Help running faster

bwogilvie

Build you base. Endurance and stamina before speed. The opposite will land you injured and frustrated. Go slow. I started running at 12:00 min/mile and (fast forward two years later and 63 lbs less....) now I am running 7:50/mile. It takes TIME!! Build your mileage!!!!

Just my 2 cents! Best of luck!

7.50 miles for how long?

Um...the post you quote said nothing about 7.5 miles. The poster said that he or she was running a 7:50 pace. Slow down and read carefully before posting a hasty reply.

Keep_The_Laughter

Tagging to see the advice given. I'm also a slow new and slow runner, but I'm trying interval training to speed up a bit. It is working slowly but surely. This link talks about the methods I hear of most often.

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/whats-difference-between-fartlek-tempo-and-interval-runs

But it would be interesting to hear what more experienced folks have to say.

Intervals and speedwork are great tools, but honestly, without a decent aerobic base, they won't really get you anywhere. For a new runner, the biggest gains are going to come from doing long slow miles. Once your body is conditioned to run, then you can worry about 'sharpening' with speedwork. Even for an advanced distance runner, tempo or interval runs will only make up about 15% of the weekly mileage.

Thanks for the direct reply. My situation is a bit diferent than the OP's. I run 5k 4 to 5 times a week. I think I'm in a decent spot to add some variety to my routine for the purpose of increasing pace. On first reading, I thought the OP was coming to the end of C25K and was looking for ways to improve from the end of the program.

There is some really thoughtful advice here. Thanks to everyone who shared their experience and good wishes OP.

meshashesha2012

check your stride. it's very easy to increase your running speed simply by covering my distance in the same amount of time. if you're propelling yourself forward with your back leg more so than up then that will increase your speed.


i know for me the difference is between running a 10 minute mile (propelling myself forward) vs a 13 minute mile (do more hopping up and down with shorter leg range of motion) and honestly there really is no difference in energy expenditure. in fact i think the up and down motion might even be less efficient/require more energy

ThickMcRunFast

Tagging to see the advice given. I'm also a slow new and slow runner, but I'm trying interval training to speed up a bit. It is working slowly but surely. This link talks about the methods I hear of most often.

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/whats-difference-between-fartlek-tempo-and-interval-runs

But it would be interesting to hear what more experienced folks have to say.

Intervals and speedwork are great tools, but honestly, without a decent aerobic base, they won't really get you anywhere. For a new runner, the biggest gains are going to come from doing long slow miles. Once your body is conditioned to run, then you can worry about 'sharpening' with speedwork. Even for an advanced distance runner, tempo or interval runs will only make up about 15% of the weekly mileage.

Thanks for the direct reply. My situation is a bit diferent than the OP's. I run 5k 4 to 5 times a week. I think I'm in a decent spot to add some variety to my routine for the purpose of increasing pace. On first reading, I thought the OP was coming to the end of C25K and was looking for ways to improve from the end of the program.

There is some really thoughtful advice here. Thanks to everyone who shared their experience and good wishes OP.

Oh, definitely then. You are a good candidate for varying your runs. How you do that will depend on your goals. A basic racing plan would be at least 3 runs a week (one long, one interval/tempo, and one recovery), with progressive mileage increase. I think 4 days is better for an intermediate plan, and you can add something like hill repeats. If you don't have a specific goal race/distance in mind, this is a good article about how to start incorporating speedwork into your running

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/speedwork-for-every-runner/167.html

Keep_The_Laughter

Tagging to see the advice given. I'm also a slow new and slow runner, but I'm trying interval training to speed up a bit. It is working slowly but surely. This link talks about the methods I hear of most often.

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/whats-difference-between-fartlek-tempo-and-interval-runs

But it would be interesting to hear what more experienced folks have to say.

Intervals and speedwork are great tools, but honestly, without a decent aerobic base, they won't really get you anywhere. For a new runner, the biggest gains are going to come from doing long slow miles. Once your body is conditioned to run, then you can worry about 'sharpening' with speedwork. Even for an advanced distance runner, tempo or interval runs will only make up about 15% of the weekly mileage.

Thanks for the direct reply. My situation is a bit diferent than the OP's. I run 5k 4 to 5 times a week. I think I'm in a decent spot to add some variety to my routine for the purpose of increasing pace. On first reading, I thought the OP was coming to the end of C25K and was looking for ways to improve from the end of the program.

There is some really thoughtful advice here. Thanks to everyone who shared their experience and good wishes OP.

Oh, definitely then. You are a good candidate for varying your runs. How you do that will depend on your goals. A basic racing plan would be at least 3 runs a week (one long, one interval/tempo, and one recovery), with progressive mileage increase. I think 4 days is better for an intermediate plan, and you can add something like hill repeats. If you don't have a specific goal race/distance in mind, this is a good article about how to start incorporating speedwork into your running

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/speedwork-for-every-runner/167.html

Thanks for the link. I'm going to take a few minutes and check it out right now.

Alex

Hey Folks,

I am cleaning this topic up a bit as its derailed pretty far from the starting line. Let's try to focus on the helpful advice and discussion that so many of you are already contributing to in this thread. If the thread keeps being derailed, please report posts and use the ignore user options.

Thanks!
Olivia
MFP Community Manager

_Josee_

My 2 cents:

I think she should complete the app before even reading about this!!! And after completing the app, she should work on beeing able to run at least 3 miles 5x a week....

