Re: extreme shoe frustration

shinypenny said:

Yep, you probably ran your hardest ever. When I do that, I find I
don't run as in control as I normally do, which leads to bad form,
which can lead to injury. I had the same issue after this last 5K -
slapped my feet too hard during the downhills when I ran too fast
and lost my form.

Which is one compelling reason to do some short, fast speedwork! I'm
talking strides and/or fast repeats of about 200m or less, run at
faster than 5k pace, with *full* jog/walk recoveries.

The short duration and full recoveries make this type of session a
whole lot less unpleasant than say long intervals let alone racing.
At the same time, teaching your body to handle fast pace with
relaxation and good form (1) pays dividends when you go to race (at
slower pace, hah! though of course it's much more difficult overall to
hold that pace for miles), and/or to perform longer workouts like
intervals and tempo runs.

(1) This is the key! How fast to run these? My vote is, about as
fast as you can without losing form and tensing up. Pay attention to
not just your stride but also keeping your hands, arms, shoulders,
face relaxed, and good posture. Feel free to measure your pace and
compare to say Daniels "R" pace to satisfy your curiosity, but don't
run faster to hit some published numerical target. And, so far as I'm
concerned anyway, don't run a lot slower either, unless say you're
unable to hit the same pace for your last repeat as your first.