Your advice for steady pace runs mirrors my experience following a training plan from Advanced Marathoning by Pfitzinger. In this plan there are usually 2 medium long runs during the week that you're supposed to do at 80-90% of your goal marathon pace. Pfitzinger doesn't use the word "steady" to describe this pace, but 90% of marathon pace is right in between easy pace and marathon pace (for me anyway). You're absolutely right that steady pace runs are not only more fun but are very beneficial for getting prepared for a marathon.
I have to agree with you on this. I started running consistently over the past year, 80% zone 2, 20% tempo pace. My zone 2 pace never improved with a given heart rate. 12-minute miles to stay in zone 2, week after week, month after month. I got sick of it and started to run faster (not too fast), had more fun, felt better, and I am finally getting faster. My zone 2 pace is now 10:30/mile. That progress only happened after i started doing zone 3 runs. I still do zone 2 runs half of the time, but my "steady pace" runs, as you call it, end up being zone 3 or 10 bpm faster than my zone 2s.
Even Stephen Scullion is a big fan of steady runs. I never understood the Z2 hype for recreational runners. It's great for elites running 120kmpw or more. Somebody running like 50kmpw should do more z3 instead of shunning it and leaving so many gains on the table. Of course injuries are a risk but that applies to every training methodology.
After watching you, I got up the nerve to try steady pace for my run today instead of easy running. IT FELT GREAT! I wasnt overly tired, ans I felt stronger! I thought for sure Id be huffing and puffing at the end, but I wasn't. I felt awesome. Ill be doing way more steady pace runs now. Thank you for introducing this concept to me.
Great advice that fits perfectly to my situation! ! Currently I am doing no steady pace at all. My next marathon will be in April. I feel I need to get used to speed, since speed is something I never trained before. Therefore I'm focussing now on 5K --> 10 K --> HM untill December when I'll start the M-specific training block. This has resulted in about 20% faster then M-pace (short and long interval runs at 3:45-4.10 pace) and 80% easy pace runs (5:00-5:20 pace). Great suggestion to start with one steady run a week, in my case at around 4:30-4:40 pace, to get a feel of the M-effort. Thanks!
This was my experience, although not nearly at your level. Tried book schedules based on a hard/easy approach (what would probably be 80/20 now) for about five years and when I thought I'd stopped improving I gave up on books and went on intuition. I lowered my times across the board. I wound up doing what'd you call a steady run (about MP + 30' as it turned out) when I felt up to it and recovery runs in between. Getting back to running at age 52 and finding again that this is what works for me, especially now that it's so easy to get injured from the hard stuff. A 10' tempo for me is a much, much greater injury risk than an hour steady.
Great video as usual! I think steady pace does have a place in the training rotation, but over time if you overdo them in "replacement" of easy pace days, you're increasing the risk of injury. This is because the aerobic system is faster to adapt than tendons and other physical structures (and eventually muscles, but primarily tendons and ligaments). So, you may feel like you want to go steady because you feel good, but your tendons or bones may not agree on the longer term. Personally I like to have recovery AND "pre-covery" days before a hard session. I'll include steady pace in my long runs only (plus marathon and tempo pace if applicable). Alternatively I'll include more steady pace days (or progressive pace) when I'm planning for weeks with 1 single Q session per week plus long run.
Yes definitely not good to overdo them and build up to running them more often. They are harder on the body than easy runs for sure so take care when running steady pace more often.
So glad you posted this. This has been a lingering question for me for some time. I’m slowly getting faster…running 1:50 min per day… some days with lots of strides others easier. 20k per day. You’re the best!!!
Hey there, thank you for the video! I agree fully with you. Some refer to this intensity zone as Aerobic Threshold. Its the zone right between easy and the point at which your body begins to accumulate lactate. I have recently added this to my training. Its a very empowering intensity to run at for marathon training, as you have described. Love it, and thanks again for the video!
Totally on the same page when it comes to running slightly quicker than easy pace helps maintain motivation. It also feels far more efficient, I always feel the easy run pace just doesn't feel natural and that actually makes it feel harder in a way than running a bit quicker.
