I could hear beep.... beep......beep heart rate monitor. Anyway took him into the twilight zone but he stuck there, knew I had a problem then suddenly a louder BEEP.BEEP.BEEP.BEEP - his montitor is going off and he drops back (just shows the limitations of those things)

Got had on a bike once. This guy overtook me on a racer, returned the favour and opened up a gap- after about a mile thought I'd dropped him, then there was a big hill and he was closing. Right at the top he casually overtook me and turned off left straight away commenting 'you look knackered mate'!

used to train on a track. old guy sprinter racing me. OMG I wanted to tell him I'm marathon runner. I'd see him waiting for me to pass the 100m start mark. the race was on.

What bugs me is not so much getting passed, but people who come up behind you and then run just a couple steps off your shoulder. Either pass, or get off my ass. At this point I will try mixing up speeds, I always try slowing down first but that rarely does anything. What usually works is around a 1/4 mile surge that breaks them, and then you can go back to your normal run.

This has nothing to do with being competitive, it's just something that annoys me.

I pick up my pace when I go past the co-eds at the local university. Not to pass them, as it doesn't matter if they are running or walking. I don't try, it is just sub-conscious response.

w/ people in the neighborhood, I will usually slow down and run w/ them for just a little bit and talk to them for a little bit--a minute or two. I know most of the local runners in my city and have run with almost all of them for short periods.

I don't think I've gotten passed in a couple years... And there are a lot of faster runners than me where I live that I just never see, even crossing paths. where are you, MIT/Harvard xc teams??????????

I had an incident recently at the end of my long run and I wondered if I was being a douche. I was in the last mile of my 15 and I saw a woman ahead of my on the trail. She was moving pretty well but I didn't overtake her until about 11 yards before I pulled off at my stop point. She kept going. In retrospect, she must have thought I was a tool for doing that.

Nobody should be getting passed by people much slower than them. Stop doing easy runs so slow and all that mileage. It's a waste of time. You'll get better if you pick up your easy runs and stop letting old ladies pass you. It's soo annoying that the general consensus for every single letsrun runner is to run a ton of ridiculously slow junk miles. If you're going to train, train hard.. You can still train "smart" by running decently steady daily runs.

I run mostly at 7-7:30 pace and I think I've been passed 3 times in the last decade. Who knew I was fast.

I don't chase people who are running intentionally, though I do unconsciously sometimes. I do like to try and chase down cyclists, though.

When I was at Iowa State I would usually run on the cross country course, and pretty much every other run I would encounter some of the ISU women's team, namely Lisa Koll. When they would pass me I would usually end up trying to keep pace and burn myself out after a mile or so and ruin my run.

It was a combination of not wanting to look slow in front of girls, and the spandex shorts/sports bra outfit that gave me enough energy to run with them for a mile. It definitely wasn't good for training, but it was worth it.

dotato wrote:

on the other hand wrote:

Obviously I was talking about people less fantastically awesome than you.

awe, did i hit a nerve? you're cute. look up food chain in the DICK-tionary and understand your place in it, smackatalkolis.

i'm good with my self image. you got owned again!

Wow, you need professional help

Not good though if the toddler gives you the finger...

Its called having a Type A personality. Never mind the other runners, I've got it so bad that if I see a deer on my trail runs, I sometimes try to chase it down.