Why do I feel really good going fast but bad running slow

Cuz you're a beast!

Who the hell is telling you you should run slow? You should be running like the madman you are

Just run as fast as you can. And then jump in a pool cool down like a mad man!

But seriously just listen to your body

I don't know maybe people think you're going to die if you run too fast or spontaneously combust

But seriously think about adding some cross training if you're worried about running too much

Just run fast so that it feels good and then jump on the bike if you want to keep your miles down

Get in to biking swimming and hit the weights

Maybe people think you're running is going to mess with the rotation of the earth or something. I don't know people say a lot of wacky stuff so you got to good head on your shoulders. And who knows you better than you

Do what works for you! You are already pretty fast, and if you aren’t getting injured picking up the pace there is no reason not to. The “slow your easy days down” argument mostly goes to the 18/19 minute guys that want to go fast so they opt to run sub 6:30 pace every run, even though they only hit 5:50-6:00 pace on 1k/mile repeats. If you are from now on racing at sub 5 pace in all of your races, that 6:20-6:50 range should be fine.

Although it's true the hyper diaper crowd might be telling him to slow down because of their crazy fears about the rotation of the Earth

Most people are not that wacky

I think most people are afraid this guy's going to run by them at warp speed and throw off their space-time geometry

The only solution is to have an equally fast runner run in the exact opposite direction of you everytime you

This way you will not disturb the force to an inordinate degree

If you want to be really cautious just triangulate your running with two buddies.

feeling like crap wrote:

I've been trying to make sure I run a lot of my miles easy(7 min+pace) because i have a history of running my runs too fast. But for some reason when i run my easy runs at like 7:10 pace i feel horrible. Like it's in my head where I feel really tired and feel like I need to sit down and nap. But like today I did a 6 miler at 6:13 pace and felt amazing. Didnt have that feeling at all and felt like I could of gone for another 4 miles. I know I'm not supposed to do my runs that fast but i feel good doing them and i dont know what else to do. If someone could give me some advice that would be great!

Other info that might be good:18 y/o Male. Senior. 5k xc pr-15:48, 3200 pr-9:39, 1600 pr-4:35

I have also recently slowed down my easy runs and have a similar experience. (but two minutes slower on the easy runs - age 60) I don't really feel terrible on easy runs - but at I'm surprised that it doesn't FEEL as easy as I THINK it should. I'll be running 9:15 miles and can't imagine 7:45 miles being possible. However, the faster miles have been feeling much better since I've focused on the easier easy days. It seems to be working for me. I'm doing over 6o miles per week which would have resulted in injuries in the past.

Maybe that 6:13 pace felt so good as a RESULT of the easier mileage?

No need to force yourself to slow down excessively, although on easy days, it is a good idea to start out slow and gradually settle into a comfortable rhythm. Think about your near term objectives and adjust accordingly. Is your discomfort in breathing or muscular/structural? The latter could be your body telling you to hit the gym while the former...I have no idea!

You feel like crap because you are bored by the slow pace.

Could be that you're letting your form slip in some way while running slow.

What happens to me sometimes while running easy is I let my shoulders roll forward and my whole upper body collapses on itself and limits lung capacity. If I roll my shoulders back and get my posture right then all is well with the world.

Raggedman wrote:

Could be that you're letting your form slip in some way while running slow.

What happens to me sometimes while running easy is I let my shoulders roll forward and my whole upper body collapses on itself and limits lung capacity. If I roll my shoulders back and get my posture right then all is well with the world.

Also the upright posture is more energy efficient. Slouching is inneficient.

A lot of runners do this going up a hill, it just shortens their stride even more and makes them tire more quickly.

did you try 8-8:30 minute pace instead of 7+

For me, no runners high unless running at sub-7 minutes per mile pace. When I run slowly, I feel all aches and pains from toes to pelvic bones.

it's because wrote:

You feel like crap because you are bored by the slow pace.

This exactly. You have to get used to being bored on easy runs. They serve a purpose.

When you are running fast you mentally feel confident because you feel like you're doing something good. When you're running 7:10 pace, it's still running so you breath more than when you're not running, but for some reason you think it should be soooo easy. If I measured your heart rate, your 6:10 pace that you think feels great would have a faster heart rate than your 7:10 that you think isn't easy. And if the purpose of you going 7:10 is because you're trying to take an easy day, and 7:10 doesn't feel easy, then maybe you should actually be going 7:30 or 8:00 on your easy day for it to actually be easy.

Sometimes you feel bad because you are tired from your hard days. By the time you run another hard day, your body has recovered. When you run really hard, you release a lot of endolphins that swim around your bloodstream and make you feel good. After a day of two, most of those dolphins has gotten tired and go to sleep in your legs and feet. That's why your legs feel heavy after a couple hard days of training.

feeling like crap wrote:

I've been trying to make sure I run a lot of my miles easy(7 min+pace) because i have a history of running my runs too fast. But for some reason when i run my easy runs at like 7:10 pace i feel horrible. Like it's in my head where I feel really tired and feel like I need to sit down and nap. But like today I did a 6 miler at 6:13 pace and felt amazing. Didnt have that feeling at all and felt like I could of gone for another 4 miles. I know I'm not supposed to do my runs that fast but i feel good doing them and i dont know what else to do. If someone could give me some advice that would be great!

Other info that might be good:18 y/o Male. Senior. 5k xc pr-15:48, 3200 pr-9:39, 1600 pr-4:35

Like totally!

Because your not used to it. It's a different "sport" and you need to learn from scratch rather than assuming that if you can run fast you must be able to run slow. Runners don't automatically make good walkers either. Experienced hikers can recognize fast runners walking clumsily.

I'm not saying that you should run slow. Maybe you shouldn't or should (it all depends of what you want to do, the target race, career development, etc. etc.). I myself try to learn to be fluent at all pace range (including walking), just because it's fun to learn new skills.

Are you running on the same course/route/track/whatever for your fast runs and your slow runs? 7:10 pace up a hill feels worse than 6:10 on flat ground or even downhill. If this isn't the problem, you could try biking on easy days instead of running.

I have no idea if this applies to you, but this reminded me of something in Hadd's training description https://www.angio.net/personal/run/hadd.pdf (see Part III where he describes what happens when he does all his runs fast and then tries to do a slow long run)