Steadies are just such a grind. Proper mind over matter type stuff. Steady running has been the biggest change I’ve made to my running recently, since working with a coach. I have a slightly elevated HR so my Easy Runs are in the 130s and my Steadies, I keep in the 150s. That being said, Steady running is a brilliant way to run with faster runners… I really enjoy pestering the rapid lot at my club and getting them to join me for my Steady/their Easy runs 👌👌
I heard the Kenyans flip this all upside down and run mainly STEADY/HARD 80% of the time and 20% Easy. I think the main message for everyone is to just get out and run, most of what you are talking about can only be figured out if you just get out and start running as you mentioned. Great Video!
I know a guy that runs 2 times daily at steady pace, everyday, with a total of around 100km per week. His legs power is so explosive, and his race times are at least equal or even better then runners with higher mileage done on a classic polarised training scheme. I also agree that its not junk mileage, and don't like the term grey zone, which indicates that you are partly using slow and partly using fast twitch muscle fibers, where afaik, you are actually recruiting most of the slow fibers and the whole aerobic system and then part of the fast fibers, which gets you a lot of aerobic fitness and also a spice of speed.
The great Ron Clarke trained 16-20km steady run with a progression near the end every day. Finishing at 5 minute mile pace on grass. This was his daily training. He ran 27:39 for 10000m on cinders with no pacemakers.
I agree sometimes on a steady day depending on terrain and if you not feeling great can also drop lift you into low tempo area which is never bad...make every run count im 3:11 o👍
I agree with you on the benefits of steady running. They are a big part of my training for a 3:15-3:20 marathon this year. Question: what do you think of doing long runs at steady pace?
I did steady long runs as part of training for London and felt they had a real benefit. It felt like good practice for running marathon pace but not too hard to need lots of recovery and risk injury.
I love doing steady running in my long runs. One of my favorite ways to do a long run is to do a 2km warm-up at easy pace, then start alternating marathon pace km's and "steady" pace km's...for me that's something like a 5:45-6:00/km warm-up, 4:45/km and 5:15/km alternating. It gives you just enough time to get off that MP speed when you're alternating like that, and you just do it for as long as you want. Fueling and hydration is very important on these kinds of, as I'm sure you know.
Yes steady is either upper zone2 or lower to mid zone3 depending how 1 sets their zones. Its as you say perhaps 25sec/mile above marathon pace. Stephen Scullion suggests it may be 30-40sec/mile above so thats also the same. A 2:59 Marathoner in the middle of preps "Steady" how you both describe it pace wise would be "around" 4:35-4:45/km. Its still burning fat but has a slightly higher % of glycogen burn but still utilising fat as well. Essentially a sugar/fat "gear" youre in. In a 6speed manual gearbox this would be 3rd gear with 1st being sprints and 6th being recovery jog 🎉
Hi Coach Pat Exactly what I was thinking. But I’m new at running and a bit overweight, I don’t have the aerobic capacity for steady pace yet. Once I’m a bit more advanced I will incorporate this. Thanks
I completely agree. To me, this concept aligns with the established "Maffetone Zone," which involves calculating 180 minus my age and factoring in additional information. In my younger years, I consistently pushed myself to the limit, which unsurprisingly led to frequent injuries. Nowadays, I maintain a steady pace during the majority of my runs, and as a result, I haven't experienced any significant injuries for the past 1-2 years. Additionally, due to this injury-free consistency, I've managed to improve my half marathon time by around 15-20 minutes.
Hi, I think that for someone steady pace can be more valueable than interval sessions - and not only because of lower injury risk but simply because of the constant longer lasting (not so easy) effort.
Minor note, my first two marathons (York 2022 and London 2023) were the same as yours, Patrick…. Albeit I was just a *little* slower than you (3.20 for York, 3.02 for London) :) . Am going to do York again in October and try to break sub 3. Fancy pacing me? 😆
I think a lot of this is imprecise terminology. If Easy pace means Recovery pace, then of course aerobic running faster than Easy will be important for training, but many coaches use "Easy" to refer to most if not all of Zone 2 - clear up to the aerobic threshold (LT1). So for them, prescribing 80% of running as Easy doesn't mean 80% recovery jogging, but includes a lot of more challenging aerobic work, which is what I think you're referring to as Steady. I wholeheartedly agree with you about the value of running at those more intense aerobic efforts, but I don't think the term "Easy" means much without knowing exactly what range relative to the two lactate thresholds is being referred to.
