Why cant i race as good as i train?

My guess: low volume. You're only running around 50 miles a week, so you can do this fast work with rest, but putting it all together takes a bit more sometimes. Another possibility is that you're running too hard on easy days and not fully recovering.

the 18:14 is not too far off from your training sessions and the 19:05 could of just been a bad day. If you have only been running a couple years or so, just keep doing what your doing and the times will come down.

Thanks ive been running 18months. Kind of gets frustrating when im constantly told i could do better, And i know i can because of how i run in training. Maybe i should do more long reps like 1 or 2 miles instead of the shorter 3 min and lower reps

Try backing off on the intensity as you increase your mileage.

I used to have this problem - I could run a weekly workout of 5x1000m in 3:20-3:22 with 60 seconds rest as an indicator that I should be more than ready for sub-17. On good days I could pull off six of those reps instead of five. Once I rested for ten minutes after, and ran a 2:57 for 1000m to end the session. Then at the goal race I would run 17:05, or sometimes even a little slower. I was doing a good amount of volume, so endurance wasn't the issue.

I came to the conclusion that perhaps I have a bit of anxiety surrounding races, where during it I may not believe I can push quite as hard without fear of blowing up or whatever. I feel more comfortable alone and really digging deep, gutting it out alone at the end of a super-hard tempo or set of repeats than in a race side-by-side with others I have to challenge while also challenging myself.

It's weird - I just seem to be able to push myself furthest when alone. It's almost a performance-anxiety thing when in the presence of others, and perhaps more importantly, when it counts. It's not like I race terribly, but what my training indicates always seems to not fully pan out. Maybe you have similar feelings?

Thanks for the replies, I generally dont think i get to anxious at races as in the past ive been a pro bike rider and competed in world and national events and infront of 50,000 people. Im sure i will come good one day! Just after any advice i cant get

If you can run a mile @ 5:15 easy, try running two of them

at that pace with a 3 minute recovery.

Next week do 3 of them, and 2 weeks later 2 miles, 1 mile

with 3 minute recovery.

If a 5:15 mile is " pretty damn easy ", what does a 5 min

mile feel like.

How many 75 second 400's can you run with 1 minute rest?

Sunday - 10 mile progression run start at 6:30 finish at 5:30

Wednesday - mile repeats or 6 times 1000 meters

Friday - warmup, mile @ 5:50, float some 200's @ 35 seconds

Thanks for the replies, I generally dont think i get to anxious at races as in the past ive been a pro bike rider and competed in world and national events and infront of 50,000 people. Im sure i will come good one day! Just after any advice i cant get

Race anxiety excluded, as a past pro "biker" you should understand the many benefits of CONSISTENT VOLUME, regardless of the intensity within, though that's obviously imperative too. Perhaps you were a track cyclist or a mountain biker, but consistent volume is still and always a requisite in reaching (and maintaining) your best. (e.g., Wiggins wins Le Tour and then wins races on the velodrome, which isn't happenstance).

Hi, I come from a 'stunt' riding background with abit of bmx racing and mountain bike downhill racing so far as fitness it isnt a direct cross over. Thanks for the good advice so far guys

You're just training too fast on a day-in-day-out basis. Slow down and up your volume. That usually works.

Most people in your situation ignore this advice...but eventually come to it on their own...through trial and error. Like a few years from now, you'll find yourself running 75-80mpw...at significantlyeasier paces...and racing great. And you'll be saying to yourself..."I'm doing much better now. This higher mileage at slower paces is really working. Glad I thought of it." (kiddingly)