Following graduation last week I tried the Stepping stone podcast today. However, I couldn't run as slowly as 150bpm. I couldn't slow my pace enough and it felt more uncomfortable and even caused my knees to hurt. I just about managed the 160bpm part but had to deliberately slow down from my normal pace. I usually run 7.22min/km but at 160bpm was only managing 8.40min/km. When I run normally I feel like I am taking small steps and feel like I shuffle.
Should I make a deliberate effort to lengthen and slow my pace or keep on as I am used to? I was certainly less tired than normal at the end of the run.
Any advice appreciated, thanks.
Written by
Rjfz
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Lengthening your stride is hard and it can put extra strain on your body. Small steps and shuffles are fine honestly. You can't expect to be gazelle-like yet! You have to practice to get quicker.
Patience is a virtue. Keep running the 3 C25k+ podcasts! Mix them up and make sure you complete them. They will help you no end. I still run them as they come up on my mp3 player and I like them more now than I did when I graduated
I think we all struggle with this! Getting your different running paces is difficult.
To start with I recommend doing a Fartlek session where you literally try running at different paces for a length of time (or distance).
For example start off with a comfortable pace for maybe half a kilometre to make sure you are warmed up and then speed up to nearly as fast as you can go for 100 metres. Then slow down to your comfortable pace for 300 metres to recover. Then speed up again to somewhere in between slowest and fastest for a hundred metres then slow down again. Repeat this cycle 2 or 3 times initially.
Doing this should give you an idea of the different paces you have, and I am sure that after the fast run, you will find the slow pace reduces!
Good luck and have fun.
it is much harder to run slower I think , it is something I have learnt over the last few months
I know when I graduated I tried the stepping stones and failed miserably . much preferred the speed podcast
The more you run the more you learn and the more there is to learn
I also found the bpm on the stepping stones podcast hard, but used it recently and surprisingly found it OK. Have a go at the others and see if any of these suit you better. If you really can't stick to the beat, just go with what Laura's trying to get you to do, when she tells you - as in speed up your pace slightly and consistently in stepping stones and stamina, and put in fast intervals in speed.
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How slow is too slow for a 5k?
Is there such a thing as being too slow?
Is this too slow? 
Too slow! 
W4R1 completed but not sure if too slow 