Depends which zone system you're using but if youve set it to % of Heartrate Reserve with zone 4 threshold being 80-90% hrr... Itll be Zone3 like 1hr @ Marathon pace +15-35sec/km. Easy Id call m.p + 35sec-80sec slower. 80sec+ pretty much 'jogging' :)
You need to run slow to run fast, according to some popular youtube experts; it’s might be a nice (false) idea, but it annoys me a lot. Thank you for getting this right and sharing.
is this z2 youre referring to or a little more? I ran quite alot at maybe the faster end of z2, and seemed to progress quick by mileage and not really any hard interval sessions at all. for all distances.
Definitely not my speciality as I don't run in hot countries often. I would say keeping hydrated, and running at cooler times of day are the obvious things. I'm in Spain at the moment where its hot at this time of year and I'm running at 7am when it's coolest.
Sounds good but give us some examples of your steady training run paces compared to your marathon paces. How many weeks you do them, how many days per week, etc. Repeatedly saying its between easy and tempo is understood. Thanks!
Thanks. I don't have a marathon pace since I've never ran one, but my garmin predicts a 5 min/k pace. It also tells me to do most of my base training at a 5:10. What would you say my steady pace is?
Whatever steady pace feels like for you. It should be a bit harder than when you're running and feel like you can have a conversation, but not too hard that you are really out of breath. A sustainable pace.
Hi, I'm looking for some advice. I'm 35 yrs old and started running at the start of June. I run 7km every morning and the furthest I have ran is 11km in 55 mins. There's a charity run coming up in September with 3 options 10km, half marathon or 3/4 marathon. Which one would you recommend for me as it will be my first time doing anything like this? Thanks
1/2M. I started daily 10ks like you at 35 + after 3 years now, I've nestled into 1/2Ms as my favorite distance. They're epic enough w/o any major training or major recovery. Keep up the dailies. I broke 5min mi for my 36th birthday and ran 4:37 for my 37th. 1/2M PR of 1:20:05 after starting running at 34. Enjoy it! 😉
I started running the shorter 10ks first because I wasn't sure how well I could run a half marathon. If it was me I would do the 10k as my first race and see how I felt. From there move up to a half marathon.
Good insight but wouldn’t work for me, as I’d burn out. I run mainly easy, except for in the last 4-6 weeks before the marathon, and include a few races for tune up in that time. PBs across that board doing this in my mid-40s, I think because I built a large base, mainly through the lockdowns. I’m nowhere near your level though 😊
It's between marathon pace and easy pace. Hard enough to feel like you're working a bit more than if you were just running easy. Easy is the kind of pace you can hold a conversation at whilst you're running.
Hi Patrick. Do you never differentiate easy/steady by heart rate? For me it's easy/recovery as long as I run around 120-135 bpm and steady/moderate around 140-155 bpm.
Hi I have a lot of issues in breathing if I get into the steady pace mode...on the contrary if my pace is easy... breathing and mileage both spike up How do I improve on my breathing
So if someone is doing a easy run monday, speed workout tuesday, easy run wednesday, tempo workout thursday, easy run saturday, and a long run on sunday.. where would steady pace runs fit in?
If you put a percentage slower than marathon pace what would it be. I run my long runs and medium long run 10 to 20% alower than marathon pace based on Petes Pfitzinger Advanced Marathon Book. For me it's about 30sec to 50sec slower than marathon pace. Is uour steady slower than that or about that?
Would you say this should be mid zone 3? I struggle to stay in zone 2 for easy runs anyway, and often drift into zone 3, especially on hills, so maybe I’m in the right pace overall?
Plug any recorded time you do have, eg. 5K or 10k time into a race pace predictor calculator and it’ll convert your known pace in another distance to predicted paces over the other distances is one simple way to start.
So there seems to be different ways to skin a cat in terms of running. But I feel like people used to run every run steady and then science found a more efficient way. You could make the argument if you do the majority or your runs steady, the legs wont feel as fresh for harder sessions and wont recover as quickly after. I understand in your case you didn't do a lot of speed, so more steady makes sense. But equally most people who run for 3.5 years with no real, faster pace work don't end up running a 2:24 marathon. Some people are special and the normal rules don't apply, I think you might be one of them haha which is pretty cool.
Agreed...He clearly has world class genetics being able to run 2:24 in 3.5 years. I'd love to see his results after following a more polarized training plan that incorporates more easy running and more speedwork. I bet he has sub 2:15 potential!
