Beginners and Beyond

1

when will running fast feel easier? (Read 72 times)

Turtle Power


    I am no threat to win an age group award in any event that I enter, but that hasn't stopped me from trying.  LOL  In my quest to become faster (for me), I've noticed that it isn't getting any easier.  Although my 5k pace has improved substantially, mentally it still sucks to race them and it still is a God awful experience until I cross the finish marker.

     

    So my question is when will 5k and 10k pace get easier, and why do I still have to battle mental demons?  (okay two questions) Should I slow my effort?  (three questions, oops!) I am running faster times in both distances and I thought I would be gliding along with ease by now (relatively speaking) but am finding that each distance feels exactly as it did a few years ago when I first started this crazy hobby of mine.

     

    Thanks 

    Half Crazy K 2.0


      Racing a 5k will never feel easy. As you improve, it just means you are hurting at a faster pace.

       

      I suck at pacing for 10ks and am pretty sure I have run them too easy. There was one where I guy was doing his best Ray Lewis motivational impression (I'm in the Baltimore area). I was able to speak a complete sentence to him during the race, thanking him for making it go by faster.

      wcrunner2


      Are we there, yet?

        Race pace never gets easier, but you can learn to tolerate the discomfort better and recovery should be quicker. The paces your ran for 5K last year should feel easier now than they did then, if that helps at all.

         2024 Races:

              03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

              05/11 - D3 50K
              05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

              06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

         

         

             

        fourouta5


        Healed Hammy

          It is all a matter of perspective, you basically have two questions that jump out at me.

           

          1. Lets assume your race pace is 8:00 mpm now, and that brings you discomfort in a 5k.  Your easy running pace would then be closer to 10:00 mpm, where you could then speak in a full sentence to a nearby runner.  Also assume you are running 25-30 mpw at that pace.  Fast forward 6 months fo steady running, at that point you would most likely be running your easy pace in the 9:20-9:30 mpm range and still be able to converse.  Your 5k pace might drop to 7:45 or so.   Assuming the above, then yes running fast will feel easier since at the beginning 8:00 mpm was fast, now it is slightly easier.  Fitness increases will make your historical race paces seem easier - thus satisfying your question.

           

          2. Races never will feel easier.  If you reach the pain cave in a 5k at an assumed 8:00 min pace, then as you increase in fitness and run 7:45 pace, the pain will be the same.  As noted above, your tolerance to pain and willingness to endure a longer stretch of pain may improve, but no.... it will always hurt the same.  Satisfaction is from the PR, knowing you pushed your limits, beating opponents you used to see from behind.  More experience in racing may allow you to anticipate the pain threshold and perhaps hold it off a little longer, but seriously - no, running fast will alway be painful.

          LRB


            Although my 5k pace has improved substantially, mentally it still sucks to race them and it still is a God awful experience until I cross the finish marker.

             

            Yep, you are doing it right!  lol

             

            The only thing that really got easier for me was jogging.  When I first began running, I used to race every run trying to beat the previous time for a route or distance until I became familiar with the concept of running easy.

             

            As my body has adapted over the years, it became easier to just go out and jog to the point it takes very little if any effort to run easy just about any distance short of 10 miles.

             

            But yeah, all the traditional race distances still suck, I am just moving a little faster than I once did.

            Slymoon Runs


            race obsessed

              Echo others - faster is never easier.

              MI_Tim


                Start hitting the juice.  You'll be able to work harder for longer and recover faster.

                Love the Half


                  Dathen Ritzenhein talks about hurting so badly in a race he lost sensation in his legs.  That's from a world class runner.  As you become a better runner, you learn to tolerate the pain.  Indeed, I think one of the reasons I do well in the latter part of races is my willingness to suffer a whole lot in the last 1/4 of the race.

                  Short term goal: 17:59 5K

                  Mid term goal:  2:54:59 marathon

                  Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life.  (I started running at age 45).


                  No more marathons

                    ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, and ditto.

                    Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey

                    Lordy,  I hope there are tapes. 

                    He's a leaker!