Somethign I noticed when running relaxed, and running hard!

[daniel_6_mile_man]

I di my normal late evening 3 miel run last night. I normally do my main workout in the afternoon.

Anyway, I run the 3 miles on a 1.5 mile circle, so I do 2 loops.

On my first loop, I was relaxed regular breathign makign sure I keep good form and I felt slower than usual but I ran it in 9 minutes. So I started runnign harder and thinkign about how to pick up pace and thought/felt like I was running a 8:30, but it ended up at 9:04.

Why do you think this happened?? I ran harder and felt A LOT faster the 2nd loop?? IS it because I wasnt relaxed or I was focusing too much on running fast? Or am I just overthinking this?

[Danielle]

I know sometimes when I'm stressed and running, my times are bleh. It's like my body has to be in that 'groove' to be most efficient. That said, I also think it's the kind of stress that makes a difference. For instance, I like to play mind games sometimes when I do my trail runs (ie, I'm Jackie Chan running from the bad guys :o). This kind of 'controlled' stress gets me running faster. But if I'm stressed due to uncomfortable clothes or something, then my speed usually suffers.

Ya know, my answer's not good for diddily. Wonder if there's research out there that'll answer your question?

[Gotham Dark Knight]

I di my normal late evening 3 miel run last night. I normally do my main workout in the afternoon.

Anyway, I run the 3 miles on a 1.5 mile circle, so I do 2 loops.

On my first loop, I was relaxed regular breathign makign sure I keep good form and I felt slower than usual but I ran it in 9 minutes. So I started runnign harder and thinkign about how to pick up pace and thought/felt like I was running a 8:30, but it ended up at 9:04.

Why do you think this happened?? I ran harder and felt A LOT faster the 2nd loop?? IS it because I wasnt relaxed or I was focusing too much on running fast? Or am I just overthinking this?

you were tired and your strides got shorter and/or your turn over rate got slower...but since you were putting forth a bigger effort physically, you felt as if you were going faster.

[CoachLevi]

you were tired and your strides got shorter and/or your turn over rate got slower...but since you were putting forth a bigger effort physically, you felt as if you were going faster.

oh yeah. happens to me all the time. i've had days where i'm feeling like a 6 minute mile and then it turns out to be like 8 minutes :eek: