Anybody else find "easy runs" more difficult than the name suggests?

I cant run easy... easy being above 7 minutes pace.

All my runs are under 6:40 at least.. and going any slower than that is such a pain. I honestly feel like I'm in the same league as the fun runners if I run past a stranger at 7 or 8 minute pace...

Sounds to me like you're definitely not fully recovered. Your recovery runs should be VERY slow. This happened to me a number of times over the summer. Racing takes a lot out of you. So just take the next couple days as recovery runs and that should help.

Thats what todays run was supposed to be. A nice easy recovery run. It didnt feel like it though.

We have a run near us called Easy. (easy road)

It's anything but - rolling hills the entire way.

I know that's not what you were talking about but still...

interested-observer wrote:

I cant run easy... easy being above 7 minutes pace.

All my runs are under 6:40 at least.. and going any slower than that is such a pain. I honestly feel like I'm in the same league as the fun runners if I run past a stranger at 7 or 8 minute pace...

Thats exactly how I feel dude. Like I seriously cannot go slower than 7 minute pace, usually I can't even go below 6:30 pace. It just kills my legs going this slow - I feel like there is no spring to my stride and I'm simply plodding along. Anything slower than this pace there is no real knee drive or aerobic benefits so I usually head in after the first mile if it's anything below 6:30, again 7:00 after a race.

Not only this, but it's incredibly degrading running (if you wish to even call it this, I'd prefer the more apt term, plodding) at such a slow pace, a pace even most fun runners could hold for a mile. Besides, I'm not a "weekend warrior", I'm an athlete and mostly a runner who runs fast AT ALL TIMES!

-One who actually RUNS everyday of the week

Wow, you guys are real hardcore.

exactly how i feel wrote:

Anything slower than [7 minute] pace there is no real [...] aerobic benefit.

Incorrect.

It is NOT that I am trying to be hardcore or anything, my reason for my pacing is twofold as aforementioned.

One, running at such a slow pace literally hurts my legs and physically rips apart my body. My legs ache, I get cramps, my head aches when my pace slows to around the 6:30 mark, 7 minutes after the day of a race or one of the really tough workouts I do.

Second, it has been proven that the FASTER one runs the more AEROBIC benefit they receive. Thus, it makes sense to run your EASY days as FAST as you possibly can, without going ANAEROBIC that is, of course. I thought this site was a site of serious runners bent on amelioration, not lackluster performances and outdated training philosiphies. How do you think you are going to win races if you run at the paces plodders run at. Oh yeah! YOU CANT (that was hypophora - i am quite the rhetorician) with argumentation and persuasion. Honestly, do you think the Africans are running at 8 minute pace. Hell no! They do nut busting workouts and cruise later that day at 5-6 minute pace. They train hard and win easy. YOU are the reason America sucks at running.

I'm out.

You 6 minute hobbyjoggers are hilarious. You probably race at a 5:55 pace.

In response to the OP, the "easy" runs are meant to be easy on your cardiovascular system which will allow your legs to recover. If you are training and racing correctly, your legs should feel "easy" on race day.

"exactly how i feel" That was the most intense response I think I have seen on this site. I seriously thought you were joking when I was reading your response! You have inspired me! Inspired me to come up with 5 things that sum you up:

1. You mean business

2. You love CAPS - maybe running caps too--i dunno

3. You're mindset is second to none.

4. If you see someone running over 7 min pace and enjoying themselves, you will stab them.

5. You come off as this serious fast runner, when really you skip easy days often, you are lazy when it comes to stretching and weight work and you preform very poorly on race day because of your intensity level. So this is why you feel good on easy days, because you suck on the hard workout days and you choke on race day.

Oh yea, please don't end your response by a Vince Vaughn "I'm out" type of message. LAME!

Its too funny how these threads spiral out of control with the mediocre and infighting. I would make the assumption that you raced really hard ( hence the PB nice job) but what did you do after the race? Warming down properly helos to prevent this lactic build and aching. Also some athletes actually run again later in the day to help aleviate this as well. Also what did you run the next day. Whenever I race over 8k I try to slowly jog the next two days. Pace is irrelevant for these runs, it should be conversational pace and done with idea of I need this so that in two to three days I am back refreshed running hard

I think that's a common issue; faster runners can't run too slow. When I run with my son's xc team, they complain about the same thing (of course they're gassed after 2-3 miles too). The problem is that slower running forces you into a different gait which you aren't accustomed to. If I walk a long distance, it hurts because those aren't quite the same muscles I use to run. This can catch even elite runners, for instance in a marathon, they get caught in a slow pace for 20 miles, which is actually more difficult for them than their training pace, then when things heat up during the final miles, there's nothing left.

To the OP, that happens from time to time, just run what you can and come back the next day. You could probably add some strides to the end of your runs a few days a week.

in response to IDK, don't say "warming down", anyone who says that sounds like an idiot. its what you call an oxymoron.

The reason your legs are feeling shot could be that you waited 2 days after a race effort to even run again. your body is feeling sluggish, should have tried doing your easy run the following day then ease back to regular training on the day you tried to do your easy recovery run....just my opinion....

10 miles @ 7:00 pace always feels harder to me than 10 miles @ 6:20 pace. Probably the state of mind I'm in though. If I'm running 7:00 pace it usually means I THINK I need to run that pace. If I'm running 6:00-6:30 pace it's because I'm feeling normal/good.

If you are unable to relax and run easy, you may have high blood pressure and are overstressed in general.

Have you had your blood and urine tested for trace mineral deficiencies? Most athletes are lacking zinc, magnesium and B6. I think I can help - contact me - you know where to find me.

interested-observer wrote:

I cant run easy... easy being above 7 minutes pace.

All my runs are under 6:40 at least.. and going any slower than that is such a pain. I honestly feel like I'm in the same league as the fun runners if I run past a stranger at 7 or 8 minute pace...

I read that Noureddine Morceli would do his slow runs very, very, very slow. Sometimes as slow as 10 minutes per mile. That is not a typo.

Perhaps you should get over yourself.

For everyone who says they can't run any slower than 6:40 pace, how fast are you?

For what its worth the first time I ran with someone who qualified for the marathon Trials we ran 12 miles in about an hour and a half.