Question about running?

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Camoflaugegirl1984
Camoflaugegirl1984 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay, so to be brief but thorough, I was discharged from the Navy six years ago and since leaving I gained a lot of weight. I'm trying to lose weight to get back into the military and have made significant progress by calorie counting, portion control and increased physical activity. I work out six days a week and run a mile and a half every other day. My my ultimate goal is to run the entire mile and a half in under fifteen minutes (Navy standards for a female in her early thirties). At the start of this work out routine, it took me thirty minutes to run a mile and a half. Three weeks ago it was twenty minutes and last week it was 18 minutes. This week I was back at twenty minutes and I feel like I made all that progress just to take a step back. I still eat rather healthy and only cheat sparingly and I still try to keep active. Any advice?

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  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,694 Member
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    Increase your distance. Run most of your runs easy, but once or twice a week (depending on how many days you run) do some faster paced running after a good warm up. Intervals, fartleks, and tempo runs will help you run faster. But you should do most of your running easy so you can do your hard runs hard enough to make some progress.
  • SerinaW
    SerinaW Posts: 9 Member
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    Both responses were very helpful to me, too, thanks. I'm not trying to hit any specific goal like OP, but am in early stages of trying to run again, having never been good at it. I want to just break the imaginary barrier I have that I can't progress further.
  • dmkoenig
    dmkoenig Posts: 299 Member
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    Agree with the others, interval workouts will help you with your speed. You're not putting in a lot of miles so treadmill workouts are ideal so you can precisely manage your speed and see your progress.
    Example workout:

    Warm-up: 10 minute at a comfortable pace. In the second 5-minutes throw in 4 to 5 10-15 second accelerations
    Main set: 6 x 30 second hard efforts at 80% of your maximum. 60 seconds rest in between each effort (walk or slow jog).
    Warm-down: 5 minutes easy jog.

    Do this 2 to 3 times/week. Each time bump up the speed of your hard efforts 0.1 mph.
    After a few weeks see if you can extend the hard efforts to 45 seconds, reduce recovery to 45 seconds.
  • Tweaking_Time
    Tweaking_Time Posts: 733 Member
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    I am 57 and started running earlier this year to do my first Sprint-Triathlon. BTW - I HATE running!!! But complaining about running is so fun - so it all works out. :)

    Seriously though. Once I could run a 5k without walking, I noticed my stride started to improve. Like the others said above...intervals started working for me as well. I am now able to hold to 10 minute mile for about 10 minutes...and then I fade out a bit.

    Every workout is not a step forward for sure. But every workout is exactly that - a workout. I get my fastest times after a few days rest, with fresh legs, and I bet you will too.

    Good luck and I look forward to seeing you post that you made it!
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
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    First, stop trying so hard. It seems like you may be over doing this. Your body has to have time to recover (that's when gains are made).

    Next, increase your distance. Work your way up to 3 or more miles. Do these runs slowly and resist the urge to run fast. Allow your body time to adapt and your speed will increase. Once you can run 3-4 miles without stopping, then you may include some speed work once a week (no more - again over doing it is NOT going to work).

    Skip the dreadmill. You're test is outside, run outside. Learn how to pace yourself (don't rely on a machine).

    Good luck.
  • Cbean08
    Cbean08 Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I forgot to mention, make sure you have proper running form. You don't want to run "heavy" on your feet. Push through the ball of your foot or your toe with every step. Keep your arms lose and at your side, not tense and clenched. Relax your jaw line and breathe through your nose. And, make sure you don't hunch over or slouch. It makes it harder to breathe.

    It's just some things to try that have helped me. Poor form makes a run far more painful than it needs to be.
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
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    Cbean08 wrote: »
    I forgot to mention, make sure you have proper running form. You don't want to run "heavy" on your feet. Push through the ball of your foot or your toe with every step. Keep your arms lose and at your side, not tense and clenched. Relax your jaw line and breathe through your nose. And, make sure you don't hunch over or slouch. It makes it harder to breathe.

    It's just some things to try that have helped me. Poor form makes a run far more painful than it needs to be.

    The next time I breath through my nose during run will be the first time. Ain't happening and to try to force it would be a mistake.
  • greypilgrimess
    greypilgrimess Posts: 353 Member
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    Has the weather been hotter for you this week? Factors such as the weather can make a big difference to your speed and perceived effort. If you're running in heat/humidity, expect your runs to be slower and more difficult. It doesn't mean you're less fit, just that your body has to work harder to deal with the circumstances. The same goes for if you're starting to get sick.

