Slow and... patience

[Moonlit]

I used to be struggling with low paced runs. I felt I struggled more than on normal faster ones, or did I? Last night I went out focused on keeping a slow pace. I set a range and stayed inside it for most of my 30mins run dropping occasionally into higher pace territory. Result? not sure. I felt much less strained and I could go on for longer if I wanted. My immediate recovery time was pretty fast and by the time I was done with the 5 mins cool down I felt I could restart the same drill over again. Am I missing something? Are slower runs really having a positive effect in preparing the body to become more resilient even if I do not feel the immediate benefit of it?

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

You're a winner just by setting yourself the target and sticking to it. I also have slowed my pace down so I can go for longer, celebrate the longer runs and quick recovery. We keep telling those on c25k that spleen isn't important it's the time spent running. No reason why this should change just because we are on the bridge. Happy running

[Buddy34 Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

I hope your 'spleen ' is important Grannytobe. 😂 . Bloody autocorrect

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to Buddy34]

Oh dear, spleen is fine thank you so much for your concern ha ha ha rest of body bit shocked today, turns out not as fit as I could be - was doing jumping Jack's and burpees goodness running is easy peasy in comparison.

[damienair Administrator]

Building distance at a slower pace is very important. You run further for longer. When I got to 10K I started working on my 5K pace. This in turn greatly helped my 10K pace. Well done.

Damien

[Moonlit in reply to damienair]

thank you and reassuring. I am naturally impatient I guess is the bottomline

[Grannyhugs Graduate10 in reply to Moonlit]

This running lark is great for teaching patience 😉

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

I now have three paces moonlit. 8 minutes/k and slower for long slow stamina building runs, 6.40 to 7.30 min range for faster long runs, and below 6 min for Park Runs. VO2 max improves for the slow and the fastest pace, but usually stays the same or goes down for the mid range. So short faster runs and long slow runs seem to work best for me..for what it’s worth🤷🏻‍♂️😊

[Moonlit]

thanks. it helps. I still need to develop pace ranges but the idea of finding multiple ones seems reasonable. I also need to keep an eye on how VO2max reacts in different situations. I treated myself to a gps watch only very recently so not very familiar with it and anyway not much data has gone into it yet.

My parkrun is about 5.30-5.50 but I hit the bottom of the tank. Manage a 7k in just above 42mins and it felt ok. Yesterday range for me was 6.10-6.40 for 30 mins and felt very comfortable. I have a long run (targeting 60 mins) on the horizon this Sunday so I will give it a shot at 7.20-8.00 and see how it feels.

I guess am experimenting a bit here to try and find my ground... thanks for the help!

[damienair Administrator in reply to Moonlit]

Your doing great. Similar pace to me. I usually run parkrun at around a 5:30 min/km pace. My parkrun PB is 25:36 and that was giving it my all. I found working on interval training for 5K greatly helped my 10K pace. I can now sustain a 6 min/km pace for 10K.

Damien

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to Moonlit]

V02 on a gps watch is still a bit of a mystery to me and some others! This applies to hill work when I slow down but my heart rate increases with the extra effort. VO2 max seems to think I am getting less fit, presumably because my heart rate is faster for a slower pace; perhaps it can’t factor in the gradient! I notice VO2 max when it improves and ignore it when it reduces. Best plan I think; look on the bright side 😊