virtually no pace improvement at all in 6 months' running (Read 2207 times)

yeah if you are sucking wind on your "easy runs" that isnt an easy run.  If you are running all your runs too fast you wont see the improvement.  Run your easy runs easy - like you can sing, organize your life, etc while running easy.  Find a bunch of 5 or 10 K races and race them hard. 

So, being fairly new to running (finished C25K several months ago and now average 30-45 minutes 3x/wk) maybe I'm stressing too much about improving my easy pace. What does everyone consider a good easy pace to be? I'd love to be able to allow myslef to step back a little and enjoy my runs more. I do feel fantastic after I'm done and I'm sitting down, drinking a cold vitamin water and letting the sweat dry ... but I'm still sucking wind during my run.

 Only time I'm sucking wind is during speed sessions. Your easy runs should be easy.

Well, first of all, you're measuring in kilometers.  That makes you slower.  It's a scientific fact. 

Not true.  I just came back from a very easy run at 6:25 pace. 

well, it's all in the title, really (and the log). I've just bought a Garmin and my pace is actually even slower than I'd thought. Any ideas why I've seen almost no improvement over 6 months and nearly 600 miles of running? I am getting some distance in, I am not injured, but I find it hard to maintain any kind of pace at all. It's a tad dispiriting...

Improving your running speed is integration of several factors.  By doing only one aspect of "training", you can improve your speed only so much especially if you're looking at one specific aspect of improvement (speed in your case?).  With only one type of workout, you can only improve so much.  Granted, of course, with a long slow type of running, you will probably increase the duration of the run....to a certain point (here's a really good graph in Jack Daniels' clinic video by Greg McMillan). 

Someone said something about running 5k race every so often.  That IS a good idea, however, looking at your log, I would actually suggest you do 2~3k.  You can get on a track and run, say, 5 laps (2k) at a certain pace.  The thing is, though, if that is the workout you set out to do, you'll have to stick to the purpose of the workout.  Looking at your log, it seems your pace is all over the place--some of your easy run is as fast or sometimes faster than your tempo run.  I feel that 5k is probably a bit too long for you to make it fast--or, in other words, effective.  You can either do it at the certain set pace (say, 9-minute pace) and gradually increase the duration; OR you decide the duration, say, 4k (10 laps) and start out at, say, 9:30 pace and gradually try to improve the pace.  It might hurt at first but it is an important discipline. 

Do some easy strides the day before you do tempo run--not too hard/fast but fast and relaxed.  Don't try to do them too many either because if the volume gets too high, then the speed will most likely suffer.  Start out with, say, 3 X 50m with 2 minutes recovery (make sure you take plenty of rest so you can duplicate good speed); then take 3 minutes complete recovery and do another set of it (so 2 X 3 X 50m).  By breaking up in 2 sets would give you a good breather and you won't feel like it's a lot.  Start out with 50m, or if you do it on the road, say 15 counts (count "ONE" every time your right foot hits the ground).  That's not much either.  Volume is secondary; fast and relaxed speed is the improtance.  Get up on your toes, not landing hard on your toes, get your knees up; think of yourself like Usain Bolt; keep a good posture and swing your arms straight back and forth, not tucked up and side-way; move your legs in a circular motion, not like a pendulum.

Another thing, and very effective, is hill training.  Don't try to run uphill fast but do all those leg action described above, particularly knee lift and good ankle snap, and go up the hill with a slow forward momentum.  The slower you go up, the more resistance will be felt.  Don't use a hill too steep or too long at first; work your way up gradually.  As your legs get stronger, your stride length natually gets longer and your speed (on the long run) will improve naturally.

Good luck!

The other question is: what metric are you using to measure (lack of) improvement?

Racing is probably the best way to tell whether you're getting faster... and you need to have a quite a few data to really see a trend, as there can be all sorts of reasons for atypical performances on any one occasion.

nobby - you are completely right, and I thank you for taking the time to respond in such detail. My pace IS all over the place - and that is what I am noticing particularly with the Garmin. There's also no obvious correlation for me between actual pace and perceived effort, so sometimes a 6min/k will feel easier than a slower one. I'm not sure what this means, but I find it very hard to regulate pace and run consistently at a pace I've set out to do.

FWIW, due to less than pinpoint accuracy, the "instantaneous pace" reading on Garmin devices is pretty worthless.  If you're looking at that pace and feeling you're all over the map, don't be concerned quite yet.  Many people set the display field (or one of the fields) to show Average Pace for the outing, or they have it take lap splits (say, every mile, half-mile, or even quarter-mile) and have the device show Lap Pace.  The Garmin then uses more data from your "wake" and gives you a more informative pace number.

In addition to races, you can also gauge improvement by your average pace on tempo runs.  Of course, that assumes you're running them at the same "tempo feel".

Do some easy strides the day before you do tempo run

So, why do the strides a day prior to the tempo run?

I use a heart rate monitor along with my Garmin to help me figure out what "easy" is. For me and a lot of others its a great tool. Lack of sleep, fatigue, life stress, temperature etc. will all have an impact on your HR which in turn will also affect your paces.

 

When I started running about two years ago I was tired and winded like you and kept reading that I needed to run more easy paced runs and eventually add a hard day or two into my week. The problem was what I thought was easy, was anything but easy. Thats where HR training came into play. I now let my HR zones tell me what is easy, not my pace. I've had some training sessions that were nearly two minutes per mile slower at the same HR the my average in the last few weeks from the rising temps and an unusual amount of stress.

Interesting ... I don't have a Garmin (yet) but do have Handy Runner on my smart phone ... is the heart rate monitor incorporated into the Garmin or a separate device? If separate, any recommendations as to make/model of heart rate monitors?