Perhaps, if you’re able to run high volumes at whatever pace, that pace is easy, whereas for others such volumes would be difficult to achieve at higher speeds? One man’s easy is another’s steady - unless you’re using a more objective / standardised metric…..🤷🏼♂️
Isn’t this what a lot of runtubers call ‘Grey Zone’ mileage as well as Junk Mileage? So much conflicting advice out here folks. It’s all about running what YOU feel like
Your advice for steady pace runs mirrors my experience following a training plan from Advanced Marathoning by Pfitzinger. In this plan there are usually 2 medium long runs during the week that you're supposed to do at 80-90% of your goal marathon pace. Pfitzinger doesn't use the word "steady" to describe this pace, but 90% of marathon pace is right in between easy pace and marathon pace (for me anyway). You're absolutely right that steady pace runs are not only more fun but are very beneficial for getting prepared for a marathon.
I have to agree with you on this. I started running consistently over the past year, 80% zone 2, 20% tempo pace. My zone 2 pace never improved with a given heart rate. 12-minute miles to stay in zone 2, week after week, month after month. I got sick of it and started to run faster (not too fast), had more fun, felt better, and I am finally getting faster. My zone 2 pace is now 10:30/mile. That progress only happened after i started doing zone 3 runs. I still do zone 2 runs half of the time, but my "steady pace" runs, as you call it, end up being zone 3 or 10 bpm faster than my zone 2s.
Yup, happened with me too! After doing steady runs my easy pace improved
@@bhagathkumar5367yep me too unfortunately l pushed to hard today and am now cramping alittle😂
Even Stephen Scullion is a big fan of steady runs. I never understood the Z2 hype for recreational runners. It's great for elites running 120kmpw or more. Somebody running like 50kmpw should do more z3 instead of shunning it and leaving so many gains on the table. Of course injuries are a risk but that applies to every training methodology.
I agreed with your Patrick. I do a lot of steady runs as I am approaching to my race. It is not junk miles and really useful.
After watching you, I got up the nerve to try steady pace for my run today instead of easy running. IT FELT GREAT! I wasnt overly tired, ans I felt stronger! I thought for sure Id be huffing and puffing at the end, but I wasn't. I felt awesome. Ill be doing way more steady pace runs now. Thank you for introducing this concept to me.
Great advice that fits perfectly to my situation! ! Currently I am doing no steady pace at all. My next marathon will be in April. I feel I need to get used to speed, since speed is something I never trained before. Therefore I'm focussing now on 5K --> 10 K --> HM untill December when I'll start the M-specific training block. This has resulted in about 20% faster then M-pace (short and long interval runs at 3:45-4.10 pace) and 80% easy pace runs (5:00-5:20 pace). Great suggestion to start with one steady run a week, in my case at around 4:30-4:40 pace, to get a feel of the M-effort. Thanks!
This was my experience, although not nearly at your level. Tried book schedules based on a hard/easy approach (what would probably be 80/20 now) for about five years and when I thought I'd stopped improving I gave up on books and went on intuition. I lowered my times across the board. I wound up doing what'd you call a steady run (about MP + 30' as it turned out) when I felt up to it and recovery runs in between. Getting back to running at age 52 and finding again that this is what works for me, especially now that it's so easy to get injured from the hard stuff. A 10' tempo for me is a much, much greater injury risk than an hour steady.
Great video as usual! I think steady pace does have a place in the training rotation, but over time if you overdo them in "replacement" of easy pace days, you're increasing the risk of injury. This is because the aerobic system is faster to adapt than tendons and other physical structures (and eventually muscles, but primarily tendons and ligaments). So, you may feel like you want to go steady because you feel good, but your tendons or bones may not agree on the longer term. Personally I like to have recovery AND "pre-covery" days before a hard session. I'll include steady pace in my long runs only (plus marathon and tempo pace if applicable). Alternatively I'll include more steady pace days (or progressive pace) when I'm planning for weeks with 1 single Q session per week plus long run.
Yes definitely not good to overdo them and build up to running them more often. They are harder on the body than easy runs for sure so take care when running steady pace more often.
So glad you posted this. This has been a lingering question for me for some time. I’m slowly getting faster…running 1:50 min per day… some days with lots of strides others easier. 20k per day.
You’re the best!!!
Hey there, thank you for the video! I agree fully with you. Some refer to this intensity zone as Aerobic Threshold. Its the zone right between easy and the point at which your body begins to accumulate lactate. I have recently added this to my training. Its a very empowering intensity to run at for marathon training, as you have described. Love it, and thanks again for the video!
