Advice on EZ runs and slowing down...it's paying off!

Great post Miles.

I also am realizing by doing more in the week, it strengthens me for the LR on the weekends. So instead of running 50 miles and 20 of it being the LR (as in some training plans), one could be better off running 65 miles and 20 of it is the LR.

I also realize that as a 37 y/o man the sub-3 and Boston goals will be hard, but not impossible. There are men on here in their 40s and 50s EASILY running 17:59 or better for 5k, sub 36 for 10k, 1:20 for 13.1 and 2:55 for 26.2 or better. Women are here under 20 for 5k, sub 40 for 10k, 1:28 for 13.1 and 3:05 for 26.2.

This gives me hope that a lot of people are stronger/faster/fitter than they realize.

So someone at my age and with my gender should be way faster than I am now, as long as the work keeps getting done.

good luck jecht. Lack of dedication to the hard/easy approach seems to be the biggest impediment to improvement for a lot of older runners. Guys I know in that 50 year old age range seem to be the worst with it. They just pound every day, and then they go into a race and are maybe 20 seconds off their training pace. Never showing improvement.

I am pretty good about it myself, but it can be hard sometimes. It takes a lot of patience to run a 9:00 in crappy weather conditions when you know you can EASILY run an 8:00 and finish your long run that much faster. But it pays off in the following days and even more so in the long term.

PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE

trust the process

It already is paying off.

Two weeks ago, ran 5k in 23:03 (7:08, 7:27 (14:35), 7:42 (22:17), 0:46 (23:03)), humid, rainy, went out too fast, not enough hydration.

Last week, same course but better weather, ran 22:38 (7:25, 7:20 (14:45), 7:07 (21:52), 0:46 (22:38), but with much better pacing and hydration. But still had a side stitch.

Throughout all of these past few weeks I've slowed down my EZ runs and can log them at 7 miles @ 62-65 mins. No watch checking until 3.5 miles in, and then again at the end. Even by doing these EZ runs your pace will STILL drop just by pure base-building.

Did a 5k today, on a slightly flatter course (but with less shade) and ran 21:34. Was out of breath for 20 sec. at the end but felt fine right after. Ran by feel: 6:52, 7:03 (13:55), 6:52 (20:47), 0:47 (21:34).

My main event is the Marathon but I just did these checks to see where I'd be at if I wanted to do a 5k. I'll resume base-building now for my original race, now that Ohio may lift mask mandates on June 2 and we *might* have a Marathon.

Great point.

Took today off running--it feels weird. But have a 14-miler tomorrow morning.

With the lifting of mask mandates 6/2 there is a better chance of having a Marathon. I almost wish it was in Sept. and not Oct. so we'd have a better chance of avoiding Covid season, although it usually gets worse in November.

jecht wrote:

Great point.

Took today off running--it feels weird. But have a 14-miler tomorrow morning.

With the lifting of mask mandates 6/2 there is a better chance of having a Marathon. I almost wish it was in Sept. and not Oct. so we'd have a better chance of avoiding Covid season, although it usually gets worse in November.

When it comes to marathon training, it’s pretty simple. Long marathon workouts stimulate your ability to burn fat and use glycogen efficiently. Aerobic power and threshold work (half marathon and 10k) support the marathon work from the speed side. And easy running provides a light stimulus to your aerobic running systems while allowing you to recover from the hard efforts. You can see how from this point of view the easy mileage isn’t specific enough for it to not have a higher cost in glycogen depletion than it gives a benefit to marathon ability

Great points!

I did 14.48 today in 1:53:51 (7:50 pace). It was a little harder than last week (13.1 @ 7:39 pace, or 1:40:22), but it was also 17-20'F hotter (71-74'F by the end, instead of 51-54'F). I still felt fine at the end, was not out of breath at all and my legs weren't heavy like they used to be when I'd be training too fast. Ran at the same time (930-1130a).

Due to a miscalculation due to lack of sleep, I took a wrong turn early on and guesstimated my mileage, then I knew I could adjust later on once I figured in my head how much extra mileage I ran by accident.

I only checked the watch at 5 splits:

5.98--47:55 (8:00.7)

6.48--52:11 (8:03.2)

9.98--1:19:47 (7:59.7)

13.48--1:46:01 (7:51.9)

14.48--1:53:31 (7:50.4)

Workout is public here:

https://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/5763121837