Racing - Tips to learning a pace.

[MG*]

Hey all,

I've recently been working on pushing my run times for the APFT. I've been trying to teach my body to run at a constant 5:30 pace in any setting, mainly through interval training 2x/week on a track with a watch.

For the first session, I'll run an 800 at 2:45, then jog an 800, then repeat three to four times.

For the second session, I'll run the 2 miler APFT on the track and time my 800 splits. No problem, I can hit my goal time.

But whenever I take the race away from the track to my made up 2 mile course, I seem to consistently be off by 30-45 seconds, clocking in at 11:45 to 12:00.

Do any of you have any tips to subconsciously keep a pace no matter the location/without a watch? I've heard about lining up breathing counts with step counts and memorizing a corresponding number cadence, but I don't know if there's any legitimacy to that. I've looked into it and found nothing useful. Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim