I'm a 21yo triathlete who is trying to get my pro lisence. I took up the sport in 2009, it took me a year to break 20mins. In the last 18months I've dropped my 5k time from 18.21 to 16.17 on the track.
I'm now in my offseason (first race not until Nov)....I am just interested in people's suggestions/thoughts on how to run in the offseason, is 5min/k pace too slow for my easy/long runs.
I think 5:00/km pace for easy runs is a little slow for a 16:17 guy as an average easy pace. I'd be running 4:20 - 4:30 pace on most easy runs.
Of course, you should never stick rigidly to a specific pace for easy runs - sometimes you will run 5:00 (or slower), if you trashed yourself in a hard workout the day before. Sometimes you will have one of those magic days when 4:00/km pace will seem absurdly easy. In either case, listen to your body. Don't turn an easy run into something else, simply to follow a plan.
My advice: quit the triathlon and man up.