Slowing down

[cm1987]

Big caveat before I begin ... I'm not fast! In the last few weeks something has certainly changed with my speed and I am noticeably running faster and have got my 5k time down from around 35 minutes to just under 32. However, what I'm struggling with is slowing down a bit! I did my second 10k on the weekend and reduced my PB by two minutes but I had to stop several times throughout the run. I've just ran 7k and had to stop for a minute or so (it was quite hilly) and I'm finding it difficult to slow down (how ridiculous that sounds!). Any tips?

[K8nno Graduate10]

I find that listening to a podcast (usually Johnny Vaughn or Chris Moyles) slows me down for my midweek training runs, whilst listening to my uptempo music for when I’m up against the clock. Hope that helps.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

I also like podcasts as above, but I ran my second 10k with Coach Bennett on Nike run club’s guided run. He’s good at getting you focused on effort level, and in this particular run he did something I wasn’t expecting by taking me down from 5/10 to 4 and then 3 at the 8k mark before returning to 5... I was expecting him to ask if I felt that I could go faster for the same effort as per the 5k run. I find having a coach in my ears a great way to slow it down.

[Fit4life Graduate10]

Have you considered investing in a sports/running watch ? Granted , not all of our runs are 'against the clock', but having such help at hand will nullify any pacing issues ,as you can set the pace you are looking to maintain and the watch will alert you if you transgress !!

[cm1987 Graduate10 in reply to Fit4life]

I have the Garmin Forerunner 35 - is there a way to put on a pace alert?

[Fit4life Graduate10]

I,ll leave that question open for those who know about the nuances of these devices as I use an app on my mobile which just gives the time for each Km run and I adjust my pace accordingly, depending on wether Im on 'easy' or 'tempo' pace ,etc

[UpTheStanley Graduate10]

It’s really difficult for me. I’m only guaranteed to succeed when I run with Dexy. So when I want to go further I try to get her to pace me to around half way🏃🏽‍♀️🏃‍♂️. But she won’t let me rent her out 😀