I am trying to run my long runs at a slower pace, based on information from different running pace calculators. While I don’t believe that there is a universal “right” way to train, I’ve courted injury by running my long runs at a fast pace, and am willing to try something different. What I still need to figure out, is how to run at an “easy” pace. I don’t set out to run my long runs fast, but I seem to have one pace for training (hard) and one pace for racing (harder). After Saturday’s run, I think I finally have figured out how to keep myself to an easy pace.
1. The week before, spend three days in the hot sun at a lacrosse tournament.
2. The day before, cheer on your son through three tough games in the championship rounds.
(They ended up placing 2nd out of 20 teams!)
3. The evening before, squeeze in your usual full body weight routine before dinner:
deadlifts/military presses/push-ups
plie squats/French press
lunges/bicep curls
step-ups/lateral raises/front raises
bent-over rows/hamstring curls/leg extensions (on Bowflex)
crunches/tuck & pile (on fitball)
side-lying leg lifts/crunches (on mat)
4. The night before, stay up too late (again) and set your alarm for 5:00 am anyway.
5. The day of your run, make sure the temperature is at least 70°F and choose a hilly route.
I credit all of these factors for helping me with my easy run.
Garmin Data:
Total Distance: 6.67 miles
Total Time: 1:05: 50
Avg. Pace: 9:52 min/mile
Split Times: 10:20, 9:50, 9:55, 9:56, 9:56, 9:37, 9:20
Those 9:55-ish minute miles fit right within the McMillan Running Calculator pace range for my slow and easy runs. It looks like I reverted to my usual pace for the last 1.67 miles, which was flat to downhill. I think I tend to run faster as I get close to home. 🙂
I will have to come up with a new strategy for next weekend, when I won’t have lacrosse to wear me out!
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Haha! That's one way to do it! 🙂
🙂 and yet the words EASY and RUN utilized together still escape this misfit.
mightcould I deem them …. it an oxymornon?
Wow! Sounds like hard work! Keep it up! 🙂
I haven't decided what I like best as far as a pace goes for long runs, but I've read quite a bit about running longer runs closer to race pace than what has previously been suggested (like being 30-45 seconds off whatever your long-distance pace would be rather than 90 or more seconds off). It's all a matter of what is right for you.
Yeah, I think for every piece of advice you can find something different. At least for summer, slower comes a bit easier.
wow… your slow runs are faster than the fastest I've ever run. 😉 Oh, and I'm no stranger to your methods. I especially like the run/walk/swim/yoga etc until I'm too tired to move, stay up too late and then get up to run at 5:30 method. I'm niiiiice and slow.
You ROCK!!!! I would love to run under 11 min miles!
OMG!! My long run and race pace are just like yours!
This is perfect!!
I struggle doing the easy long runs. I haven’t figured it out yet. I am going to use this year (2015) to work on my race pace and my long run pace. A work in progress!
Too funny! I think I am going to try to use my heart rate monitor to force me into easy runs! This weekend I did pretty well since we were on a muddy path and had to keep slowing down to dodge puddles!