For those asking how to run faster: just put in more miles!

omma_to_3

I did my first 10K race almost a year ago. Since then, I have increased my mileage, completed a half marathon, reduced my mileage (due to work hours) and am just upping the mileage again. Today, I completed another 10K race. I improved my time by 8 minutes over the last year! I am very happy with that. Completed my 10K in 1:06:50 today when I was just hoping to hit 1:10.

KristiRTT

Great advice! I just ran a 5k over the weekend, my first in 10 months, and I took 5 min off my time and won 2nd on my age group! This all from increasing mileage for the 2 half marathons I completed this year! It's counterintuitive, but more slow miles really helped me become faster over short distances!

ThePlight

Thanks, I'll be sure to let the boyfriend know. He really wants to run faster, ever since watching Zombieland LOL.

LeanButNotMean44

It's counterintuitive, but more slow miles really helped me become faster over short distances!

New(er) runners will see an improvement in speed the more they run, but they will eventually plateau. Running lots of slow miles makes one slow. To increase speed, one needs to do proper speed training (i.e. tempo runs, track workouts). If ya' wanna' run fast, ya' gotta' run fast!

omma_to_3

It's counterintuitive, but more slow miles really helped me become faster over short distances!

New(er) runners will see an improvement in speed the more they run, but they will eventually plateau. Running lots of slow miles makes one slow. To increase speed, one needs to do proper speed training (i.e. tempo runs, track workouts). If ya' wanna' run fast, ya' gotta' run fast!

I suppose it depends on what you deem "new(er) runners". I've been running for a year and a half now and still have no need to do speed work. Would I eventually need to do speed work to increase speed? Yes, but I'm not there yet. Still lots of gains to be made simply by running more. I don't consider myself a new runner, but perhaps you do.

smarionette

Putting in more miles is all well and good, but some people honestly don't want to spend all of their Saturday mornings running for 2+ hours. Also, speed work is great for distance runners as it helps build endurance without taking your short and mid runs over 3-5 miles during the week.

RGv2

Putting in more miles is all well and good, but some people honestly don't want to spend all of their Saturday mornings running for 2+ hours. Also, speed work is great for distance runners as it helps build endurance without taking your short and mid runs over 3-5 miles during the week.

This^^^^

Ran competitively for years (5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon). I'll take speed work over "adding miles" all day long.

Chieflrg

Putting in more miles is all well and good, but some people honestly don't want to spend all of their Saturday mornings running for 2+ hours. Also, speed work is great for distance runners as it helps build endurance without taking your short and mid runs over 3-5 miles during the week.

This^^^^

Ran competitively for years (5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon). I'll take speed work over "adding miles" all day long.

+2

Capt_Apollo

i'd rather do hills. hills are speed work in disguise.

TomZot

Also...getting your weight where you want it is a big help. When I was 207, my average mile pace on a normal day was 10:15-10:30. Now at 154 I am running 8:00/mile with no more perceived effort.

I couldn't run a 5K race at that pace a year ago.

ElliottTN

Congrats OP on your improvement.

I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this to not negate your progress but your pace really isn't what would be considered fast. Faster than before sure, but fast, no. It might very well be time to do some interval work and hills. They have been really good for my pace after I increased my distance.

LoudmouthLee

I completely (well, not completely, but mostly) disagree with the OP.

I gained speed by doing LESS miles. By doing Squats. By Rowing. By doing Plyo work. When I was putting in more miles, I was topping out at 8:30 seconds. Now? 7:15/m. Running Stairs. Quad work. Glutes work.

burbacka1132

Good for you! Now you have a new goal to shoot for!!

omma_to_3

Congrats OP on your improvement.

I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this to not negate your progress but your pace really isn't what would be considered fast. Faster than before sure, but fast, no. It might very well be time to do some interval work and hills. They have been really good for my pace after I increased my distance.

I never said I was fast. I said I was "faster". I'm a slow runner. I will always be a slow runner. Clearly people aren't thinking about all the posts from slow runners (some VERY slow) asking how to get faster. For those runners, running more will get them there. Clearly I'm not talking to people who want to be elite runners or competitive. But, in the course of a year, by increasing my mileage, I've gone from the bottom 10% in my races to the middle of the pack. I call that a success. Recommending "speed work" to runners who are currently running at a 12+ pace is irresponsible IMO and is fairly likely to lead to injuries.

twinmom_112002

First off ... I think it depends on what "more miles" is. A lot of runners go out and run 3 miles 3 or 4 times a week. For those runners, more miles will equal more speed. But there is a point where it won't help that much.

I second the hill work-outs though. I despise the track but live in a hilly area. When I stopped avoiding the big hills I got faster.

Oh and OP, speed is relative. Don't worry that you aren't "fast" according to someone else on this board or someone else at a race. Just be happy that you are faster than you were. I am happy with my 9:20 pace and have no desire to run an 8 minute mile. My favorite saying is "The slower I run, the more alone time I get".

omma_to_3

First off ... I think it depends on what "more miles" is. A lot of runners go out and run 3 miles 3 or 4 times a week. For those runners, more miles will equal more speed. But there is a point where it won't help that much.

I second the hill work-outs though. I despise the track but live in a hilly area. When I stopped avoiding the big hills I got faster.

Oh and OP, speed is relative. Don't worry that you aren't "fast" according to someone else on this board or someone else at a race. Just be happy that you are faster than you were. I am happy with my 9:20 pace and have no desire to run an 8 minute mile. My favorite saying is "The slower I run, the more alone time I get".

