Good at Intervals/Tempo, bad at slow runs.

Hi All. I'm just about to start the 16-week Runners World Sub 3hr 15 Marathon plan, which I think seems a reasonable target. I haven't run a marathon before, but I have done some pretty brutal Spartan Races, the hardest of which being 14 miles with 6000 ft of gain, plus 35 obstacles. Pace wise, I recently ran 10K on the track in 40:30, and 5k in 19:30.

When I look at the plan, the tempo paces do not seem too bad. 2 mile repeats in 13:00 sounds doable. But most of the easy runs seem to be in the region of 7:30 - 8:30 per mile pace. 8:30 is probably at the top end of my easy spectrum. Whilst I'm certain I can run 4-5 miles at a pace of 7:30 per mile, it would most likely be more of a moderate pace rather than easy. Average HR probably in the 160s.

I'm 29, 6 ft, 168 lbs, around 13-14% body fat currently. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to why I'm perhaps keeping up with interval paces, but a bit slow on the easy runs?

Comments

  • YnnecYnnec ✭✭✭
    Looks like the Easy run paces in the RW Plan mirror those of McMillan's - they're notoriously aggressive. Stick with 8:30 or slower. You'll continue to hit the paces in your sessions, recover from them and build up endurance for the marathon.

    You mentioned your HR. You could try this to derive HR zones using your HR Reserve (much more accurate than the arbitrary 220-age calculation):

    https://runbundle.com/tools/heart-rate-zones-calculator

    That'd be a good indicator of an Easy effort.
  • > @Ynnec said:
    > Looks like the Easy run paces in the RW Plan mirror those of McMillan's - they're notoriously aggressive. Stick with 8:30 or slower. You'll continue to hit the paces in your sessions, recover from them and build up endurance for the marathon.
    >
    > You mentioned your HR. You could try this to derive HR zones using your HR Reserve (much more accurate than the arbitrary 220-age calculation):
    >
    > https://runbundle.com/tools/heart-rate-zones-calculator
    >
    > That'd be a good indicator of an Easy effort.

    Hey man, thanks for your reply. I've always thought aiming for a specific pace (perhaps as opposed to HR Zone) for slow/easy runs seems a little bit counterintuitive. Pace runs should paced, easy runs should be easy. I will use that calculator though, cheers!
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