Long runs -----> faster short runs?

BackwoodsMom

So, I decided to put in a short run on Saturday before our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner of the holiday. We have a nice 4.5 mile loop that is what we now call our "short" loop as our other loops are 6-7 miles. No one wanted to join me so I went on my own. I kept looking at my GPS because I thought it was stuck on an avg pace of 9:22. :noway: The last mile of that loop is uphill - tough but good for me! - so my final avg pace was 9:31. :happy: My fastest avg pace on that run had been 9:50 a couple months ago. (Our typical avg pace is between 10 and 10:20 depending on the steepnes of the hills.)

Is this typical? Do the longer runs help to make the shorter ones faster?

bjbixler

My 5K pace got A LOT faster when I started training for my half marathon, so yes, I personally have seen a correlation. Can't wait to see if I can continue to get a faster 5K this spring as I'll be training for a marathon.

Great job!

arc918

I say it all the time, keep increasing the mileage and the speed will come naturally.

MissFit0101

Yup that's how it works for me too! Yay!

AZTrailRunner

I say it all the time, keep increasing the mileage and the speed will come naturally.

This! My 10k training plan has a long run of 17 miles. That should tell you something. :-)

macpatti

I say it all the time, keep increasing the mileage and the speed will come naturally.

That's what I was always told when training for the marathon!

arc918

I say it all the time, keep increasing the mileage and the speed will come naturally.

That's what I was always told when training for the marathon!

I always say the best thing to ever happen to my half marathons was marathon training.

macpatti

I always say the best thing to ever happen to my half marathons was marathon training.

Seriously! After training for and running a marathon, the halfs are a piece of cake!

jturnerx

I've been training for a trail 50km and a couple of weeks ago PR'd a road half by 4 minutes from my previous best, all without an ounce of speed work. It's all been volume and elevation gain. I probably average 10,000 - 15,000 feet of elevation gain per month during a training cycle and I peaked at 25,000 feet during the month of October before I tapered.

Funny thing too was my previous PR attempt I felt like I was going to die and was so sore afterwards. This last PR effort wasn't even a goal race and I wasn't planning on trying to PR. It was supposed to be part of an easy recovery weekend run between a 21 mile trail run the weekend before and a 24 mile trail run the weekend after. But this run felt almost easy, more like a tempo run and when I saw my finish time I was shocked because I wasn't even paying much attention to my Garmin. I could have been even faster if I wanted to.

arc918

^ ^ ^ - I always say hills are "speedwork in disguise"

I also say:

"wind is invisible hills"

"bridge is a code word for hill" - I figured this out after running the NYC marathon

BackwoodsMom

^^^ "speedwork in disguise" would say a lot because we do a lot of hills. Thanks for this input and encouragement! Can't wait for my next 5K and 10K races now, especially since we're working on traiing for a half in the spring.