1. Drills
  2. Cross Country
  3. Pacing

Watch-Free Pace Run

Run by feel while a partner keeps the watch, then compare your splits.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026

Set up

Pick a steady pace with your coach.

Core: 60. Beat your own steadiest pace.

Ages
14 and up
Time
18 min
Players
You and a partner
Space
Yard or field
Bring
Measured loop, partner with watch
Level · skill
Advanced · Pacing

The steps

How it works

  1. Pick a steady pace with your coach.
  2. Run 4 laps without looking at any watch.
  3. Your partner times each lap.
  4. Compare and see how even you were.

Coaching point

Trust your feel.

Safety: Drink water and eat a meal or snack before and after, run in the cool part of the day, and stop and tell an adult if you feel dizzy or sick. Thunder or lightning: go inside now and wait 30 minutes after the last one.

Make it fun

Play it, don't drill it

Game version

Pace-match pairs: run beside a partner and hold the same easy pace for a count of 60. Swap who sets the pace.

Challenge

Pick a level: Less (30 counts), Core (60), More (90). Beat your own steadiest pace.

Story

You are a metronome keeping a steady beat on the trail.

My best

Beat your own count

Beat your own steadiest pace. Only your own number counts: today against last time.

Practice makes progress

Print it now, or save it free

Free for families and teams

Save this drill to your child or team, free

Sign up and the free cross country week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.

14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free

Does your child's coach know about this?

An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.