Why not run by effort all the time?

Effort good, heart rate even better (I mean this to support your point).

To address your question, running by time/pace is helpful if, well, you have a certain time goal you are trying to hit. But I agree, as long as the goal is long term adaptation to stress - ie, getting faster - then effort per duration is probably more helpful than a specific time/pace.

You hit a certain time because you know you can hit that time. If you don't look at the splits it's easy to settle into a pace that's slower than you should be going.

I run by effort because I'm ocd. When I had a garmin watch, I'd keep checking pace every 5 secs or less. I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. I found the only way I could enjoy running was with a cheapo timex that displays lap time, but not pace.

To improve while running by effort, you have to make a conscious effort to hurt. You have to say to yourself, I'm going too slow. Even on a course you've run many times, when you see a split, you have to say I have more in me and I need to pick it up even more.

I wish I was one of those people who could look at a watch just once or twice a lap, or when it beeps at a mile, but I'm not.

You should run by effort.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dUIAiB3ZwTs&feature=youtu.be

Fffffff wrote:

Not long ago I started running only by effort, in the sense that I never check my pace in the middle of a run, I only go by effort. If it’s intervals I look at the watch only after each rep to see the time. If it’s a long run then only at the end of the run. I find running like this makes much more sense and also easier mentally and more accurate in the sense that not each day is the same- some days it’s windy, some days you feel heavier etc...

As long as you check your splits at the end of each rep to get feedback that your "effort" calibration is in line, I think it's a great idea. It can also give clues to overtraining or other problems. If you run for effort, and when you check your watch at the end of the long run, and you're 10 minutes slower than usual, it's a clue something else isn't going right in your training.

I disagree with TheJeff about running on heart rate. I know it's a sample size of three (myself twice, and another runner I know) that tried heart rate training, and in retrospect, heart rate can be all over the place for a lot of reasons. I guess actually I don't have a problem using it as a training tool, but it's a pretty horrible racing tool. I've been well above my target heart rate in multiple races and never crashed and burned. I shouldn't say I've never crashed and burned, but never when my heart rate was telling me to shut it down. And a friend I had was religious about heart rate, and held herself back for most of a marathon, and finished fresh and feeling great, about 10 minutes slower than she was aiming for.

Depends on who you are, I think.

I can't just run by effort because I would always run slower than I need to. My "effort" and "based on feel" runs always feel harder than they actually are. Your mental state has a huge impact on how well you can run.

I don't wear a watch on most of my runs, only for track workouts. Especially for an easy run, it really doesn't matter how fast you're going, just that you're going easy. For long runs and tempos, I still run by feel. Other than track workouts, the only runs I time are when I'm somewhere unfamiliar and I don't know how far I'm going, so I go by time instead - either way, I don't know my pace.

I found in doing this for years, really, that it made me run faster and faster over time, which limited my ability to run REAL hard efforts when needed. I'd notice others running very slowly certain days, and marvel at my speed running around. They were going easy-hard, and I was going Pretty Dang Hard every day.

They'd beat me every single time race day.

I think if you are experienced and know how certain paces feel you can do it.

I don't like trying to hit certain split times on the road. It's fine on the track where conditions are controlled moreso

I always time every run just because if I get injured or sick or enter a slump I want to try and see where it might have started.

I like the freedom of effort based training esp tempo or descending miles , neg split long runs etc.

Wolf's Bane wrote:

To improve while running by effort, you have to make a conscious effort to hurt.

If training hurts, you are doing it wrong or you have a medical issue.

You should feel discomfort at times, but if you are doing something that causes pain, that activity isn't making you a better runner.

For easy and recovery HR training is really useful. It’s useful for Tempo and Marathon training too.

It shouldn’t be used for racing.

It will read high in the heat.

It will read high when you’re tired and recovering.

If you do it for a few years, you’ll actually guess your HR within a few beats.