Thursday, May 9, 2013

I'm a Slow Runner, but I'm Still a Runner!

Today, I wanted to talk about being a slow runner. That's me! I am slow - at least for now - but I am still a runner. When I say slow, I mean I trained for the Princess Half at a pace between 13:00 and 14:00 min/mile. I see so many people posting their workouts to Twitter, with such fast paces! I see paces of 7:00 min/mile! That is twice as fast as I am running! I'm honestly amazed that people can move so fast, but it can be a little discouraging at the same time.


Now, that's not to say seeing these fast runners makes me want to stop running. In fact, I find it's the opposite more often than not. These fast runners make me want to keep running - because if I keep running, then I can get faster too! I already look at how far I've come and I'm so happy with myself. I recently ran an entire 5k without a walk break. That's amazing to me. And now I know, if I just keep running, the speed that other runners have will come in time to me too.


I'm now on the my third week of marathon training. It's been good so far, but the long runs are about to get much longer! I'm both excited and scared for them. I know they will take a while to complete, but that's ok. So even if it takes me hours, I'm going to run. A mile is still a mile, whether you are fast or slow!


So what am I doing to try to pick up the pace? I'm doing longer run and shorter walk intervals for my long training runs (right now, I've bumped it up to 5 min run/1 min walk). On my shorter runs, I'm pushing myself a bit more - adding speed intervals and sometimes running a full mile before taking a short walk break. I can already see the improvement in my speed. In February, I was at 13:00-14:00 min/mile and now I'm 11:30-12:30 min/mile! I just need to keep at it and the speed will follow as my fitness and endurance improves.

I have a 10k Mother's Day race on Sunday, so we'll see how my past few weeks have helped my race time. I'm hoping to get under 1:15:00 for my 10k time (and first official 10k race), but we'll see. What matters is that I am out there running, slow or not!

Are you a slow runner? Do you have plans to improve your speed? If so, what are you changing about your training?

10 comments:

  1. I'm with you on this one! I sometimes can't believe the times people post, and can't believe the really fast runners that pass me are for real :)) I've improved a lot in the past couple of months, but still not where I'd like to be - getting there, SLOWLY [:))], I hope!
    Good luck with your training!

    Anda @ http://lovingmondays.blogspot.ca/

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    1. Thank you! Yes, it's going to take some time, but it's good to see improvement, even if it's not where you want to be just yet!

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  2. *raises hand* Hi, my name is Chris and I'm a slow runner. LOL! I ran Princess in 2011 and came in at 3:21:--. I had a bathroom break and two photo stop in there, but yea, I'm not winning any land speed records. :) I think what bothers me are people who complain about how slow they are, then come in several minutes per mile slower than me. Hubby is injured and he kept talking about how slow he was going to be. I finally asked him to stop saying that because even injured he was going to finish before me. Sigh. I've since sped up my half marathon time and all my race times, but I'm still much slower than everyone I know. Makes it hard to find a running partner. But, as you said, you keep going out there. Any mile run is better than miles unrun. But sometimes I wish those fast runners would stop being upset with their sub-2 hour half marathons. LOL!

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    1. Hi Chris! My time for the Princess Half 2013 was just over 3:20:-- too! I made a bunch of photo stops and a bathroom break too, so I probably could have done it in 2:50-3:00 hrs, but still! It's hard some days - my husband is more of a runner than I am too, but he is encouraging anyways. I did a 7 mile run this past weekend, started a few minutes ahead of him, and we ended up finishing at about the same time. He did 9 miles though (at an easy pace for him). It is definitely frustrating, but don't forget how far you have come! We'll get a little faster in time :)

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  3. I'm a slow runner. My PR for a half marathon is 2:43. I can't beat it because no matter how great I feel going into a half I have IT band problems that crop up somewhere in the middle of the race and slow me down. It's frustrating!

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    1. Oh, that must be extremely frustrating. What matters is you are out there doing it though! Are there any ways you could look into improving your IT band and lowering the pain - foam rolling, improve flexibility in your hip flexors/glutes/quads, even seeing a physiotherapist? I've also read good things about KT Tape, though I haven't tried it myself. Good luck with your training!

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  4. I'm a slow runner as well! I did finish my first half last weekend at 2:29 but, man, I would love to run those 7 min miles. I am hoping they come as I continue to lose weight and run more. I just started in January so I am trying to be patient with myself but like that picture up there- A mile is a mile! I am thinking of doing some speed work sessions before my first 10k in June. I am just so new that I am not sure how to go about it sometimes.

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    1. Awesome job on your half! I would love to get sub-2:30! I have just added some sprints into my shorter runs and it seems to be helping! You can google fartlek training or Yasso 800s for more specific information on speed work. Good luck with your training!

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  5. I'm a slow runner to (heck, my blog is called Slow is the New Fast) and I don't apologize for it at all. Over time you do naturally get slower but what made the biggest difference for me was doing regular speed training. After Goofy a friend challenged me to PR in the half marathon so I did three weeks of speed work and I took 9 mins off my PR. I hate speed work but it does work. Getting faster is totally not my priority however, I'm just super happy to be covering the distance with a smile...

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    1. Wow - three weeks of speed work and you got such a great result! I'll definitely be better at doing speed work at least once during my weekday shorter runs. I mostly just want to get fast enough so that I'm not on my feet running a marathon for 6 hours. I can probably get close to 5 hours (or just over) at my current pace - as long as I can build up my endurance for that distance! I'm happy to be running at this point too. I have truly come so far from less than a year ago. Just gotta get out there and keep running!

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