bringing my average pace up faster by pushing harder

I'm very excited. I'm still slow, but I just shaved over over 3 minutes off my best time for 5k, this morning. I'm faster than this pace on shorter runs, and today's run involved a steep bit coming out of town. The odd thing is that I'm less tired than when I'm doing my usual mega slow plods. I've been working on distance for months and can run for 2 hours without stopping or walking, albeit slowly. Now I'm working on going faster. I'm not sure why i made this decision; it just seemed time to do it. I think I was motivated by the public run coming up at the end of the month.

[MikeJones68 Half Marathon]

Well done, Flick. This realisation of what you can achieve is really exciting isn't it?

[Hidden in reply to MikeJones68]

I hope there will be more to achieve

[MikeJones68 Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

I'm sure of it

[Hidden in reply to MikeJones68]

I just never realised I could run faster. Maybe i couldn't before.

[MikeJones68 Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

As I just mentioned on Strava, having access to a coach did wonders for my pace, otherwise I'm sure I'd still be doing 5:45/km

[misswobble Marathon in reply to MikeJones68]

Slacker 😁

[Hidden in reply to MikeJones68]

No coaches for miles here and i dont drive I can only dream of the giddy heights of 5.45/km. still, you are male and young, and men have larger hearts and lungs.

[MikeJones68 Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

It's been a while since anyone called me young! x

[Hidden in reply to MikeJones68]

It's all relative, as you will discover x

[Outofpuff]

Amazing. Keep going. You’ll be doing a 4 minute mile by Christmas. Xx

[Hidden in reply to Outofpuff]

Well, if i've managed to get back to living in Oxford by then, I will be able to do it on the same track as Roger Bannister

[misswobble Marathon in reply to Hidden]

Well done! Running fast is hard 😤. Long and slow any day 😁🏃‍♀️

[Hidden in reply to misswobble]

Honestly, i'm finding faster less tiring. But then i'm still hardly a speed queen. My three previous, shorter, runs were: 6.22 over 1.42km 7.20 over 2.39km and 7.11 over 2.54km. I don't think Mo Farah needs to worry just yet

[misswobble Marathon in reply to Hidden]

I get fed up of trying to push it. I had to do a “fast” 12k yesters, cept I didn’t ☺️ I keep telling myself my marathon course is flat so i’ll Be ok

[Hidden in reply to misswobble]

I don't think i really was pushing, just moving my lazy backside along at a pace i could probably have been doing a lot longer than i have been. Not sure what I would be like over 10k with it. I haven't done 10k in less than 1hr 33min yet, but then I've always deliberately slowed right down over distance, which is probably why I can run so long without a break (just under 2 hours so far). I would love to know what my time would be like without the blasted hills.

Marathons, I'm in awe!

[misswobble Marathon in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I have hills, lots of. I think these plan times assume folks are running on proper running tracks 🙄

I ran into big trouble trying to do much of my marathon training 32k training run on my tricky trail. I hurt my hip 🙄. Not making that mistake again 🙂.

I have a half marathon race before my marathon, which I aim to do under two hours. Acid test 😁

[Hidden in reply to misswobble]

Well then, i don't think you can claim slow running if you are aiming for HM in under two hours. Do you find that it's hard to run on the flat when you are used to hills? I find it really weird and tiring.

[misswobble Marathon in reply to Hidden]

Yes I do! I long for a bit of uppy downy 😃. I go off the trail and hit the bmx course. No wonder I get hip ache 🤷‍♀️

[Hidden in reply to misswobble]

Crikey girl! 😳😊

[FormulaRun in reply to Hidden]

You’d miss the lovely hills of Chipping Norton though. Where there’s an up there’s a down,apparently, or another up in the case of Chippy!!

[Hidden in reply to FormulaRun]

that made me really chuckle. Yes, lots and lots of ups!

[quirkybee]

That's fab Flick. You really are doing very well, just don't over do it though. I must start those exercises for the legs because I'm stopping and starting too often orr my liking.

So chuffed Flick, thanks for sharing xxx

[Hidden in reply to quirkybee]

Thank you lovely. I won’t overdo it. It’s actually easier than slower - who knew! ❤️❤️❤️

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Well done! Pushing yourself is the only way to improve 😊

[Hidden in reply to roseabi]

I'm so lazy that it's taken me ten months to realise I actually could run faster ...

[limberlou Half Marathon]

Sound really good Flick.i used to worry about speed too but then I realised , like you, that I was just running continuously and not stopping for breathers now and then. I’d always thought I was cheating if I stopped for a breather so when I stopped that was the end of my running for that day.

When I did my ‘accidental ‘ first 7k I only stopped running because a lorry got in my way and I had to stop to let him finish turning..... once I’d stopped I thought that’s it! The end of my run but I could have carried on with that little breather.

After a while I realised I could stop for a minute, take some pics and carry on and it still counted. After all I’m not training for the Olympics with my coach and a stopwatch following my every move. And sometimes I was faster even with a little stop.

[Hidden in reply to limberlou]

i still dont stop for breathers because I don't seem to need to - think I'm built for distance not speed and honestly find it less tiring to keep going - but I do sometimes stop for seconds to take pics or cross a road.

[limberlou Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

Yeah I find I’m better with distance. Sooon Sooon ☹️

I was in the garden today and remembered I’d left a bowl of water filling and ran back into the house, without thinking, to turn it off. Could probably do a gentle week 1 of C25k but I’m sticking to when I’ve been told. Not going to risk setting myself back. The pins and needles have stopped now and no pain when walking etc so fingers crossed.

These lovely Autumn mornings are making me twitchy though.

[Hidden in reply to limberlou]

Did they say what was causing the pins and needles? If you ran without thinking, your body probably thinks it's ready to run. But you are wise to err on the side of caution. You've been amazing, keeping active and exercised, not letting the setback put you back on the couch permanently.

[limberlou Half Marathon in reply to Hidden]

It stopped so I didn’t bother going. Probably should have but you know what it’s like 🙄

I have been spending 5 mins a couple of times a day rolling a Pilates spiky ball under my instep which really makes it feel good. My Pilates teacher suggested it and it feels so nice I do both feet.

I used to do that at the end of a long working day spent on my feet.

[Hidden]

Well done Flick! Great achievement sweetheart! 👏👏💐❤️ Great pace and super elavation!xxx

[Hidden]

Thank you dearest That's a mild elevation for round here! I'm sure it's the sme where you are xxx

[Hidden]

Yeah! But still good👍❤️

[ju-ju- Marathon]

Well done, it’s a great feeling after you’ve really pushed yourself.... don’t forget to have some runs when you can go at a comfy pace to preserve those leggies... you are doing fab 💥

[Hidden in reply to ju-ju-]

Thank you 😊

I think the comfortable runs are self regulating. The I’ve been hitting the heady (for me) heights of 6.2 to 7.2min/km for very short (less than 3k) runs, but the longer the run the slower I get.