Totally on the same page when it comes to running slightly quicker than easy pace helps maintain motivation. It also feels far more efficient, I always feel the easy run pace just doesn't feel natural and that actually makes it feel harder in a way than running a bit quicker.
I completely agree
Steadies are just such a grind. Proper mind over matter type stuff. Steady running has been the biggest change I’ve made to my running recently, since working with a coach. I have a slightly elevated HR so my Easy Runs are in the 130s and my Steadies, I keep in the 150s. That being said, Steady running is a brilliant way to run with faster runners… I really enjoy pestering the rapid lot at my club and getting them to join me for my Steady/their Easy runs 👌👌
You are that guy! lols.
I heard the Kenyans flip this all upside down and run mainly STEADY/HARD 80% of the time and 20% Easy. I think the main message for everyone is to just get out and run, most of what you are talking about can only be figured out if you just get out and start running as you mentioned. Great Video!
This isn’t true.
I think you have a good point there. I’m going to incorporate that into my training
I know a guy that runs 2 times daily at steady pace, everyday, with a total of around 100km per week. His legs power is so explosive, and his race times are at least equal or even better then runners with higher mileage done on a classic polarised training scheme. I also agree that its not junk mileage, and don't like the term grey zone, which indicates that you are partly using slow and partly using fast twitch muscle fibers, where afaik, you are actually recruiting most of the slow fibers and the whole aerobic system and then part of the fast fibers, which gets you a lot of aerobic fitness and also a spice of speed.
Awesome mate! Massive respect to Lorna and I'm looking forward to the next one 😊
I enjoyed the video! Patrick thanks for doing these videos. Your advice is so simple but effective!
The great Ron Clarke trained 16-20km steady run with a progression near the end every day. Finishing at 5 minute mile pace on grass. This was his daily training. He ran 27:39 for 10000m on cinders with no pacemakers.
I agree sometimes on a steady day depending on terrain and if you not feeling great can also drop lift you into low tempo area which is never bad...make every run count im 3:11 o👍
Another excellent video Patrick, loving the channel. Keep up the great work 👍👍
I agree with you on the benefits of steady running. They are a big part of my training for a 3:15-3:20 marathon this year. Question: what do you think of doing long runs at steady pace?
I did steady long runs as part of training for London and felt they had a real benefit. It felt like good practice for running marathon pace but not too hard to need lots of recovery and risk injury.
I love doing steady running in my long runs. One of my favorite ways to do a long run is to do a 2km warm-up at easy pace, then start alternating marathon pace km's and "steady" pace km's...for me that's something like a 5:45-6:00/km warm-up, 4:45/km and 5:15/km alternating. It gives you just enough time to get off that MP speed when you're alternating like that, and you just do it for as long as you want. Fueling and hydration is very important on these kinds of, as I'm sure you know.
Yes steady is either upper zone2 or lower to mid zone3 depending how 1 sets their zones. Its as you say perhaps 25sec/mile above marathon pace. Stephen Scullion suggests it may be 30-40sec/mile above so thats also the same. A 2:59 Marathoner in the middle of preps "Steady" how you both describe it pace wise would be "around" 4:35-4:45/km. Its still burning fat but has a slightly higher % of glycogen burn but still utilising fat as well. Essentially a sugar/fat "gear" youre in. In a 6speed manual gearbox this would be 3rd gear with 1st being sprints and 6th being recovery jog 🎉
Hi Coach Pat
Exactly what I was thinking. But I’m new at running and a bit overweight, I don’t have the aerobic capacity for steady pace yet. Once I’m a bit more advanced I will incorporate this. Thanks
Couldn’t agree more!
Thanks I will also start it in training
Another great benefit for us runner with job and/or family is that steady runs takes up less time, so easier to squeeze in on lunch etc.
So true!
I run a steady pace once or twice a week during this block of 16 weeks in which I’m
building my aerobic base. I’m in week 9.
I completely agree. To me, this concept aligns with the established "Maffetone Zone," which involves calculating 180 minus my age and factoring in additional information. In my younger years, I consistently pushed myself to the limit, which unsurprisingly led to frequent injuries. Nowadays, I maintain a steady pace during the majority of my runs, and as a result, I haven't experienced any significant injuries for the past 1-2 years. Additionally, due to this injury-free consistency, I've managed to improve my half marathon time by around 15-20 minutes.
