Advice on training-is slow good? (new to it all)

Get Real

Well folks,

I've always ran 5km and 10km on and off the past ten years. Lately, I've been trying to increase distance and am at the point of 15k at 5min 10sec /km. (Hr in the 160-170 range throughout)

My goal is eventually a marathon distance and I'm willing to drop speed to achieve that.

Question- the plan I've recently started is a beginner one for a marathon. I'm on week 2 of 12. At the moment the 50min run goals are to keep my Hr below 140bpm. To achieve this I've to go much slower than what I'm used to and end up doing about 8km at 6.5min/km.

Im wondering - is this beneficial long term (perhaps working my body in a way I wasn't before) and should I keep low and slow. Or, since I know I can do 15km at 5min/km, should I keep at or around this pace, (5.5,6min/km) and focus solely on an increase in distance over time.

I just don't want to feel I've not benefitted as much as I could have and am wasting time at a slower pace.

Of course, perhaps that's completely naive of me, and it's important to establish a base of low and slow first even though I feel almost too comfortable at it and find myself wanting to go a little bit faster.

Any feedback, criticism or knowledge appreciated. Thanks.

68 lost souls

In short yes it is good to run slow. You need to be running below your lactic threshold to allow your body to build resistant to fatigue and adapt to changes. Some light reading https://www.realliferunners.com/blog/aug-28-2020

Also more specifically look to understand the 80/20 rule - https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/training-advice/running-101/does-the-80-20-rule-apply-to-low-mileage-runners/

Going off the VDot calculator your easy runs (Longer runs) should be at 6:16 -> 6:53 pace. which would ultimately let you run a marathon pace of 5:36/km. - https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/

There should be a mix of short and long runs in your plan and the shorter fast stuff can be at a higher pace but your long runs need to be sllloooowww.

Wottle

Slowing down for easy, recovery and some long runs is very beneficial.

Your body gets better at utilising fat for fuel, you increase capillaries (extra lanes on the road getting that oxygen rich blood to the working muscles). Less stress on the body (muscles, tendons etc) due to softer impact. Increasing the size and number of mitochondria (cell powerhouse, generate more energy). Allows you to run hard days hard and avoid falling into the junk zone.

The only issue is the 140, is it specific to you, we all have different max heart rates. I tend to keep my easy days under 75% of max, some might do marathon pace plus 45 secs, others just don't care what their pace is as long as it's truly easy.

If you're running 6'30km pace for 140HR, my guess is your 5k might be 25 mins, If so keep at it and yes there's a benefit.

But it appears you're a bit quicker, stick at for a few more weeks and my guess is that for the same HR effort, your pace will improve.

Get Real

Thank you both 68 and Wottle. Some good reading there 68. Still all new and struggle to get my head around going a 6:53 pace in order to go faster long term. Does make sense though.

My max hr is 180 (I'm 30) (edit 190 I meant!) so on the plan, at 140 I guess it's c75% (73) like you're saying on your easy runs Wottle.

I just wondered is it a sign of weakness perhaps that I'm already hitting 75% max hr when I feel I'm going very slow. And yet, when I'm going fast and up around 165+bpm I don't feel any more tired in particular.

I guess it's two different types of running and I've neglected the former over the years.

Swashbuckler

I agree completely with the advice already given. Time and time again we see every year people asking this very question. Its the most common mistake most beginner runners make - running easy runs too fast. I did it myself, for 7 years. As soon as I made the adjustments of following a proper plan and slowing down my easy runs I saw huge progress.

To give you context my max HR is similar to yours. I'm running most of my easy runs at ~130bpm at a pace of 5min/km and often much slower than that. It took years of training for me to get to that pace at that HR - it used to be much higher HR for that pace. Similar to yourself. (fyi my 10k pace for my pb is ~3.36min/km) so my easy pace is much slower than even my 10k race pace.

As time goes on and you become better trained then you'll start to see more of a distinction between your "zones". But keep it simple and dont sweat the science too much. Run much slower. It may feel like crawling but time and time again we've seen people in the DCM novices thread worry about the same thing and time and time again they come back surprised at the results. If the ultimate goal is to complete the marathon then that is sound advice.

28064212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118530805#Comment_118530805

Is your 190 based off the 220-age formula? Don't use that, it's a formula for population averages, it was never intended to be used on an individual basis. You could easily be 10 or even 20 beats off in either direction. For best results, get properly tested in a lab. If that's not an option, you can do a field test yourself, just do a web search for "max hr test".

Also, how are you measuring your HR? Wrist-based monitors can have varying degrees of accuracy, even from person-to-person. Chest-strap monitors tend to be more accurate, but should still be compared against actual measurements, at a variety of rates.

There's no point basing your training off HR if the figures you're using don't bear any resemblance to reality

68 lost souls

Agreed on above, I read the post when you said Max was 180 if you are assuming 220-age don’t.

Im 35 next month, that formula gives me 185. I hit 194 at a park run this month. Have hit over 200 in recent years. It’s a very individual thing so you need to test it to find out.