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Running Pace and Different Distances

My 16-year-old daughter is starting to run cross country at her school. She is new to running and I would like to find every opportunity to encourage her and show improvement. The meets she runs in are different lengths (3K, 4K, 5K).

I'd like to be able to show her that her pace is improving each week -- and am wondering if there is a way to adjust pace over distances.

That is, I'd like to normalize all of her times from different-length races so we can compare them.

I understand this may not be how "real" runners think about it, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

– John, Williamstown, MA USA

Answer by Dom: Hi there,

Thanks for your question about your daughter's cross country running. You can compare her races fairly — but only if you compare the right things, and I'd recommend two tools: pace per kilometre and a simple weekly log.

1. Normalising race distances
2. Why courses and race days differ: comparing fairly
3. Improving performance every week? Process goals for young people in sport

Normalising Race Distances

There is a tool that will help you do exactly what you want, it is a race conversion calculator.

It allows you to work out what the equivalent time is on a different distance given a time in a distance you ran, e.g. you can work out that a 1:25 half marathon is roughly equivalent to a sub-3 hr marathon.

It is actually exactly how "real runners" think. Well, at least, I do use it all the time. When I have got a 'big race' coming up I usually run a tune-up race a few weeks before, so I know what type of shape I am in and how fast I should be expecting to go on the big day.

It is very useful to have an understanding of equivalent performances. It can help prevent you from going out at a pace that is too high or too low. It can also serve as a bit of a reality check.

Before you reach for the calculator, there is a simpler first step. Convert every race to pace per kilometre — finishing time divided by distance. Turn the time into seconds, divide, turn it back. Here is a worked example. A 3K in 15:30 is 930 seconds, divided by 3, which is 310 seconds: 5:10 per km. A 5K in 27:00 is 1,620 seconds, divided by 5, which is 324 seconds: 5:24 per km.

The 5K pace looks slower. Is she getting worse? No. The longer race is usually slower per kilometre, because she has to hold the effort for longer. So don't compare a 3K pace with a 5K pace. Compare pace per km only between races of similar length. For a 3K against a 5K, put the 3K time into the calculator and ask what it predicts for 5K. That 15:30 comes out at roughly 26:40, about 5:20 per km — so a 27:00 5K a few weeks later is close to the same level, not a step back. Write down each race as a 5K equivalent and you have one number you can follow all season.

Why Courses and Race Days Differ: Comparing Fairly

Your intent is great. You want to encourage her and show her she is getting better. However, having run a lot of races in my time I know that you cannot be faster each and every week.

Some weeks you feel strong and you do really well. Some weeks you do not.

Some weeks the course may involve more hills, more mud, more difficulty than other weeks.

Some circumstances may suit some runners; some circumstances may suit others.

Especially in cross-country, you can have some discrepancy in course lengths as well. Sometimes they advertise a course as being 5k long and it is 5.2k or 4.8k. Hard to compare course to course.

That 0.4K gap matters. On a 5K course, 4.8K versus 5.2K is about eight per cent of the race — enough to move her finishing time by two minutes or more. Cross country courses over grass, mud and hills are also not flat or accurately measured, so a pace per km from one meet tells you little about a pace from another.

My advice is to compare like with like. Use the same course year on year, if her school races it again. Or look at her finishing position among the same group of runners — if she moves from 30th to 22nd against the same girls, that is real progress whatever the clock says.

For a clean comparison, add a monthly 5K time trial. Pick a flat route, ideally the same one each time, run it in similar conditions and at a similar time of day. That gives you a time without hills, mud or a mismeasured course getting in the way. She does not need to race it — just run it hard. Four or five of these across the season will show a trend far better than any single meet.

Improving Performance Every Week? Process Goals for Young People in Sport

In running, I think it is helpful to think about process goals and performance goals.

Process goals are basically the goals we set for ourselves in the training we do, e.g. the number of training sessions per week, the mileage we cover, etc.

Performance goals are the results in competitions and the race times we get.

In a sport like running it is much better to focus on process goals. Making sure we put the work in. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Eventually, that will lead to improvements in performance.

Here is how I'd make that visible for her. Keep a simple weekly log with three lines: sessions done, miles covered, and how her easy runs felt on the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale. RPE is a 1–10 effort scale, where 1 is very easy and 10 is all-out. A week might read: three sessions, nine miles, easy runs at 6 out of 10. Six weeks later: four sessions, twelve miles, the same easy pace now feeling like 4 out of 10. That is progress you can show her every week — even when a muddy race tells a different story.

Expect big gains in her first season. A new runner improves fast, but unevenly — a jump, a flat spell, then another jump. That is normal.

Performance in races may be more erratic. So, praise your daughter for the work she puts in every week. Praise her for every race finished. Almost every race will have a positive moment that can be cherished. But avoid getting too obsessed about race times. Especially when people race every week, they'll hit good days and bad days and performance will not always be linear.

It's fine to be a bit competitive. And get young children familiar with the concepts of competition, winning and losing, and improving themselves. The most important thing is that they do these competitions with positivity. That they enjoy what they do and that it builds their confidence, such that it sets them up for a healthy, happy life.

Enjoy the upcoming cross-country season!

Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Dom

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