Personal proof that running easy works (Read 1419 times)

Great job. I think you've hit on a fundamental truth for most beginning runners (and probably most advanced runners as well). Consistency is probably the most important factor in improving running times and pace. Once you've got that down and have built a good base, other factors like hill and speed work will make a bigger difference. Until you get a good base of mileage with consistent steady efforts, all those other things are just noise. Keep up the good work.

Brandon - here's what I think. From a glance at your log I see that you've only done 'easy' miles - good. I think the chart shows you're still falling prey to the 'running the easy runs too fast syndrome' (you're running your easy runs faster and faster - this is not the goal). Make that chart look like a flat line at a pace that is easy for you (12:30?) and then run it out for 3 or 4 or 5 months at that pace. You will find that you can train and run longer distances and/or more often at that 12:30 pace after doing this. Also, any hard efforts you throw in (races or just hard training runs) WILL show a benefit to all those 'slow' miles. Good luck, keep up the good work and stay injury-free!

campisi - I appreciate and understand your concern, and I would agree that many new runners fall into this trap. ... Having said that, I just realized that lots of folks train exclusively by pace, without considering HR at all, which is a completely different approach. With all that in mind, is there still some benefit to be gained by training at a set slower pace for extended periods at a set lower pace?

You may want to listen to Ken. I started running again about 6 months ago. My "easy" training pace has been on a steady ramp down from a 11mm "easy" training pace to 9:15mm "easy" training pace. Like you, I have been using the HRM to ensure that I don't run too hard (144bpm max). Lately I have been experiencing some slight injuries that are not keeping me from running, but they are limiting my training. I have a feeling it's from over training by not limiting pace as well as effort (heart rate). Over the next few weeks, I am going to back off further from my pace (10:00mm) and see if the issues I'm having go away. If you need some real motivation about going slow - see willamona's training and race paces. Obviously my issues are just random data points, but something to consider.

You may want to listen to Ken. I started running again about 6 months ago. My "easy" training pace has been on a steady ramp down from a 11mm "easy" training pace to 9:15mm "easy" training pace. Like you, I have been using the HRM to ensure that I don't run too hard (144bpm max). Lately I have been experiencing some slight injuries that are not keeping me from running, but they are limiting my training. I have a feeling it's from over training by not limiting pace as well as effort (heart rate). Over the next few weeks, I am going to back off further from my pace (10:00mm) and see if the issues I'm having go away. If you need some real motivation about going slow - see willamona's training and race paces. Obviously my issues are just random data points, but something to consider.

Thanks for that. This is precisely why I asked the question at the end about there still being a benefit. I've still got a lot to learn. I'll definitely keep this in mind.

I am a 'pace' guy (just because I've never owned an HRM) so I go by pace. And it does make a difference to know you're training at > 3minutes slower than your 5K pace - I can relate to pace! That seems adequately slow enough. Then I'd say just keep training, try to be more consistent with the amount of days you run even if that means running slower or shorter. Don't push too hard and be careful of trying to continue improving at the same rate!

Thanks for the response. I will definitely keep in mind the need to keep it honestly easy. Running too fast too often is definitely a trap that's easy to fall into.

...I'm certainly not burning up the roads, but I've dropped 30s per mile in the last 4 weeks by being consistent and doing what needs to be done...

From my experience, training at the right HR can make a big difference. I started LHR training in mid-February after a few months pretty much off. My target HR I determined from a VO2 test from last Fall, finding the "inflection point" in the RER vs HR curve. This HR is about 7 or 8 bpm below the training HR I used last spring/summer, which seemed right at the time. I checked my pace at target HR in mid-Feb. Three weeks later it had gone down by 30 sec/mile. Three weeks after that it had gone down another 25 sec/mile. Three weeks later, another 15 (maybe 20) sec/mile. All this time I was increasing my mpw, and was not getting injured. While I sometimes had to take short walk breaks in the first few weeks, within 2 months I was running (easy) for 3 hours with the HR essentially staying constant. I also found that running at target HR - 10 bpm I was going the same pace that I'd started at, just with the HR 10 bpm lower. Four months after starting this program (couple weeks ago) I did a local Half Marathon, which I'd also done last year. I didn't expect too much. Dinner the night before was not as good as last year, I got less sleep, and the weather wasn't as good for me this year either. So I started easy and slowly let the HR go up above my training HR. Felt fine, and kept feeling better. Just felt good and strong the whole time, passed folks in the last mile, and especially the last 200m, where the HR got up to Training HR + 25 bpm. Bottom line - beat last year's time by 21 minutes, with a pretty good negative split (last half about 1:30 min/mile faster than first half.) Seems to work for me. I have a hunch that part of the reason is that one can run easy without injuries and put in more nice easy miles to build up a good aerobic base. I'm still not up to the mpw I want, but it'll just take a little time to get there. It sure is nice to just run easy and enjoy it and then get a bonus of faster "races" too (I don't do "races" hard, just medium effort...) Take it easy, and enjoy the running - Gino

Did you keep your mileage up, too? I ran easy all last winter but kept my mileage up, and my race times have gone down. Notice I didn't say I got faster. Running easy and longer has not made me faster, but it has allowed me to hold a fast pace much longer.

I've noticed that as well. My easy pace has been steady from the winter up to our 90+ degree weather now (which I consider improvement because my pace hasn't declined with the hot weather) but the biggest difference I've seen is in medium effort runs such as 10k's. I'm able to hold my pace much better than last year and actually PR'd at a 10k by 1:30 compared to the same race last year. I can also hold faster paces at lower HR's. Yesterday I did a 5 mile run with a friend, HR monitor alarm was off, we ended up averaging a 12:33 pace and my AHR was 159. When I first started all of this an average HR of 159 would yeild me about a 14:30 pace. Last year a 12:33 pace would have put me somewhere in the high 170's if not the 180's.