Can you ever run too slow?? (Read 2735 times)

This may seem an odd question considering I have advised so many people to slow down, but I question if you can sometimes run a little too slow. Last evening I was scheduled for track work with my running club but my body just didnt feel like it. I still wanted to run but just didnt want to do intervals (yesterday) becaue my legs were tired and my mind wasnt into hard training. Instead I went for a VERY SLOW 5 miles - tho I never watch my clock when I run, I suspect I was training at somewhere in the range of 12 mins per mile (maybe even a little slower then that).....normally I would train around 9 per mile........ So my question, is there a point where you might not be doing yourself any good by going too slow???

is there a point where you might not be doing yourself any good by going too slow???

I sure hope not, because my best improvements in terms of distance have always come from forcing myself to slow the heck down...

Yes, you can run too slow, but 95% of the time people err on running too fast. For example my typical training pace is 6:40-7min/mile easy running so if I were to run 10min/mile I would get little out of it. But if I were to run 7:30-8:00 the day after a hard workout when my legs were tired I'm sure it would be ok for me.

Why would you be doing intervals at 60 to 75 seconds per mile faster than your 5k pace?

You guys are good - catch every little thing......thats why I like this web site cause it keeps you honest. I dont really know what my 5k pace is...I will know better after Sept 7th when I actually run one for real. I suspect it will be faster then 9:00 per mile. When I ran one in June, it really didnt count - however the one in Sept will as I will really be running it. Ill let you know ..... Also, I rarely time my runs when I go out daily - I run like Obie-Wan and Luke Skywalker - I just use the force and go how I feel. The only time I ever know for sure are on the days I go to the track with my running club cause we time every little thing, and on days when I go to a race.......and I havent run a real race since a about a year ago......just before I gut hurt and was laid up for about 3 months...so I am kind of in re-discovery phase right now with my first real race in Sept. When we run on the track, my times are normally between 1:50 and 2:00 for one lap.

When we run on the track, my times are normally between 1:50 and 2:00 for one lap.

If you're doing, say, 6-8 quarters (or more) at this pace during your interval workouts, your 5k time, ideally, should be about 25:00 or faster.

Yes. For awhile, I was experimenting with low HR training where the max HR suggested for me was about 70% max HR, which is very close to the bottom of the range which other pgms suggest for cardio benefits. The slowness of the runs forced an awkward gait and no physical stimulus to the legs. It took a while to restore my normal fitness level, after more running, lots of hills of all kinds,which probably improved economy, I can now run fairly normally a bit below 70% max HR when warming up. But at that time, those efforts were way too slow for me. (For perspective, my easy runs at the time were probably near 15-16 min/mi, 75-80% max HR, could talk; 5k races near 12:15 min/mi on similar terrain.)

No. You can never run too slowly; but you can run too fast and get yourself in a trouble. That said, there's no reason why you'd have to slow down to run awkwardly slow;... Learn to listen to your "Inner Coach" ("Feel the Force, Luke..."--Nobby One).

If you're running awkwardly, isn't that "too slow"? Granted, maybe there's some drills, etc. But the cure was to run more at normal efforts and improve cardio, THEN the HR dropped so I could run at those low efforts. Yes, I definitely agree about doing what feels right and rarely follow any suggestions verbatim these day.s

AKTrail: Are you still having a trouble logging in? You and tigger had this problem for the longest time and tigger's seem to go away... :-(

Apparently I can I hadn't had anything to contribute there in awhile so hadn't retested until just now. My long run in the woods is this weekend, so been busy with prep for that plus another race I've been helping with.

I think the inability to run comfortably at any pace down to zero is a symptom of form problems. Because I used to feel the same way -- some paces were just too slow to run smoothly and efficiently. But now that I really run smoothly and efficiently, I'm comfortable at any pace down to walking speed.

How did you address said form problems? Working on it, running more, or was it the barefooting that you think helped most?