easy weeks wrote:
My coach used to say that when going through a base period of increased mileage, you will notice at some point that your regular every-day run pace is getting faster (but don't force this or it defeats the purpose), and this is a sure sign of overall increased fitness..
After coming to running (aka hobby jogging) in my 30s, I am still getting faster past my mid-40s at longer distances because I never built my base correctly. After a brief injury in August, I was "forced" to run slowly and "rebuild" the base (which I never did right to begin with). However, running more slowly allowed my to run more mileage without burning out. So I have been running higher mileage (for me) for about 12 weeks.
I have monitored my progress with a HRM and my everyday runs are indeed much faster now than they were in September when I began and my HR is much lower. For years, I had never seen a HR in the 140s on my regular runs, but now I run my everyday runs at my previous paces, but at around 140. (HRmax 200+/-). I could see the progress clearly after about 6 weeks and very clearly now. So I agree with this post-er: look for evidence in your everyday runs...just don't go out trying to "create" evidence on those daily runs.
I'm about 16 weeks out now from a goal race and I feel confident that the specific training will proceed more smoothly after doing what I should have been doing all along.