I'm running a 5 mile race about a month from now and having trouble trying to figure out how to train for it. Most places I look are geared towards finishing the race, but I want to cut time and try to run it as fast as possible. Last year I did the race at 7:39 pace so I'm really trying to beat that so any recommendations for plans would be helpful.

Also do long "easy runs" even do anything? I remember doing tempo/interval runs and things like that last year but was told to do a lot of just 45 minute runs at a slow pace. I never really felt tired after these like the other runs and in the end it just felt like I was wasting an hour of time because I was going nearly the same distance as other runs just slower.