Wow that's a big half marathon time improvement. Great to see this working for you too. It's far better than always going to the limit.
Hi, I think that for someone steady pace can be more valueable than interval sessions - and not only because of lower injury risk but simply because of the constant longer lasting (not so easy) effort.
Minor note, my first two marathons (York 2022 and London 2023) were the same as yours, Patrick…. Albeit I was just a *little* slower than you (3.20 for York, 3.02 for London) :) . Am going to do York again in October and try to break sub 3. Fancy pacing me? 😆
I think a lot of this is imprecise terminology. If Easy pace means Recovery pace, then of course aerobic running faster than Easy will be important for training, but many coaches use "Easy" to refer to most if not all of Zone 2 - clear up to the aerobic threshold (LT1). So for them, prescribing 80% of running as Easy doesn't mean 80% recovery jogging, but includes a lot of more challenging aerobic work, which is what I think you're referring to as Steady. I wholeheartedly agree with you about the value of running at those more intense aerobic efforts, but I don't think the term "Easy" means much without knowing exactly what range relative to the two lactate thresholds is being referred to.
Easy means zone 2 which is a low heart rate and low effort....not steady
I’t would be Nice to know what your running paces are, as an example of easy and tempo. Thanks for your content from Argentina 🇦🇷
Easy for me is anything above 4.05 per/km and tempo about 3.40 per/km
If you are using 5 zone model and zone 4 is your lactate threshold, what zone is steady pace at?
Depends which zone system you're using but if youve set it to % of Heartrate Reserve with zone 4 threshold being 80-90% hrr... Itll be Zone3 like 1hr @ Marathon pace +15-35sec/km. Easy Id call m.p + 35sec-80sec slower. 80sec+ pretty much 'jogging' :)
@@zacsborntorunrunningadvent3441 thanks. There are plenty of training effort terms which varies from coaches and athletes perspective.
You need to run slow to run fast, according to some popular youtube experts; it’s might be a nice (false) idea, but it annoys me a lot. Thank you for getting this right and sharing.
Does this mean that you don't focus on heart rate as much? Where does a steady run site in max hr %?
is this z2 youre referring to or a little more? I ran quite alot at maybe the faster end of z2, and seemed to progress quick by mileage and not really any hard interval sessions at all. for all distances.
Any tips tor running in humid/high temp countries?
Definitely not my speciality as I don't run in hot countries often. I would say keeping hydrated, and running at cooler times of day are the obvious things. I'm in Spain at the moment where its hot at this time of year and I'm running at 7am when it's coolest.
i think this works if you recover quick enough from them. I've got a feeling some ppl won't though.
Sounds good but give us some examples of your steady training run paces compared to your marathon paces. How many weeks you do them, how many days per week, etc. Repeatedly saying its between easy and tempo is understood. Thanks!
He said MP+30sec
What was your steady pace difference to marathon pace? About 10-15 sec/km below marathon pace kind of thing?
About 20 -25 seconds slower on average.
Thanks. I don't have a marathon pace since I've never ran one, but my garmin predicts a 5 min/k pace. It also tells me to do most of my base training at a 5:10. What would you say my steady pace is?
Whatever steady pace feels like for you. It should be a bit harder than when you're running and feel like you can have a conversation, but not too hard that you are really out of breath. A sustainable pace.
Hi, I'm looking for some advice. I'm 35 yrs old and started running at the start of June. I run 7km every morning and the furthest I have ran is 11km in 55 mins. There's a charity run coming up in September with 3 options 10km, half marathon or 3/4 marathon. Which one would you recommend for me as it will be my first time doing anything like this? Thanks
1/2M. I started daily 10ks like you at 35 + after 3 years now, I've nestled into 1/2Ms as my favorite distance. They're epic enough w/o any major training or major recovery. Keep up the dailies. I broke 5min mi for my 36th birthday and ran 4:37 for my 37th. 1/2M PR of 1:20:05 after starting running at 34. Enjoy it! 😉
I think you should indeed try the half marathon. If you run 7K per day you should have the base to finish a half marathon.
I started running the shorter 10ks first because I wasn't sure how well I could run a half marathon. If it was me I would do the 10k as my first race and see how I felt. From there move up to a half marathon.
