From Jogging to Running

THISisTARRAN

Hello all fellow joggers and runners I am not a great jogger yet, but I'm working on it so I'm DEFINITELY not good at running (which I consider like 6.0 speed an above because of my short & chubby legs). I am wondering if anyone has any tips on increasing your speed? I run outside so I don't know my actual mph and I'm just now in week 3 of c25k, but I am wanting to later or soon increase my speed. I am currently still fairly obese, I have like 68 lbs to lose yet and I'm wondering if maybe once I get thinner I'll just naturally increase in speed. I have also noticed that my stride is quite short and I'm wondering if anyone has noticed this themselves and it evolved with weight loss or if you actually have to work on it. To be clear, its not that I CAN'T run, I just get out of breath REALLY quickly, so I'm wondering what tips you might have for me. Thanks in advance. :flowerforyou:

Play_outside

My stride is also short, but it has nothing to do with my weight and everything to do with my height (or lack thereof) and my short legs (inseam about 26"). As your fitness builds your speed will naturally increase, and you can also work on sprinting on some of your jogging intervals once you're able to.

katemateg

Hiya, I am a pretty experienced runner. well done for what you have achieved so far. It is good to keep your stride short, that is ideal. I f you have been jogging for a few months, try going out gently for a mile, then trying to speed up just for a short distance, between lamp posts for example, then slow down till the next post, then speed up again. Are you in the US? In the UK every Saturday morning in parks all over Britain we have what is called a 'parkrun'. Its a free event where you get timed and this is great for gradually getting yourself faster. As you lose weight you will naturally get faster too. Good luck

jlewis2896

Intervals/fartleks are the best way to increase your speed. Google fartleks for a better definition. Intervals involve running as fast as you can for a set distance or amount of time (0.25 miles is normal, but you can do it for a minute or so, there are no set rules!) and then jogging slowly until you catch your breath. Then repeat. Do as many as you can while still holding good form.

As far as stride, I am a short chubby runner as well, so I know what you mean. The best trick I ever learned was that your body is kind of like a pendulum. It WANTS to run balanced. If you keep your arms and shoulders relaxed when you run, but swing your arms a little further back and forward, your legs will naturally compensate with a longer stride to match the swinging of your arms. It's something that took focus and practice for me, but I swear by it!!

killagb

I personally didn't worry about it. I did C25K at a 5mph pace and finished last Sunday. Now I'm going back through week 1 and alternating between 6 and 7mph on the runs and it's a real workout even though I'm able to run 30min at 5mph. I feel that if I keep going like this though, I will really gain some good speed, but to do it the first time around would be a lot to take on.

engineman312

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/01/27/kick-your-*kitten*-and-kickstart-your-metabolism-in-20-minutes/

bprague

Running is running regardless of the pace, if you ask me, but I get what you're saying. Anyway, you need to build up stamina before I would even worry about speed. And your stride should be pretty short- a cadence of 180 steps per minute is the ideal stride for any speed.

It's entirely possible that you'll naturally increase your speed just by becoming a better runner with more lung capacity.
Congratulations on taking up running! Once you have reached the last week of C25k, I would say you can do speed work to increase your speed. Really, there's no hurry! Get strong, then get fast

lacroyx

I started at 440lbs. I concentrated on jogging as slow as I could go. worked on keeping my breathing down. I didn't worry about my pace. my goal was to build up to 1 mile w/o stopping. after a while I then worked on speed. it's just conditioning your body. you will improve over time as you lose weight and build the endurance.

sjtreely

I'm not sure where you're running ... indoors or outdoors. If you're on a treadmill, watch TV and increase your speed during the commercials. If you're running outside, then you can pick up your pace from mailbox to mailbox or street light to street light - or some other type of landmarks.

Your speed will get faster as you train even if you don't do interval training, but the boost in HR is an added plus to the faster pace you might consider doing while out on your run.

Geesh ... didn't read your post very well. I see you run outside. I swear I need to pay attention to details and not just the main idea!

TexasNana41

I just finished Week 3 also. Almost everything I've read, because I had the same question, said to just finish and then worry about speed later. My stride is short also, but I have noticed it lengthening some recently. I've decided to stop worrying about it and just do it. And I've also decided that when I finish those 20 minute runs in week 5, I'm a runner no matter how fast I go. Congratulations on your accomplishments!

THISisTARRAN

Yeah, thanks for all the great advice. Right now I am already out of breath, so I guess I just need to build up endurance and then work on speed. Once I get to the end I think would be a great time to work on speed. Hopefully I can breathe while I'm running by then I run outside, so I'll talk to my friend that I run with and maybe we can try to run faster in between telephone poles or something. (And yes, I'm in the US, but that program for park running is REALLY cool- the Us should do something like that considering 2/3 of our country is overweight.)

LorinaLynn

At the moment, don't worry one bit about speed. And if you're getting winded easily, go slower for now.

When I started C25K in December on the treadmill, I jogged at 5mph. By the time I did my first 5k in March, I was a little over 6mph. A month later, I was at 6.7, and now, after about 10 months of running, I'm up to almost 7.5mph! I mostly credit that to running on hills for exercise when I run alone, but also, those wonderful, wonderful race day endorphins!

When I'm just out by myself, I typically stick around a nine or ten minute mile. During my race this morning, I was just shy of an 8 minute mile. Gimme competition, and I'm way faster!

You'll get there. Cover the distance first, get your lungs used to it, then work on speed. Tackle some hills, get out with friends and enter some races. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish! :flowerforyou:

AHolly86

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but if your looking for a way to track you walking/jogging speed, there are many good phine apps out there t download that will track that information for you. I am currently using MY TRACKS by Google. I love this app because it tracks my average mph as well as my fastest pace that I've reached and it records time and distance as well as you location. It may be something to look into if your interested. I just started using it, but I love it because I walk/jog outside as well and this way I can track my speed and distance!

LorinaLynn

Even if you don't have a smartphone (I have a stupidphone!) you can use a website like runkeeper or mapmyrun to plot a course, then use a stopwatch (or your phone) to time yourself.