Did 5k time trial on track in 22:47. Lungs fine but legs were burning. Did I run hard enough?

You went out at 75% effort and you got a bad time? EOT.

The idea that you ran "75%" is pure BS and you're not fooling anyone but yourself. I believe it wasn't all-out but if you could have run harder, you would have.

Read this:

https://www.scienceofrunning.com/2010/03/key-to-running-fast-on-race-day-muscle.html?v=7516fd43adaa

Thanks for the article.

I understand people ripping me, but even at 75% it should have been a little bit faster. My biggest issue is burning legs even though my lungs were fine.

The tension part was important to me. I had a bad day yesterday after work and was dealing with negative thoughts, so that may have impacted the run. I also failed to do sprints the day before so I'm seeing where I went wrong.

Everybody should be doing sprints at least oncce per week no mattr what yohr event is.

Feeling Discouraged wrote:

Thanks for the article.

I understand people ripping me, but even at 75% it should have been a little bit faster. My biggest issue is burning legs even though my lungs were fine.

I usually have the opposite problem. My lungs can’t breathe but my legs are fine and I could run faster if I could breathe.

Couple thoughts off the top..

-You ran a time trial after a long, regular work day in late August..

-Your splits were incredibly consistent, which is awesome, especially for a solo time trial..

-That's a high dew point and it's science, you won't run your fastest in those conditions..

-Do you ever do strides?

Every run is different, as much as us runners always want to be primed and ready to go, it's just not possible, life has a way to check us. I actually see your time trial as well run, and even paced. Strides for me have been huge in helping me become more efficient and be more comfortable @ 5k pace running.

Agree with everything above. No reason to be discouraged in marathon training, at the end of a work day, in warm weather. A 5k time trial isn't going to be the most helpful indicator for a marathon tho. Better to find an actual tune-up race 15k-25k once the weather gets better 4-8 weeks out from your race. It's summer -- better to do some cruise intervals with more volume a touch slower than what you ran in this. Stuff like 6 x 1 mile @ 7:30 w./ 1:00 rests.

Thanks to the last 2 posters above.

Ran solidly today with more rest. 5, with the first 3 EZ, and the last 2 coming home in 7:44 and 7:33, respectively, but felt strong at the end. The last mile even had a hill. I'll also have to hunt around for some hills to get strong on.

You didn't talk about the workouts you did the days leading up to your time trial, what your diet has been and if you were properly hydrated. If your legs felt weak and they were burning, it sounds like you had lactic acid from a hard workout within the past couple days before your time trial. So you definitely weren't feeling fresh by any means. You may have been slightly dehydrated. I'm talking about replacing sodium and potassium along with water. You have to be continuously hydrating yourself all day every day while training in this heat. Your glycogen levels may have been depleted from the workouts leading up to your time trial. If you are 55 years old a 22:27 5k is not slow at all. Next time treat your time trial like it is a race and do all of the things you would normally do in the days leading up to a race. I promise you, you will feel better, your time will be faster and it will be a better indicator of your fitness level.

I'm sorry. You are a 55 mile per week runner. I thought it was your age group category. How old are you?

When is your marathon, and what stage of training are you in?

Look, the weather is definitely going to have a negative impact on your time and the way you feel, and depending on how you handle weather, it could have a very significant impact.

Further, did you come off a high mileage week, or a long run , or several harder workouts? Are you suffering from the effects of cumulative fatigue?

If you want a better benchmark, perhaps jump in a local 5k this weekend. It's supposed to be much cooler in and around oHIo.

35, male.

Ran from '98 to '02 in HS.

No running from '02 to '17.

Started running 30-35 mpw for the first two years, then bumped it up gradually to 50-55 mpw the past 1-1.5 months.

Did 8 easy (like 9 min. pace) the day before.

Did 6 easy the day before that.

16 easy on Saturday (the long run).

I re-evaluated my log and I think part of it was not enough rest. Apparently for me I'm finding out 7 hours isn't enough for 'thon training and I'll have to get more sleep.

I'll also drink more--only drank 40-60 oz. that day before the time trial.

There are things I did wrong but I think they are fixable.

Yes, I posted as Feeling Discouraged but it's how I felt at the time.

If you are fit none of those little extra things matter like people are leading you to believe.

You can be dehydrated, lacking sleep and diet deficient and still rock a good time if you are actually fit.

This is a great article and one of the best running sites that I have been to. Thank you for posting it. It's funny. I remember back in high school, it was rare, but sometimes we would have a relay meet on a Saturday and a Sunday. I usually ran the 800. I always ran a faster 800 on Sunday than the day before. I never knew why. After reading about muscle tension I understood why. The race on Saturday gave some tension to my muscle fibers and when I ran on Sunday I felt so much peppier. I usually ran 2-3 seconds faster.