How important is a pre-half 10k for pacing?

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Fat Tulip Jan 2016 5:41pm, 24 Jan 2016 34 posts	0 Fat Tulip I'm doing a half at Easter, and would like to PB (current PB is a few seconds off 2 hours, so I'd like to definitely go sub-2, and if I could knock 2/3 mins off that would be great). I'm not really sure what shape I'm in at the moment. In November, I did the Gosport half in 2:03. This was where I did sub-2 in 2014, so I'm not sure if I have lost fitness since then (my running last year was quite sporadic and less mileage than previous years), or if it was due to worse course conditions (it was really windy on the day, which meant I didn't push as much in the last 3 miles as I knew I couldn't PB). Probably a bit of both, although a few weeks before that I'd got a slight 10k course PB on a course I'd run the year before. So, I was thinking that I need to do a 10k race 2/3 weeks before the half to check my fitness and be able to settle on a pace for the half (so I can run it as fast as I can, but not blow up in the last few miles). Trouble is, that due to various other commitments, there's not a good local option so fitting one in would be slightly awkward. Would I be able to get a pretty accurate idea of pacing from a Parkrun time, or would a 10k race be much more accurate? I can't think of anywhere that would be good for doing my own 10k time trial, plus I think I'd be much slower just trying to do 10k as fast as I can vs an actual 10k race.
Autumnleaves Jan 2016 7:11pm, 24 Jan 2016 7,813 posts	0 Autumnleaves I've never found a 10k at the ideal time in a half training plan, it is useful as a benchmark but I wouldn't have thought it essential. A good parkrun could as easily boost your confidence in terms of pacing.
Derby Tup Jan 2016 7:23pm, 24 Jan 2016 19,824 posts	0 Derby Tup You could always do an "informal time trial" over say 5 miles, 10 k or 10 miles. Maybe a club-mates or pal could pacd you?
mr d Jan 2016 7:40pm, 24 Jan 2016 2,003 posts	0 mr d Everyone one will have a slightly different opinion on this, but in line with DT I would try 9-10 miles, three to four weeks prior on a similar profile to the race. This is why I love my local half I can be at the start line in less than two mins and do a couple of runs on most of the course. As it has some repeated sections you can run it all in less than 13.1. Good luck.
Fat Tulip Jan 2016 8:27pm, 24 Jan 2016 35 posts	0 Fat Tulip Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not a member of a club and don't have any running friends who could pace me, so I'm not sure how useful an informal time trial would be (I'm not very good at motivating myself to go full pelt!).
Dvorak Jan 2016 9:32pm, 24 Jan 2016 11,251 posts	0 Dvorak Hmm. I don't think I've ever considered a pre HM 10K as important for race pace planning. Not to say that if I have a 10K time, I won't use it to think about pace. An all out parkrun (supposing you have put in adequate HM training) would be as good as a guide to pace (at which not to go out at ;-)), I reckon. I also habitually fail to drag out anything near race pace over distance on a training run, so they're not much guide to how I'll do on race day.
Velociraptor Jan 2016 9:53pm, 24 Jan 2016 33,375 posts	0 Velociraptor I confess that until I saw this thread I didn't even know that running a 10km race as preparation for a half marathon was a thing. To me, the two distances are in different ball parks psychologically, even though my PB paces for both are quite close. So I don't think it's at all important, and if I was to advise any one specific session for half marathon training it would be a training run of at least 14 miles at an effort level that isn't as hard as racing but is faster than a plod.
distracted by baubles Jan 2016 10:01pm, 24 Jan 2016 360 posts	0 distracted by baubles Ah Velociraptor took the words out of my mouth! A good 14 miler prior to the race is better than a 10k race. You may find that running a 10k AFTER the half will lead to a good time! My 5k Pbs were all after putting in the miles for a half marathon.
larkim Jan 2016 10:06pm, 24 Jan 2016 402 posts	0 larkim My pre-half confidence boosters are being able to hit target race pace (or a few seconds faster) over 5.5 miles a couple of times in the 10 days or so before the race. Whatever I can hit in those two runs tends to correlate well with my race pace, with no mid-training plan races required. I suppose it might depend on how much "race boost" you get and how good you are at pushing yourself up to race pace in training runs. I agree with those that say 10k is very different to half psychologically too.
Fat Tulip Jan 2016 10:11am, 25 Jan 2016 36 posts	0 Fat Tulip It's not so much that I think it's good prep/ training, it's just to get an idea of where I am fitness wise so I know what pace I might be capable in the half. It's good to know that so many of you don't bother, though, and also that I'm not the only one who can't do race pace training. This has been very useful. I think I'll try and fit in a Parkrun at full pelt, and also try the race pace 5.5 milers. I plan to do a 14 mile run, so will try and do it a bit faster than I was planning as well.