How to increase your running speed?

sunflowertimes
sunflowertimes Posts: 85 Member
edited October 6 in Fitness and Exercise
I finished the Couch to 5K running program about 1 1/2 months ago. I am still pretty slow and it takes me 35-37 minutes to complete a 5K. I would like to finish it in under 30 minutes. What is the best way to train to increase speed?

Thanks for your help,
Crystal

Replies

  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
    Run more miles, you will speed up as your endurance increases.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I would say sprints, hill running and possibly a bit of cross training (I don't do it, but I hear it works).
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
    I wouldn't suggest doing actual speedwork until you've been running for at least a year. Your cardiovascular system might be able to handle it just fine, but your muscular/skeletal system takes a bit longer to catch up. I agree with maybe increasing your mileage to increase endurance, but even this needs to be done in increments and not too much at once. If you try to do too many miles or go too fast before your body is ready, you will end up injuring yourself.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I did C25K with my runs at 5 mph the first time, then went back and restarted the program at week 1 with my runs at 6 mph. After 4 weeks of that, I restarted again at 7mph.

    Now I am back in week 5 and have reduced to 6 mph because I was not able to maintain 7 mph for more than 3 minutes. When I can hold 6 mph for 10 minutes I will go back and try 7 mph again.
  • curvygirl512
    curvygirl512 Posts: 423 Member
    A doctor/runner friend of mine highly advocates strengthening your core.
  • lipglossjunky73
    lipglossjunky73 Posts: 497 Member
    The only thing that worked for me worked for me was speed work. It's rough, but it help me hit every PR in 2011!
  • donnam40
    donnam40 Posts: 246 Member
    Slowly! Injury is a high risk when you are trying to increase speed or distance. As somebody already said, the body needs time to adapt. If I were you I would look at adding 10% in distance each week for maybe 3 months, then depending on how you are going, introduce one session of hill repeats per week. Again, keep at this for a decent period before you introduce something else - either a tempo run or a speed session. Slowly, slowly is the key.

    Donna
  • sunflowertimes
    sunflowertimes Posts: 85 Member
    I did C25K with my runs at 5 mph the first time, then went back and restarted the program at week 1 with my runs at 6 mph. After 4 weeks of that, I restarted again at 7mph.

    Now I am back in week 5 and have reduced to 6 mph because I was not able to maintain 7 mph for more than 3 minutes. When I can hold 6 mph for 10 minutes I will go back and try 7 mph again.

    That sounds like something I could do and could easily keep up with.
  • sunflowertimes
    sunflowertimes Posts: 85 Member
    I could probably add some longer running sessions once a week.
  • bstamps12
    bstamps12 Posts: 1,184
    I have done a mix of increasing miles & doing speed work. By speedwork, I mean I started by: sprinting 30 seconds, walking 1 minute, repeat 6 times. I now do variations of that. I really think gradually increasing my distance has helped more than anything though simply because running a 5K seems so short compared to a 7 mile training run.
  • jhungate
    jhungate Posts: 95 Member
    Mix your distances.... some runs should be longer than the 5k distance, 7.5k is good distance and is about 4.75 miles; also need some speed workouts at 1.55k. I started running with the Couch to 5k program and I do around 40 miles a week now and regularily finish a 5k in around 24 minutes. It just takes time....
  • starscreensiren
    starscreensiren Posts: 46 Member
    I increased speed by focusing on strength training. Working on squats, presses and lunges greatly improved my speed over time and suddenly I was running faster then ever before! Sprint interval training also helped.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Slowly! Injury is a high risk when you are trying to increase speed or distance.

    This! I got faster by running more and especially running hills, but not necessarily TRYING to run faster.

    Then I tried doing a lot of more speedwork, and I don't know if it was from that, from switching back to the treadmill when I was used to roads, or hitting too many sidewalks and not enough roads, but I'm pretty sure I have a stress fracture and I'm going for xrays on Monday. :frown:
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
    If you're beginning running I definitely would not recommend any speed work. At this point increasing your endurance by running more will grant you the speed you seek. Running hard now will probably just get you hurt.

    Best advice I've gotten... Run a lot. Mostly easy sometimes hard.
    Just for example...
    I started running in March at over 10 minute mile pace and with maybe 2 days of total speed work I've finished a half marathon at 9:09 pace and my fastest 5k in 24 minutes (after 1/2 mile swim, and 15 mile bike). I haven't run an actual stand alone 5k since my first but my 1 mile time dropped to under 6:30 and I haven't had any injuries due to running.
  • bonjour24
    bonjour24 Posts: 1,119 Member
    i generally agree with most of the others here.

    in my experience, i started with c25k. i think i finished my first 5k race in 45 mins! from there i've focussed on distance and the speed side of things has taken care of itself.
    i'm 1 year on from this first race now. i've ran a few half marathons and over a long distance i maintain a 12-13 minute mile (which is slow, but still fab!). and my fastest 5k time is 30:34. and i haven't done any speed work. and i haven't been injured.
  • srp2011
    srp2011 Posts: 1,829 Member
    The only thing that worked for me worked for me was speed work. It's rough, but it help me hit every PR in 2011!

    Ditto this - to increase speed, you should follow a mixed training plan - 1 run longer than your target distance/time (like if you want to run 5Ks, your long run should gradually work up to 50-60 minutes at a slow pace), and then 2 workouts that incoprorate speed training - this can be hill work, intervals where you increase speed for a set time, like 1 minute, with 1 minute recoveries, fartleks, where you increase your speed for a random distance/time, or ladders (another word for agony). Vary your training week to week. Also, squats and lunges, to build leg muscles, and core work.

    But again - go slowly - injuries can sideline you so you have to start all over, so best to avoid them :-)
  • sunflowertimes
    sunflowertimes Posts: 85 Member
    Thanks for all the great advice. I will let you know how it goes.

    Crystal
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,961 Member
    Speed work. Sprints and Tababta.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Carlton_Banks
    Carlton_Banks Posts: 756 Member
    Gradually build up your endurance and fitness level through extended mileage and cross-training. Also, be careful not to cause injury as you increase your speed by taking some basic precautions like getting properly fitted in good running shoes, warming up/stretching, and correcting potential problems with your stride. When you're able, try to increase your cadence until it is within a range of 80 to 90+ steps per minute. You may end up having to shorten your stride to achieve this rate. Running on a treadmill initially may help you get the feel for the pace you are trying to achieve.
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
    i generally agree with most of the others here.

    in my experience, i started with c25k. i think i finished my first 5k race in 45 mins! from there i've focussed on distance and the speed side of things has taken care of itself.
    i'm 1 year on from this first race now. i've ran a few half marathons and over a long distance i maintain a 12-13 minute mile (which is slow, but still fab!). and my fastest 5k time is 30:34. and i haven't done any speed work. and i haven't been injured.

    This totally!! I ran my first 5k in May at 40mins. Since then I've ran a few other ones in slightly better time, my last race was 5 miles where I was able to complete it in 61 mins, which at that pace would have put me at 4 mins faster for a 5k. As a new runner I am leary of injuries and have just steadily been increasing my base milage endurance. Will do speed work over the summer, probably, after I've been running for at least a year.
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