    If these aren't the reasons, chances are that you're just having an off week. It happens, running is not always consistent. Just keep at it and don't stress.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
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    dewd2 wrote: »
    First, stop trying so hard. It seems like you may be over doing this. Your body has to have time to recover (that's when gains are made).

    Next, increase your distance. Work your way up to 3 or more miles. Do these runs slowly and resist the urge to run fast. Allow your body time to adapt and your speed will increase. Once you can run 3-4 miles without stopping, then you may include some speed work once a week (no more - again over doing it is NOT going to work).

    Skip the dreadmill. You're test is outside, run outside. Learn how to pace yourself (don't rely on a machine).

    Good luck.

    ^^^ This nails it. Have a bit of patience (allow recovery time!) and success will follow.

    And @Tweaking_Time is right - Its fun to complain about running. That's ok....as long as you keep doing it. ;)
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Stop trying to beat your time each time. Run slower and for linger distance. Accumulating volume will help your speed more than anything at this point. Then in a month test out and see your progress.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    If you can get some ear buds (bluetooth are the best) or use your smartphone speaker. Get a running app, I use Runtastic. You can modify the settings but mine is set to read out my distance, mile pace and overall pace. Like others have said run at an easy pace and slowly add some distance. When you get to your desired distance like three miles or what ever start to focus on your speed and just try to improve a little each time out. Once you get a good pace set you will have no problem hitting the 1 1/2 in fifteen minutes. As a bonus it will help with weight loss and weight loss will also help with speed.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    edited August 2017
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    also remember that 1.5miles in 15 min is just barely passing (its a good medium on their rating scale) - so you won't have much wriggle room on passing, if your sit-ups/push-ups aren't also good - i'm a current Naval Officer so well versed in this kind of stuff

    ETA - I screwed where it fell in the overall schema - Good High is 14:30, Good Medium is 15:15, Good Low is 15:30
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    rybo wrote: »
    Stop trying to beat your time each time. Run slower and for linger distance. Accumulating volume will help your speed more than anything at this point. Then in a month test out and see your progress.

    ^^^ This....

    Also keep in mind that even the most experienced runners have good days and bad.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    Camoflaugegirl1984 wrote: »
    Okay, so to be brief but thorough, I was discharged from the Navy six years ago and since leaving I gained a lot of weight. I'm trying to lose weight to get back into the military and have made significant progress by calorie counting, portion control and increased physical activity. I work out six days a week and run a mile and a half every other day. My my ultimate goal is to run the entire mile and a half in under fifteen minutes (Navy standards for a female in her early thirties). At the start of this work out routine, it took me thirty minutes to run a mile and a half. Three weeks ago it was twenty minutes and last week it was 18 minutes. This week I was back at twenty minutes and I feel like I made all that progress just to take a step back. I still eat rather healthy and only cheat sparingly and I still try to keep active. Any advice?

    Change in weather could have played a role. It is harder to breather when it is windy, for instance (feels like the air you are trying to breath is getting sucked away on you) which increases the time. Too hot/too cold will affect time. Still fatigued from last weight training session/run/etc - will increase your time.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    Just because it bears repeating.

    Change up your distance, change up your pace.

    Studies indicate that you will hit a point of diminishing and then negative return if you're trying to run the same distance same pace every session.

    In other words, you'll hit a "sweet spot" and then you'll actually start losing time.
  • tomorrowistoday0000
    tomorrowistoday0000 Posts: 125 Member
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    I would highly recommended cross training and not limiting yourself to running only. Strength training has done wonders for me. My quads, hammies, and core are so much stronger now and are really the driving forces in my speed improvement. I could only run at best, a 10 min/mile past after 2 years of training from scratch previously, and didn't see much improvement doing just running. I had the endurance but not the power. Now, I'm able to sustain an 8:30 min/mile pace for 2 miles (I haven't been focusing on distance lately). Also, rest makes a huge difference so be sure as a beginner not to overdo it and work in few rest days or use some of those days to cross train.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    tomorrowistoday0000 wrote: »
    I would highly recommended cross training and not limiting yourself to running only. Strength training has done wonders for me. My quads, hammies, and core are so much stronger now and are really the driving forces in my speed improvement. I could only run at best, a 10 min/mile past after 2 years of training from scratch previously, and didn't see much improvement doing just running. I had the endurance but not the power. Now, I'm able to sustain an 8:30 min/mile pace for 2 miles (I haven't been focusing on distance lately). Also, rest makes a huge difference so be sure as a beginner not to overdo it and work in few rest days or use some of those days to cross train.

    ditto. Weight training made a huge improvement in my speed and endurance, especially on hills.

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