LOL...I like your saying. Yup, I'm not worried that I'm not fast. I only compete with myself so as long as I'm making improvement, I'm happy. And you're right, it does depend on current mileage if increasing miles is good. I guess I should have been more specific in my post about what runners I was really speaking to. I just see so many posts on the forums from slower, lower mileage runners asking how to increase their speed (I used to be one of them asking). And they are always told "just run more" and I guess I just wanted to let those people know that time and distance really does help with your speed.

ElliottTN

Congrats OP on your improvement.

I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this to not negate your progress but your pace really isn't what would be considered fast. Faster than before sure, but fast, no. It might very well be time to do some interval work and hills. They have been really good for my pace after I increased my distance.

I never said I was fast. I said I was "faster". I'm a slow runner. I will always be a slow runner. Clearly people aren't thinking about all the posts from slow runners (some VERY slow) asking how to get faster. For those runners, running more will get them there. Clearly I'm not talking to people who want to be elite runners or competitive. But, in the course of a year, by increasing my mileage, I've gone from the bottom 10% in my races to the middle of the pack. I call that a success. Recommending "speed work" to runners who are currently running at a 12+ pace is irresponsible IMO and is fairly likely to lead to injuries.

Seems like a defensive tone but of course I could be reading into this wrong. This is why I said congrats on your progress OP. I think its great you've made progress but the post was a bit misleading to me when I first read it.

Speed work is great for all levels though. What your basically saying is that if people can't run a mile in a certain time than they have no business doing speed work bc they will probably could get injured. I couldn't disagree more.

Regardless, like I said, great progress.

cad39too

It's counterintuitive, but more slow miles really helped me become faster over short distances!

New(er) runners will see an improvement in speed the more they run, but they will eventually plateau. Running lots of slow miles makes one slow. To increase speed, one needs to do proper speed training (i.e. tempo runs, track workouts). If ya' wanna' run fast, ya' gotta' run fast!

I agree, if you want to run faster you need to run faster. I started doing more short runs where I went flat out for increased speed; sometimes literally just doing timed mile runs, but doing it in 7.5 minutes or 8.5 minutes - now an 8.5 minute mile is my comfortable speed and I run easily at the pace over distance. Now looking to make 7.5 minute miles my comfortable speed.

omma_to_3

Congrats OP on your improvement.

I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this to not negate your progress but your pace really isn't what would be considered fast. Faster than before sure, but fast, no. It might very well be time to do some interval work and hills. They have been really good for my pace after I increased my distance.

I never said I was fast. I said I was "faster". I'm a slow runner. I will always be a slow runner. Clearly people aren't thinking about all the posts from slow runners (some VERY slow) asking how to get faster. For those runners, running more will get them there. Clearly I'm not talking to people who want to be elite runners or competitive. But, in the course of a year, by increasing my mileage, I've gone from the bottom 10% in my races to the middle of the pack. I call that a success. Recommending "speed work" to runners who are currently running at a 12+ pace is irresponsible IMO and is fairly likely to lead to injuries.

Seems like a defensive tone but of course I could be reading into this wrong. This is why I said congrats on your progress OP. I think its great you've made progress but the post was a bit misleading to me when I first read it.

Speed work is great for all levels though. What your basically saying is that if people can't run a mile in a certain time than they have no business doing speed work bc they will probably could get injured. I couldn't disagree more.

Regardless, like I said, great progress.

You're putting both tone and words into my mouth. I was confused why you felt the need to tell me I'm not fast. I never said I was. I also never said this is how you become "fast". It's all relative and faster is faster, regardless of whether something thinks it's actually "fast".

And, I never said anyone 'has no business doing speed work'. I said it's not where someone should start when they're a low mileage/slow speed runner - maybe that wasn't clear. I'm basing this not just on my experience (speed work damn near killed me a year ago when I tried it), but on the advice of countless very experienced runners I've talked to on this forum and elsewhere.

omma_to_3

It's counterintuitive, but more slow miles really helped me become faster over short distances!

New(er) runners will see an improvement in speed the more they run, but they will eventually plateau. Running lots of slow miles makes one slow. To increase speed, one needs to do proper speed training (i.e. tempo runs, track workouts). If ya' wanna' run fast, ya' gotta' run fast!

I agree, if you want to run faster you need to run faster. I started doing more short runs where I went flat out for increased speed; sometimes literally just doing timed mile runs, but doing it in 7.5 minutes or 8.5 minutes - now an 8.5 minute mile is my comfortable speed and I run easily at the pace over distance. Now looking to make 7.5 minute miles my comfortable speed.

Again, I was speaking to slower runners. Your pace is much faster than the people I was speaking to. At that level, yes, speed work is needed. My initial post was not clear who I was referring to.

RGv2

Congrats OP on your improvement.

I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this to not negate your progress but your pace really isn't what would be considered fast. Faster than before sure, but fast, no. It might very well be time to do some interval work and hills. They have been really good for my pace after I increased my distance.

I never said I was fast. I said I was "faster". I'm a slow runner. I will always be a slow runner. Clearly people aren't thinking about all the posts from slow runners (some VERY slow) asking how to get faster. For those runners, running more will get them there. Clearly I'm not talking to people who want to be elite runners or competitive. But, in the course of a year, by increasing my mileage, I've gone from the bottom 10% in my races to the middle of the pack. I call that a success. Recommending "speed work" to runners who are currently running at a 12+ pace is irresponsible IMO and is fairly likely to lead to injuries.

Sorry, but recommending "speed work" isn't irresponsible, nor will it likely lead to injury. So you're saying that someone that runs 12+ minute miles can't do interval training? An interval can be 3 minutes at 12-13 min and 1-2 min at 11-12 min.