Older runners that hated/refused to run "easy" when younger- do you regret it now?

When I was young (college age) I was too impetuous to run easy. On an everyday training run it was too easy to succumb to the temptation of cranking up the pace when I was able to do so. I suspect I would have benefitted more from running a little more mileage and restricting hard efforts to times when I deliberately meant to do them. I think that's the story for many people.

Even though I'm not that old, I do regret how hard I usually ran when I first started out running in high school. Would've resulted in a lot less injuries and better workouts/races if I would've slowed down on easy days. Only exception to that is during base training when I'm not doing that hard of workouts, there's nothing wrong with turning a easy run into a progression run if you're feeling good and don't have any workouts planned that week.

Yes, I regret it.

I'd run into older teammates sometimes on morning runs, and I was shocked at how they'd be shuffling around at 8 or 9 minute pace when I ran every morning at 6 or better. Then they'd dust me at workouts.

Nope, I don't regret running my easy runs (6:30-6:40) any slower than I did.

The issue for me wasn't as much running too hard on easy days as much as it was just getting greedy and pushing the envelope too much when things were going well. I did a summer of 100 mpw and was really fit in the fall for marathon training. I was crushing it in workouts and shorter prep races. I did a 20+ mi run with a guy who was way faster than me, but was training for his first marathon. We pushed the pace the last few miles and did the last three mi in the 5:40s. I felt great but ended up with a stress fracture for all my efforts.

This is Jim Kiler wrote:

Yes, I regret it.

I'd run into older teammates sometimes on morning runs, and I was shocked at how they'd be shuffling around at 8 or 9 minute pace when I ran every morning at 6 or better. Then they'd dust me at workouts.

During the 70s, L.S.D. (Long Slow Distance) was about 7:00. It would have been almost physically impossible for me to run 8 or 9 minutes per mile. At the time, my definition of jogging was 8 or slower.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

This is Jim Kiler wrote:

Yes, I regret it.

I'd run into older teammates sometimes on morning runs, and I was shocked at how they'd be shuffling around at 8 or 9 minute pace when I ran every morning at 6 or better. Then they'd dust me at workouts.

During the 70s, L.S.D. (Long Slow Distance) was about 7:00. It would have been almost physically impossible for me to run 8 or 9 minutes per mile. At the time, my definition of jogging was 8 or slower.

I thought this, too, but modern GPS has told me how wrong I was.

It wasn't just courses that were short back then, every run you did wasn't as long as you thought. I've looked at dozens of the routes I ran in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and I overestimated every single one. My 8 mile route was just over 7. My 5 miler was 4.5, and the two mile loop was 1.75 at best.

The hour run I did, that I said was 8 miles but secretly knew was nearly 9 because I was running 6:30 pace all the time, was actually a mile short. I was running a LOT slower than 6:30.

Somewhat. I probably would have been better off not running most of my miles at <7:00/mile, but I didn't know any better and I felt fine at the time. But I think I did more damage running a majority of my mileage for years in racing flats, spikes, and minimalist shoes.

Joe Klecker's bald spot wrote:

I thought this, too, but modern GPS has told me how wrong I was.

It wasn't just courses that were short back then, every run you did wasn't as long as you thought. I've looked at dozens of the routes I ran in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and I overestimated every single one. My 8 mile route was just over 7. My 5 miler was 4.5, and the two mile loop was 1.75 at best.

The hour run I did, that I said was 8 miles but secretly knew was nearly 9 because I was running 6:30 pace all the time, was actually a mile short. I was running a LOT slower than 6:30.

No offense but the above seems to be an overestimation as well. Assuming race routes were fairly accurate, did you not question your fitness and route accuracy when seeing your race results?

Excellent topic man. HELL YES i regret not taking easy days. I have come to understand that training is a push pull type thing. You have to recover just as seriously as you hammer your workouts. Everyone has a theoretical absolute best that can only be achieved by properly balancing effort and recovery.

