How slow is too slow on an regular run? My teammates get mad at me when I try to get the pace down to around 8:15/mile because they like to keep it at a 9/9:15 pace. Am I in the wrong for not wanting to go that slow on easy runs? It just feels like a crawl.
It depends on how fit you are and what you did the other day, but generally 7:30 - 8:15 is not quick for High school. However, as long as your running, their is no such thing as to slow for easy runs.
Noureddine Morceli would often do his easy runs at a 10 minute mile pace.
I'm a total hobbyjogger (21 5K) and cannot STAND running slower than 8:30. It doesn't feel "easy", it feels stupid and even painful. 8:15 is basically run-all-day pace. So I agree with you.
But then, good runners all the way up to elite somehow manage to run 9+ mins/mile and do so for good reason, so I should accept I'm in the wrong and have no idea that I am wrong, or why. It does baffle me though.
calf and a half wrote:
I'm a total hobbyjogger (21 5K) and cannot STAND running slower than 8:30. It doesn't feel "easy", it feels stupid and even painful. 8:15 is basically run-all-day pace. So I agree with you.
But then, good runners all the way up to elite somehow manage to run 9+ mins/mile and do so for good reason, so I should accept I'm in the wrong and have no idea that I am wrong, or why. It does baffle me though.
8:15 is run all day pace and your 5k is 21? Sounds like you might need some more speed work.
senior wrote:
How slow is too slow on an regular run? My teammates get mad at me when I try to get the pace down to around 8:15/mile because they like to keep it at a 9/9:15 pace. Am I in the wrong for not wanting to go that slow on easy runs? It just feels like a crawl.
Yes you're in the wrong. It's not about pace. It's about effort and heart rate. We had a 4:10 miler who did all his easy runs at 8 min pace. He's workouts were insane.
You don't get fast from running harder on your easy days. You get fast from workouts and recovering on easy days.
senior wrote:
How slow is too slow on an regular run? My teammates get mad at me when I try to get the pace down to around 8:15/mile because they like to keep it at a 9/9:15 pace. Am I in the wrong for not wanting to go that slow on easy runs? It just feels like a crawl.
Easy running is too slow when your from breaks down and you feel like, somebody mentioned above, uncomfortably slowly. I'm not very fast, 17:30 5K, 36:10 10K, 1:19:xx half marathoner, but I like to keep my easy runs ticking alone at no slower than 7:30 pace even when I feel awful, I'm usually in the 7:03-7:18 range, might even run 6:55 pace on my easy runs if I feel good. I find that my heart rate doesn't go up that much, so long as I just concentrate on running "steady" and with good mechanics.
fatbody wrote:
8:15 is run all day pace and your 5k is 21? Sounds like you might need some more speed work.
I've got a bit of basic speed (around 13s 100, 28s 200), it's the bit in the middle - sustained hard running like 3-5K - I'm weak at. What would be best to improve that - VO2max intervals?
Not sure it is applicable to a HS runner but I was stuck at 2:55ish marathon and 1:24ish half marathon. I slowed my easy runs from about 8 min/mile to 9 min/mile and dropped marathon to 2:50 and half to just under 1:20. Problem is I also increased my weekly volume by 10-15%, so not sure if it was the slower running or increased mileage or both.
calf and a half wrote:
fatbody wrote:
8:15 is run all day pace and your 5k is 21? Sounds like you might need some more speed work.
I've got a bit of basic speed (around 13s 100, 28s 200), it's the bit in the middle - sustained hard running like 3-5K - I'm weak at. What would be best to improve that - VO2max intervals?
If you are a dude and your goal is to break 21 in the 5k, all you need to do is increase mileage. No speed work necessary.
SRMartin wrote:
Not sure it is applicable to a HS runner but I was stuck at 2:55ish marathon and 1:24ish half marathon. I slowed my easy runs from about 8 min/mile to 9 min/mile and dropped marathon to 2:50 and half to just under 1:20. Problem is I also increased my weekly volume by 10-15%, so not sure if it was the slower running or increased mileage or both.
Yeah...but correlation is not causation. Running your easy miles slower won't, in itself, make you faster. Of course, if running your easy miles slower allows you to increase overall mileage, run workouts harder, run long runs harder, etc. then YES.
*We're talking about 8 (slow) vs 9 (very slow). Different story for 20-min knobs running all their runs at 6:45. They *need* to slow down.
**Look also at Allie Kieffer (2:29 NYC) 's Strava feed. Her workouts and long runs are the real deal, and she's at ~100 miles/week. But her easy runs are easy...8 min or slower.
the real deal wrote:
calf and a half wrote:
I've got a bit of basic speed (around 13s 100, 28s 200), it's the bit in the middle - sustained hard running like 3-5K - I'm weak at. What would be best to improve that - VO2max intervals?
If you are a dude and your goal is to break 21 in the 5k, all you need to do is increase mileage. No speed work necessary.
Hard disagree. He said he could run all day at 8:15 pace. If that's true, that's plenty of aerobic base for a sub 20 5k. I'd work on everything from 10x400m to 5x1k.
fatbody wrote:
Hard disagree. He said he could run all day at 8:15 pace. If that's true, that's plenty of aerobic base for a sub 20 5k. I'd work on everything from 10x400m to 5x1k.
400s at the same pace as the 1Ks (intervals) or faster (speed reps)?
If same pace, what would the advantage be over doing the same distance in 1K intervals - just variety?
calf and a half wrote:
fatbody wrote:
Hard disagree. He said he could run all day at 8:15 pace. If that's true, that's plenty of aerobic base for a sub 20 5k. I'd work on everything from 10x400m to 5x1k.
400s at the same pace as the 1Ks (intervals) or faster (speed reps)?
If same pace, what would the advantage be over doing the same distance in 1K intervals - just variety?
The 400's should be faster than 1k's. Just pick a speed where you can do all the reps at about the same pace, but barely. The 1k's would be around 5k race pace. The 400's maybe around mile pace. Just need to get your legs used to that turn over and you've got it.
Thanks, those match Daniels I and R paces and makes sense. I'll add regular 400/600 reps and 1K intervals - I've been very lax in doing them so far which probably shows.