I happened to jump on Strava and look at Scott Fauble’s training. Most of his runs are in the 6:45-7:15 range…almost 2 mins slower than MP pace. He throws in a fast run/workout here and there. He runs a lot but he knows it’s okay to run slow.
Or… if you don’t run fast very often you don’t win the Boston Marathon. Ever think of that?
Makes sense. Reminds me this from Jack Daniels run coach:
I happened to jump on Strava and look at Scott Fauble’s training. Most of his runs are in the 6:45-7:15 range…almost 2 mins slower than MP pace. He throws in a fast run/workout here and there. He runs a lot but he knows it’s okay to run slow.
Do you also put your PIN number into the ATM machine?!? LOL
But the heads-up is well noted – and you’re right, loads of very fast people spend a lot of time running much slower than marathon race pace.
How do you all think this applies to those of us who are slower? Do the biomechanics change the equation? Should it be MORE than 2 minutes slower if you’re a person who considers, say, 7:15 their MP?
-Eric
ps, he’s https://www.strava.com/pros/7780234
I think how it applies was stated directly, no? It is okay to run slowly
It’s also why it’s a probaly “semantics” to folks but it’s why I call it “easy” and not “slow”. You can’t go push effort when it’s “easy”, but you can certainly be going harder than easy effort on “slow” runs (a lot of this has to do with total volume on the legs). So sometimes “slow” runs can still be efforts that wouldn’t be described as “easy”, but you can’t really go “easy” and they be harder than they should be.
ETA: It’s also interesting that 2 people in 4 posts call it “slow” and not “easy”. Ha
I think you’re vastly over simplifying.
I happened to jump on Strava and look at Scott Fauble’s training. Most of his runs are in the 6:45-7:15 range…almost 2 mins slower than MP pace. He throws in a fast run/workout here and there. He runs a lot but he knows it’s okay to run slow.
Do you also put your PIN number into the ATM machine?!? LOL
But the heads-up is well noted – and you’re right, loads of very fast people spend a lot of time running much slower than marathon race pace.
How do you all think this applies to those of us who are slower? Do the biomechanics change the equation? Should it be MORE than 2 minutes slower if you’re a person who considers, say, 7:15 their MP? -Eric
ps, he’s https://www.strava.com/pros/7780234
I don’t think the biomechanics change but I feel fairly confident in saying that we need to look at the percentage slower than race pace, not the min/mile. Fauble’s 7:00 pace is about 42% slower than his Boston pace of 4:55; thus for a mary pace of 7:15, you’d shoot for 10:18 pace, not 9:20, which is a big difference. 
Makes sense. Reminds me this from Jack Daniels run coach:
Problem is there’s no way I can keep my HR at 60%max while doing anything that resembles running. I’m breaking through that # at a moderately brisk walk. Too much time in life as a 100-500 yard swimmer, maybe? As soon as I start exercising, my heart is like “Its GO TIME!” and I’m at 70-75%, no matter how moderate the pace/effort.
I can guarantee you that if you got to see his runs before there even was a starva, there would have been 100’s and 100’s of days of super fast running. I have said this before, once you get to a particular speed, it is not very hard to maintain it. Getting there was super hard, but once there you can change things up and do a sort of cruise control program. Just like the Maffatone folks that like to point out Mark Allen as the prime example of how that kind of training can work. Sure, after you spend your 10,000 hours spitting your lungs up to get there…
I don’t know if that’s always the case. I’m pretty sure the Norwegians, especially XC skiers, spend massive amounts of time at “slow” speeds, even in their junior years. With the high volume of training they do, it would be hard to do otherwise. I don’t follow running, so I can’t speak to that.
If you run as much as a pro marathoner you can run easy too for most of it. The problem for most people is that they don’t have enough time to run easy for the amount of time it takes for adaptation.
Makes sense. Reminds me this from Jack Daniels run coach:
Problem is there’s no way I can keep my HR at 60%max while doing anything that resembles running. I’m breaking through that # a moderately brisk walk. Too much time in life as a 100-500 yard swimmer, maybe? As soon as I start exercising, my heart is like “Its GO TIME!” and I’m at 70-75%, no matter how moderate the pace/effort.
complete aside - is your reference to swimming a thing in regards to the HR trends you see? as a former 200/500 YD swimmer, I witness the EXACT same trend…
I happened to jump on Strava and look at Scott Fauble’s training. Most of his runs are in the 6:45-7:15 range…almost 2 mins slower than MP pace. He throws in a fast run/workout here and there. He runs a lot but he knows it’s okay to run slow.
He’s running 100+ mile weeks. Not sure what you would expect his training to look like?
Even with all the training info out there most people still run their easy runs too fast and their fast runs too easy.
I happened to jump on Strava and look at Scott Fauble’s training. Most of his runs are in the 6:45-7:15 range…almost 2 mins slower than MP pace. He throws in a fast run/workout here and there. He runs a lot but he knows it’s okay to run slow.
x2 what DD says above. Most people have easy days that are not easy enough and hard days are not hard enough. Too much gray zone training again. I see this all the time on my FB feedback feed. A 1:37 half-marathoner goes and run 1:38 half marathoner once a week and they go 1:37 on race day. If they did some intensity, 2x5k at 95% and easier days running 8:30-9:00 they might actually go 1:30.
Problem is there’s no way I can keep my HR at 60%max while doing anything that resembles running. I’m breaking through that # a moderately brisk walk. Too much time in life as a 100-500 yard swimmer, maybe? As soon as I start exercising, my heart is like “Its GO TIME!” and I’m at 70-75%, no matter how moderate the pace/effort.
complete aside - is your reference to swimming a thing in regards to the HR trends you see? as a former 200/500 YD swimmer, I witness the EXACT same trend…
Just personal speculation as to why my HR seems to be high even at moderate effort. I swam as a kid/teen, then came back to competitive swimming in my 40s before branching out to triathlon. Thinking the near-instant massive increase in oxygen demand of a ~2-6 minute long race, and the training that went with that, might have conditioned my heart to rapidly react to exercise stimulus.
I happened to jump on Strava and look at Scott Fauble’s training. Most of his runs are in the 6:45-7:15 range…almost 2 mins slower than MP pace. He throws in a fast run/workout here and there. He runs a lot but he knows it’s okay to run slow.
Agreed, but keep in mind most people don’t run very much and don’t run very fast when they do, especially if they are triathletes.
This is my point. It’s okay to run easier than what you think is easy. Just because your McMillan calculator tells you your easy runs should be “x†pace it’s okay to go a little slower than this pace and still be a good runner.