I see lots of older runners who are faster than me on Strava going for runs at like 8:30 pace. To me, I can't even imagine going this slow. Would feel like a waste of time. I see no problem with doing my easy runs at 6:45 pace and occasionally if I really feel bad will go up to around 7:30.

Joe Klecker's bald spot wrote:

I thought this, too, but modern GPS has told me how wrong I was.

It wasn't just courses that were short back then, every run you did wasn't as long as you thought. I've looked at dozens of the routes I ran in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and I overestimated every single one. My 8 mile route was just over 7. My 5 miler was 4.5, and the two mile loop was 1.75 at best.

The hour run I did, that I said was 8 miles but secretly knew was nearly 9 because I was running 6:30 pace all the time, was actually a mile short. I was running a LOT slower than 6:30.

LOL my experience was different. I ran my old HS loops years later with a GPS watch and they were all amazingly accurate except for my favorite 10 mile run which was 10.15 miles.

This sounds nutz! I don’t know how you can be running 80-100 miles per week without a lot of it being easy. I bet that a lot of your running is easy, but it sounds like you could go easier. Are you not doing any workouts? Or if you are doing workouts, are you able to hit your goal paces?

How can you get up to that mileage without knowing what you’re doing or getting injured? How long have you been averaging ~80 mpw?

Who's the old man in the mirror wrote:

LOL my experience was different. I ran my old HS loops years later with a GPS watch and they were all amazingly accurate except for my favorite 10 mile run which was 10.15 miles.

10.15 compared to 10.00 sounds amazingly accurate regardless of what I’m measuring. Most temperature and pressure measurements aren’t that accurate.

I don’t regret it, yet.

I’m not that old (early 40s), so maybe there hasn’t been enough time to regret it, but I love to train anywhere from 6:00 to 6:20 most days, with an occasional easy day at 6:45-7:00.

I’ve been doing this for 20+ years and still going. My 5k PR is from my mid 30s and my marathon PR was when I was 37. I ran 4:24 for the mile at 40 years old.

For me, my quicker running doesn’t stem from some need to prove anything. I just feel best and enjoy my runs the most at those paces. The exception is when running with others- I’ll take company and camaraderie over my own paces any day.

Very much so, probably my biggest regret about how I trained in HS. We hit it hard daily. I know I left a lot of good races laying around on the training runs.

I think “easy days easy, hard days hard” is an extremely important mentality to adapt.

I ran all my easy days at 6:50 pace and thought I was a badass up to my junior year, even though my 5k times were mid 17s and I was just under 5 for the mile. Whenever I did 800m repeats I’d hammer the first one in like 2:30 (remember, almost mile pace at the time) and fade to 2:50s by the end of the workout. Just an example of how pushing it leads to inefficiency. I did 35-40 mpw at the time, and was constantly sore, even for most races.

No I do 45-60 training for 800-3k, and rarely ever dip under 7:00 pace when I’m on easy/long runs. I’ve learned all you need is to be in that 140-160 hr zone (for a guy with a max HR between 200-205) and you are absolutely cookin aerobically, even if you don’t feel much perceived effort.

I also cane to realize 6:50 pace is gonna train you to run sub 4:30 pace just as well as 7:30 pace, but you can hold 7:30 pace for much longer with much less strain so it’s more efficient.

Jogs of 11+ miles train you for nothing but jogs of 11+ miles. Why regret not doing it?

What is regrettable is making any training decision on the basis of "easy" or "hard." You will never get fast by making effort. If someone is 10% faster than you, it's not because they can run 10% harder.

if i'm being honest i actually miss doubling or tripling at meets 2x a week and also doing a workout a week on top of that in my high school days.

i know it's not the smart thing to do but that's what i got enjoyment from. i get no pleasure from an easy run,even though i do more of that these days

at my ripe old age of 28, a workout, a tempo, and alternating hard long run /max velocity is eniugh fir my body