Running-short and long runs?

If I were to run 4 miles at a 7 min pace, is that better for fitness/weight rather than running 6 miles at a 10 minute pace?

I hope that makes sense. I'm basically asking whether it's better to run for longer..I'm losing the motivation to go out for a long run everytime. One of my running partners just went through what it sounds like you are going through. I am a long time runner in his 50s who has been running over 25 years and she is half my age and just started a couple of years ago. I have never really cared how fast I ran and I still don't. She cares very much. And that was the problem. She made very good progress for two years, setting PRs every time she ran a race, and she ran a lot of them. But then she plateaued like everybody does once in a while. And that is what bothered her. She didn't enjoy running if she couldn't see improvement.

I finally convinced her to leave the watch and odometer at home, drive to her favorite place in the area - a nice old-growth park in her case - and just jog around it sight-seeing. She did that once in a while and only when she felt like it. She did not schedule it and never brought the watch. After running for 2.5 years, she discovered for the first time, the simple joy of just running. I am glad to say she is running regularly again, still trying for PRs but is not distressed when it doesn't happen. She is running for the simple joy of running like she was when she first started.

I would suggest trying something like that yourself. Just leave the watch at home, run until you feel like stopping, and don't record any of it. And do this until you find your motivation again. Then you can from a sight-seer to a PR setter again if you want. Or you may be like me. You may discover that you want to be a lifelong sight-seer.

For more motivation in this area, read everything you can find by my hero: John Bingham - the Penguin who writes the Runner's World column "No Need For Speed". You can find him on http://www.runnersworld.com/ or his own web site at http://www.johnbingham.com/ .

Good luck.
The longer slower run is better for your cardio fitness. The government guidelines recommend half an hour a day though this might include walking and other exercises.

Are you running on the roads or in the gym? If you are on the roads then you could try varying your routine, perhaps a different route, or try Fartlec type training where you alternate jogging and sprinting between lamp posts, or run through a park, in fact anything to make a change and give you an interest back again

If you are running in the gym then you could try things like slower run but add an incline for a couple of minutes, or carrying the speed just to make the run different.

If you can stick with some exercise of some form even if you give running a break and try cycling or swimming instead

It is best to vary your training. Do only one long run per week. Do one shorter but higher intensity run per week. The other days if you run do so at a comfortable pace and make them relatively short for recovery purposes. Varying your training will keep your body guessing and not get used to the same thing.

Both are important. You should switch between long runs and short runs. Long runs help your body get used to going longer distance. Shorter runs help you to go faster. Also if you can do 4 miles at a 7:00 minute pace then you could definitely do 6 miles faster then a 10:00 minute pace.

Its better for the 6 miles at 10. The faster you go the better for cardio. If you ever ran on a treadmill. There are two heart rate catagories. The lower one for "wieght management" and a faster one for cardio. So if you run faster you are focusing more on cardio then fat loss.

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