OP: don't listen to people telling you to do speedwork.. I don't even do speedwork and I can run a 5k in less than 23min... The key is increasing SLOWLY your weekly mileage.

I will agree a beginner should focus on the basics, but I did not read her question that way. So if my answer is more advanced than her present skill set, I apologize. That being said, telling someone to ignore anyone talking about speedwork is an error (for my two cents worth). You may not need speedwork, and congrats to you for your run times. You are in a minority, however, and your advice goes against cross country/running coaches across the country.

She should have a lot more mileage under her belt before starting speedwork... Her muscles, tendons etc etc are not ready to go through the stress of speedwork... Injury waiting to happen!

hilts1969

My 2 cents:

I think she should complete the app before even reading about this!!! And after completing the app, she should work on beeing able to run at least 3 miles 5x a week....

OP: don't listen to people telling you to do speedwork.. I don't even do speedwork and I can run a 5k in less than 23min... The key is increasing SLOWLY your weekly mileage.

I will agree a beginner should focus on the basics, but I did not read her question that way. So if my answer is more advanced than her present skill set, I apologize. That being said, telling someone to ignore anyone talking about speedwork is an error (for my two cents worth). You may not need speedwork, and congrats to you for your run times. You are in a minority, however, and your advice goes against cross country/running coaches across the country.

She should have a lot more mileage under her belt before starting speedwork... Her muscles, tendons etc etc are not ready to go through the stress of speedwork... Injury waiting to happen!

good point

Suffsgirl12

I know the c25k has some crazy intervals, but find the interval that works best for you and stick with it! Don't feel like you have to do every interval the app tells you. I've coached runner walkers who ran for 1:30min and walked for 1min and were able to complete a half marathon in 2hrs and 10mins! You don't have to run the entire distance, in fact interval training helps you maintain proper form and burns more calories than steady state running. Check out coolrunning.com, created by Jeff Galloway (the king of run/walk); it has an awesome beginner 5k training program!

jofjltncb6

My 2 cents:

I think she should complete the app before even reading about this!!! And after completing the app, she should work on beeing able to run at least 3 miles 5x a week....

OP: don't listen to people telling you to do speedwork.. I don't even do speedwork and I can run a 5k in less than 23min... The key is increasing SLOWLY your weekly mileage.

I will agree a beginner should focus on the basics, but I did not read her question that way. So if my answer is more advanced than her present skill set, I apologize. That being said, telling someone to ignore anyone talking about speedwork is an error (for my two cents worth). You may not need speedwork, and congrats to you for your run times. You are in a minority, however, and your advice goes against cross country/running coaches across the country.

She should have a lot more mileage under her belt before starting speedwork... Her muscles, tendons etc etc are not ready to go through the stress of speedwork... Injury waiting to happen!

good point

Yeah, ^this.

:ohwell:

CarsonRuns

I know the c25k has some crazy intervals, but find the interval that works best for you and stick with it! Don't feel like you have to do every interval the app tells you. I've coached runner walkers who ran for 1:30min and walked for 1min and were able to complete a half marathon in 2hrs and 10mins! You don't have to run the entire distance, in fact interval training helps you maintain proper form and burns more calories than steady state running. Check out coolrunning.com, created by Jeff Galloway (the king of run/walk); it has an awesome beginner 5k training program!

I believe you are confusing the purpose and benefit of two completely different types of interval training.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - Designed to maximize calorie burn. Exercises are performed at maximum effort with rest periods between each work bout. Not a distance running program.

Galloway Method - Designed to allow runners to complete longer distances and to increase aerobic capacity. Does not maximize calorie burn. Exercises are performed at below aerobic threshold with walking intervals between each work bout. This is a distance running program.

likitisplit

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k

I would have killed for a 14 minute mile before week six. You are probably going to get slower before you get faster, but you'll find that you'll drop minutes in a few months after finishing the program. And you will be a lot faster this time next year. Give your body time to catch up to being a runner. It's going to be awesome!

RunnerElizabeth

OP, finish c25k, then work on running more and you'll get faster.

I finished c25k in June of 2012 and i was running 13:30 - 14 min pace. I worked on increasing my distance by getting on a beginner half marathon plan and got my to pace down to 9:30 in two months. 4 half marathons later my 5k pace is 8:21 and my half marathon pace is about 9:30 (most of the time).

I'm trying to run a faster 5k again, so I'm now on a marathon training plan for that. Running experience is what has helped me run faster.

tappae

I'd suggest focusing on endurance first and finishing the C25K. Your pace will improve naturally with time and practice.

Pace will improve even quicker if she actually run's quicker

I believed this, but not anymore. After a strong base has been built, then speed work will definitely help. Doing speed work without the base will risk injury and won't give the same benefits that it would give later on.

The faster you run, the more anaerobic of an exercise it is. The more anaerobic it is, the less aerobic it is. The less aerobic it is, the less you will be working your aerobic system and the slower you will develop. When I slowed down and started running all of my runs at a conversational pace, I got faster more quickly than I ever had when running harder. I started getting PRs at distances during easy runs!

At some point, you're going to want to add speedwork to continue to improve, but it will be safest and most effective after a significant base has been built.

I haven't done any speedwork since my last 5K in July, but will probably start adding it back in soon to prepare for summer races. Right now, my easy pace is as fast as it's ever been (~9:05 per mile).