What Does It Feel Like to Run FAST?

I don't know, because I'm "slow" (15's 5K), but the first (and only time so far) I saw with my very eyes an elite 5000 (won in mid-high 13's on the track) I just remember being blown away by the pace. It looked like a train of people being carried along at an absurd pace. It was a very awesome sight. I also saw a 3:40 1500 that day, that looked crazy fast as well.

I don't know but I guess it's not a sprint for them because they're skinny and can stride pretty far without much effort.

I used to be a skinny but then I gained weight and, believe me, it's better to have muscles than be skinny. The only advantage to skinniness is long distance running. Being a 140 pound twerp is a heavy price to pay to be able to run elite times.

I imagine it's the same feeling when you compare being out of shape with a 9 minute race pace to a 6 minute race pace. That should be similar to going from 6 min pace to 4 min pace (+50% running speed). The stride length probably feels amazing.

Slightly off topic .. but I remember in 96 I was in Atlanta, and a bunch of the middle distance runners from the games were coming out to run on the trails along the river near where I lived. Unbelievable, to watch these guys run come by. I'm slogging away at my 10k and these guys cruise by like greyhounds, disappear round the corner leaving a trail of dust. Absurd pace indeed.

I can't speak for running 3:30s, but in my senior year of high school (and a couple times after) I was probably in shape to run mid-low 3:50s in a time trial.

I remember getting in a pretty elite race, as the slowest seed, the summer after high school. I think the leaders went out in about 56 or so, which looked blazing fast and I was near the back in 59/60. I felt fast, but at the same time effortless and fluid. Around 500-600 in, the guy in front of me seemed to slowing and was getting gapped. I remember feeling like I was going to run into his heals and that I was stutter stepping not to run into him. In fact, we came through in 2:01, but even the slightest decrease in pace was so evident. I held the pace about 1100, and then fell back to reality when the finish kicks left me swimming through the last lap, but it was the closest I ever came to feeling what it was like to race in the 3:40s (the race was won with a blanket finish in 3:41). It definitely didn't feel like a sprint though - it felt more like a really high-energy float.