pacing (Read 736 times)

Hey all, I am a fairly new runner and am working on building my base mileage. Anyways, today I just ran my longest run yet (9 miles) and it seems that my pace is always around the same give or take 20-30 seconds if I run 3 miles or 9 miles. Now everywhere I read says long runs should be slow, atleast 1-2 min slower than your training runs. But I find if I slow down too much its actually harder for me. I feel like I am just shuffling along then. Anyways, how important is it for me to really slow down, does it matter that I run around the same pace no matter if it is a short or a long run? I dont really do speedwork or anything as I am a new runner and just want to concentrate on building a base. I hope this makes sense...any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Now everywhere I read says long runs should be slow, atleast 1-2 min slower than your training runs.

You're reading the wrong advice. Long runs are typically run at around the same pace as your easy training pace. At most, you might take 15-30 seconds per mile off your pace. If you need to slow down more to achieve the distance, that's ok too. But there's no need to force yourself to go slower if you're otherwise running with a comfortable degree of exertion. The 1-2 minute slower thing applies to your race pace, not your training pace.

ok thanks everyone. I got the "slow down 1-2 min" from the Jeff Galloway Marathon book. I figure for now, I will just listen to my body as I increase mileage. Although I am tired from the 9 miler, I do feel that if I went to the gym I could def do an elliptical session or something so I dont feel like I overworked myself or anything. Oh and I'll make sure to check out the search question Sorry about that.

What Galloway said at a clinic last week (not that I'm going to go this slowly!) is that you should run a mile as fast as you can, add 30% onto that pace to get your marathon pace, and then add another two minutes onto that to get your training pace. He didn't differentiate between short and long runs. He said that it was his opinion, though, that you can not run a long run too slowly. I'm not posting this to create a debate - I'm just writing what he said.

Actually, that +2 minutes was for your long run pace. He never offered a short easy run pace, at least not in as much detail as he did for the long run.

FWIW quite often my long run pace is actually faster than my "easy" run pace overall. For one all my easy runs are at 5:15 ish and I roll out of bed and go in the cold sleepy morning. Tired body, cold tight muscles. My long runs tend to start no earlier than 6:30, usually later and I get up early enough to eat a little and more importantly, poop. For two, I am a slow starter. Slow slow slow. My first mile is generally a good 30-60 seconds slower than the rest of my run. Sometimes more. It has a bigger impact on short runs - makes them look slower than they really are. I hit one pace after about 2-3 miles and I hit my groove after about 8. MT: To answer your original question - should you worry about it - the question is how did the last 2 miles feel. If your last miles were slower than your first then you were probably going too fast. If you felt good at the end and feel good tomorrow, you are doing ok. McMillan has quite a bit of overlap between "easy" and "long"