Good insight but wouldn’t work for me, as I’d burn out. I run mainly easy, except for in the last 4-6 weeks before the marathon, and include a few races for tune up in that time. PBs across that board doing this in my mid-40s, I think because I built a large base, mainly through the lockdowns. I’m nowhere near your level though 😊
What the definition of a steady pace please? Is it 90% of race pace? Thanks!
It's between marathon pace and easy pace. Hard enough to feel like you're working a bit more than if you were just running easy. Easy is the kind of pace you can hold a conversation at whilst you're running.
Hi Patrick.
Do you never differentiate easy/steady by heart rate?
For me it's easy/recovery as long as I run around 120-135 bpm and steady/moderate around 140-155 bpm.
No I just go by feel, always kind of worked for me doing it that way,but I see the benefit of going by heart rate.
Thanks for your answer. And that's amazing! You're really an inspiration.
Hi
I have a lot of issues in breathing if I get into the steady pace mode...on the contrary if my pace is easy... breathing and mileage both spike up
How do I improve on my breathing
Keep running easy until you feel it easier to add more speed.
So if someone is doing a easy run monday, speed workout tuesday, easy run wednesday, tempo workout thursday, easy run saturday, and a long run on sunday.. where would steady pace runs fit in?
In that case I would add sections of steady pace to my long run or if I was feeling good, all my long run at steady pace.
What is your BPM during steady pace runs?
I'm not sure I don't measure my heart rate during runs. I just go by feel.
Hi Patrick, are you back in full training yet and recovered from your hamstring injury? All the best from Lancashire
I'm back running again thanks, not training for anything just yet.
Great stuff, so no 100 mile weeks just for now!
If you put a percentage slower than marathon pace what would it be. I run my long runs and medium long run 10 to 20% alower than marathon pace based on Petes Pfitzinger Advanced Marathon Book. For me it's about 30sec to 50sec slower than marathon pace. Is uour steady slower than that or about that?
Yes around 30 seconds slower on average is about right for me.
Would you say this should be mid zone 3? I struggle to stay in zone 2 for easy runs anyway, and often drift into zone 3, especially on hills, so maybe I’m in the right pace overall?
Maybe high zone 2
Patrick: If you have never run a marathon how do you know what marathon pace is or feels like?
Plug any recorded time you do have, eg. 5K or 10k time into a race pace predictor calculator and it’ll convert your known pace in another distance to predicted paces over the other distances is one simple way to start.
Yes great way of doing it.
In your opinion what percentage% do you train for easy,strady&hard. Does steady % more than easy?
I probably do 60/40 steady/easy. I just enjoy it that way and seems to work well for me.
So there seems to be different ways to skin a cat in terms of running. But I feel like people used to run every run steady and then science found a more efficient way.
You could make the argument if you do the majority or your runs steady, the legs wont feel as fresh for harder sessions and wont recover as quickly after.
I understand in your case you didn't do a lot of speed, so more steady makes sense. But equally most people who run for 3.5 years with no real, faster pace work don't end up running a 2:24 marathon. Some people are special and the normal rules don't apply, I think you might be one of them haha which is pretty cool.
Agreed...He clearly has world class genetics being able to run 2:24 in 3.5 years. I'd love to see his results after following a more polarized training plan that incorporates more easy running and more speedwork. I bet he has sub 2:15 potential!
@Strizzle81 maybe the reason he is so fast is because of this constant steady high mileage! Maybe he would be slower with the 80/20!!!
Isnt steady a threshold run which is faster than marathon ? You are describing something like aerobic threshold (not anaerobic!)
No. Steady pace is faster than your easy pace but slower than your marathon pace.
@@MrJermson And if you've never run a marathon how do you know what marathon pace is?
@@Nyelands Do a time trial and use one of the online race predictor to estimate your marathon pace. Even then, this is just an estimate.
What heart rate or zone are you doing these steady runs in?
No idea, I just run by feel
Perhaps, if you’re able to run high volumes at whatever pace, that pace is easy, whereas for others such volumes would be difficult to achieve at higher speeds? One man’s easy is another’s steady - unless you’re using a more objective / standardised metric…..🤷🏼♂️
Isn’t this what a lot of runtubers call ‘Grey Zone’ mileage as well as Junk Mileage?
So much conflicting advice out here folks. It’s all about running what YOU feel like
Yes exactly, that's why I run like this
@@patrickmartinrunning I love how you go against the grain mate.
It was literally fastest click in the west 😁🤌
Today's video was the reason i made my first double session day(Steady 😉)