A moan and some advice required..

[Pete1w]

I run in the morning. 5.30 a.m. before work. I enjoy the peace, the quiet roads and very few people. I ran today at lunchtime and it was hideous. People, dogs, traffic, waiting at road junctions and it was too hot. Ironically I ran a P.B. 5K in 25 minutes. Scary!!!! Which brings me onto the advice bit. I know it sounds strange but how do I run SLOWER?? I run at what feels a comfortable pace but I just can't crack 10K. I always fall just short. If I could slow down and pace myself I'm sure I could do it. How do I run slowly? Today I ran 8.5 K in 45 minutes. Thanks all.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Congratulations on running a PB time of 25 minutes, my fasted time for a 5k is 33.40 I doubt if I could do it sub 30 let alone 25 minutes. As regarding completing a 10K try and slow down a little to say 30 minute 5k pace and continue with roughly the same pace until 10k when your finishing time will be about 1 hour.

[Irish-John Graduate10]

Here's how

Forget distance.

Decide on lenght of time.

Run as slowly as humanly possible - your challenge is not to run "slower" but "as slowly as humanly possible"

It's challenging, fun and a good learning experience. 😊

[Pete1w in reply to Irish-John]

That sounds like good plan. Time not distance. I'll try it out on my next run

[Irish-John Graduate10 in reply to Pete1w]

Yep - basically, the decision for me was did I want to be a "Sprinter or a Stayer" ☺

I much prefer a long slow run so I'm a "Long Distance Plodder"

[Pete1w in reply to Irish-John]

Who would've thought that running slowly would take practice...

[CarolineLou71 in reply to Pete1w]

You’re not alone! I think it might have been Irish-John who also gave me my mantra about leg building (or maybe OF?) but I love the advice about time because for the first time this week I did that around our local woods - all random routes, so I couldn’t work out distances; just took the dogs and looked at my watch until we’d done an hour (we nearly made 60mins but reached the carpark and had been walk/running for a bit so knew it was ‘time’ to call it). Was pleasantly surprised at the distance we’d covered, but the priority was to keep it as comfortable and consistent as possible. Maybe looking at distances sort of tunes us out of body awareness a bit??

[Tartancat Graduate10]

Theres a short video on YouTube called slow running that's worth a look. They tell you to land on the balls of your feet, and for me it automatically makes me take smaller lighter steps (great for getting up hills too!)

[Flyingred Graduate10]

I've found keeping my cadence up but taking shorter strides helps me go slower.

I agree with you about running in public places when people are around – dreadful!

[UpTheStanley Graduate10]

The easiest way is to run with someone slower than you.

Failing that, don’t run slower, just stretch the distance half a k each time you run, and you’ll do 10k in 50 mins by Christmas 😎

[Berksrover Graduate10]

I use a combination if things, if you have a smart running watch, you may be able to set pace alerts that tell you when you are going too fast (or slow) and also try running on a treadmill where you set the pace.

[Pete1w in reply to Berksrover]

The watch is now set (after several YouTube videos😉) so hopefully I'll become a tortoise rather than a (tired sweaty) hare.... Roll on Sunday for a SSSSLLLOOOOOOWWWWWW run. I shall report back then.

[Pete1w]

Thanks all. Some good advice there. With regards to stride length and cadence, when I visited the physio a while ago this was one of the things he mentioned. Short strides / high cadence. According to my GPS data I'm already at 180 steps per minute.

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

Go further out on the A 57 and get on the moors... if you see a woman with a Welsh Springer Spaniel she'll demonstrate running slowly (10minute/km)

[Pete1w in reply to GoogleMe]

I could drive there 😉 not convinced I could run there yet.😀 I would've thought keeping up with a Springer would mean running at top speeds.

[GoogleMe Graduate10 in reply to Pete1w]

Google's a *Welsh* Springer, not English! And it's her job to stay near me. Although she is very funny if I attempt to put on a bit of speed and go "Oh, running, well if we're running..." and then, yes, zoom off.