Easy run pace

I was feeling like my 8 min easy runs were dragging and I was having a hard time running them, I ran a 11:35 for the 3200, so I asked my coach why I was feeling so bad on the easy runs, he was like its hot, but he said that Mo Farah runs his easy runs at a 8:15 pace, and Mo does 80 percent of his workouts at that pace... If you ran a 5 min pace for the 5000 meter, you would have about a 7 min easy pace, but it is different for all athletes, so talk to your coach about it.

8:00 pace is just fine as it still has very similar benefits while helping you do better and be fresher in workouts/races. I'd suggest doing easy runs by feel and just keeping track of time for after.Next, Mo Farah runs easy pace at like 5:30, not 8-8:15

FastAsDuck wrote:

I was feeling like my 8 min easy runs were dragging and I was having a hard time running them, I ran a 11:35 for the 3200, so I asked my coach why I was feeling so bad on the easy runs, he was like its hot, but he said that Mo Farah runs his easy runs at a 8:15 pace, and Mo does 80 percent of his workouts at that pace... If you ran a 5 min pace for the 5000 meter, you would have about a 7 min easy pace, but it is different for all athletes, so talk to your coach about it.

8:00, 8:30, 9:00 it doesn't matter. Just go by how you feel, don't even bother looking at a watch. If your fatigued you're probably running too fast too often.

Darn, imma have to ask my coach why he lied to me...

trackster48 wrote:

Please give me your thoughts, I feel stuck in a rut. All the calculators and pace charts and people tell me that my easy runs, based on my race times, should be right around 7:00 pace, but when I consistently run that pace for my easy and normal runs on no workout days, I burnout, get fatigued, and basically just feel stuck. I feel like I'm getting nothing out of my training because my 1600 pr only dropped 4 seconds from freshman to sophomore year (4:23-4:19). When I actually run what feels easy it's usally around 8:00 pace but I can pump out 5:00 mile repeats and 55s on the track like a slot machine, please give me your thoughts and advice!

You're thinking too hard.

Run what feels easy.

Read this

trackster48 wrote:

Please give me your thoughts, I feel stuck in a rut. All the calculators and pace charts and people tell me that my easy runs, based on my race times, should be right around 7:00 pace, but when I consistently run that pace for my easy and normal runs on no workout days, I burnout, get fatigued, and basically just feel stuck. I feel like I'm getting nothing out of my training because my 1600 pr only dropped 4 seconds from freshman to sophomore year (4:23-4:19). When I actually run what feels easy it's usally around 8:00 pace but I can pump out 5:00 mile repeats and 55s on the track like a slot machine, please give me your thoughts and advice!

Those are some great times for a sophomore. You're on the right path, I would just make a few minor adjustments. Take your easy days easy, and your hard days REALLY hard.

I was right around your times as well around the same time, and what really boosted my time was in-season, I shifted to doing 4 "hard" workouts each week. Meaning, 2 tempos and 2 intervals. Make sure you get some more variety in your interval workouts. I did 400ms, 600ms and 800ms mostly. Sometimes ladders of 400-800-1200 and back down. Sometimes we went to a hill that was about 600m long and just did our intervals on that to build strength.

My mileage was pretty low, maybe around 40mpw in season. My easy days were very easy. Running without a watch for 5-8 miles, and another mile for a warmup/cooldown. Always took a Sunday off. I did a lot of two-a-days to keep my mileage up, and I never wore a watch for those either.

Off-season I probably ran mostly at 7:30 pace for all my running, throwing in fartleks and intervals. I got up to 80mpw but that was mainly for XC season. In the winter, I ran indoor track and was down to probably 50mpw.

One thing that really helped me was teaming up with the other stars at high schools in the region. We would meet up once or twice a week and train together. We all ended up running at D1 programs.

The above is only meant to be an illustration of how varying your training and the stimulus you give your body can help you break that plateau. You're on the cusp of being either a D3 runner or a D1 runner at a serious school. You have so much to gain, so keep it up and don't get yourself down.

Just another note:

Take whatever your HS coach tells you with a massive grain of salt. A lot of them are clueless. My training I mentioned above was pretty much the exact opposite of what my HS coaches wanted me to do. Luckily I met and was mentored by a fantastic USATF coach in my region who took me under his wing. The only crappy part is, you don't get the most of your "team" workouts, so you end up having to basically "fake it" during the team workout and save energy and then go home and train on your own, or do hard workouts on the weekends alone on the track or with a couple of buddies from other schools.

HS coaches will however turn a blind eye when you're winning races and setting school records.