Running Endurance Question!

chase7512

Depends on the issue is it your muscles are sore, difficulty breathing, or just lack of motivation?

Muscular - I started running in Oct 2009, and I started with couch 2 5KM which is excellent (kind of slow at the begining), but great for getting muscles used to the distance. Building up from week 1 - 9

Breathing - As was mentioned before you need to keep a decent, conversational pace, and regulate your breathing with your feet landing. I normally take a breathe for 2 steps ad then exhale for 2 steps. Try and make it a habit to breathe in through your nose and exhale from your mouth. (more oxygen through nostrils)

Motivation - Find a circular route (scenic if possible) that is 5km. I use mapmyrun.com to gps track my routes or search for other routes. I'm not a big fan of music when I run cause I like to hear my foot falls, but I have heard listening to music with proper bpm helps a lot. Of course I hear running with someone else helps for motivation, I wouldn't know cause I always run alone

Chipmaniac

Use a heart rate monitor and stay below 80% of your max heart rate.

Why below 80%? Would perceived effort not be better as HRMs tend to calculate zones based on 22-age?

My HRM let me input a max heart rate value myself. 220-age is too low for me. And to answer your question about perceived effort, if you're type A and always wanting to go fast-fast-fast it's more helpful to have a number flashing at you than trying to make a subjective judgement about how you feel.

Exactly. This is why I recommend heart rate training to everyone who will listen. Your brain will trick you into thinking that you can't go as hard some days and can go harder on others. In reality, your heart will tell you the truth. It will remind you to push it when you don't feel like going harder but you are physically able to. It also reminds to slow down when you are going too hard and your body needs recovery.

I've used heart rate monitors for 20 years and wouldn't think of working out without one.

cushygal

To really train for a 5k you should be running a minimum of around 30 miles per week. If your body can handle it, more is better up to around 70 miles per week.

I'm training to finish a half marathon and my peak week is only 25 miles...

Same here......

Same here

SavCal71

google jeff galloway. the Galloway method rocks!

SavCal71

To really train for a 5k you should be running a minimum of around 30 miles per week. If your body can handle it, more is better up to around 70 miles per week.

Umm, dude. That's just nuts. And wrong.

scottb81

Read the article here http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/articles and use the pace calculator at that site to calculate your various training paces.

To build endurance run lots of miles. What is likely to happen is that after a few months training to build your endurance you will be able to run a faster mile when you want to.

To really train for a 5k you should be running a minimum of around 30 miles per week. If your body can handle it, more is better up to around 70 miles per week.

I run 70 at my peek in the run in to marathon, will be doing similar for an ultra.

Advising someone to try to get to 70 miles a week for their first 5k? What planet you on brah?

I said 30. Beyond that, more is better up to around 70 as your body can handle it.

thelovelyLIZ

I tend to narrow in on how fast I'm going too, but there's a lot of be said for distance! I'm training for a 10k now, and I'm worried about slowing my time, but I know that to get to the 6 mile mark, I need to slow down, and progress will build from there.

bondavbriwil

Definitely slow the pace down. I look at it this way - If I'm in danger I want to be able to run far more than I want to be able to run fast.

Most 5k's are run/walks, so no need to worry about where you'll be in the pack. There are always people who just go to walk so as long as you even barely trot, you won't be at the end. And even if you are, so what? Most people don't even have the guts to enter a 5k.

+1

Most 5k's are about fun. So have fun.

gat4400

I have increased my endurance by slowing down, at a slower pace I can go way longer, and it feels great.

msbanana

I can't tout HIIT training enough.
Short run days for me mostly consist of sprint intervals to increase my cardiovascular endurance and then my trick for increasing distance has been not to think about how FAR I'm going but to run for time. I know that just on an average long run I run about a 9 minute mile pace. If I'm going for a long run I run 30 minutes out at a pace that leaves me ABLE to run back 30 minutes. That sometimes means slowing down to a trot to catch my breath if I start out too hard.

If I start getting tired which I do (usually about mile 3) I focus on breathing and form and push through. Once I break that wall running gets even easier than it was when I started out (sometimes it feels like I could run forever). The longest I've gone like this was a surprising (to me) 8 miles at a solid 9:10 pace.

Just keep going. It's OK to slow down a little and as you're able to run farther, the faster you'll be able to run a shorter distance.

Good luck and keep running and remember the only person you're racing when you're training is YOU.
You only need to go farther and faster than YOU did last time.

:drinker:

picassoadagio

When I trained for a recent 1/2 marathon, I ran most of my miles at a slow pace intermixing intervals. At the race I ended up averaging a 9:41 min/mile which was a good pace saying when I ran a 1/2 marathon last fall, I averaged 12:00 min/mile.

agthorn

Read the article here http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/articles and use the pace calculator at that site to calculate your various training paces.

To build endurance run lots of miles. What is likely to happen is that after a few months training to build your endurance you will be able to run a faster mile when you want to.

To really train for a 5k you should be running a minimum of around 30 miles per week. If your body can handle it, more is better up to around 70 miles per week.

I run 70 at my peek in the run in to marathon, will be doing similar for an ultra.

Advising someone to try to get to 70 miles a week for their first 5k? What planet you on brah?

I said 30. Beyond that, more is better up to around 70 as your body can handle it.

30 miles a week will still have them running 140% of the race distance every single day.

MinnesotaManimal

I began my running in July of 2011 at which point I could only jog for about a minute tops before I was so out of breath I couldn't do more than stumble. I pushed through the Couch to 5k program using an app on my phone for guidance. a few weeks in it got easier and I started doing each running section twice back to back. I did this all the way through the first 20 minute run which at the time was brutal. I finished the program and started the "bridge to 10k" then got a cold and laid off running between november and late january running just a few miles a week at the gym on the treadmill.

In february I set up a marathon training schedule for an endurance run I am doing in May, and yesterday I ran 18 miles non stop.

just find a schedule that gradually increases your distance/ time on your feet and find a way to mentally push through. endurance running is a true test of mental strength ( and stability...haha)

LorinaLynn

Definitely slow the pace down. I look at it this way - If I'm in danger I want to be able to run far more than I want to be able to run fast.

Most 5k's are run/walks, so no need to worry about where you'll be in the pack. There are always people who just go to walk so as long as you even barely trot, you won't be at the end. And even if you are, so what? Most people don't even have the guts to enter a 5k.

+1

Most 5k's are about fun. So have fun.

Yep, this.

I've won a couple medals running 5ks, so I think I'm pretty good at it for a non-professional runner, and I've never run much more than 50 miles per MONTH.

And there's no shame in walking a little if you need it. I walked some of my 5k on Saturday, and still finished in 26 minutes, and in the top third of all runners.... 5th out of 17 in my age group. I had a stress fracture in December/January, so I've only been running again for two months and don't want to kill myself pushing too hard.

snemeth0629

I have to agree with others. I think you will scare the crap out of people who are training to run their first 5K with 'advice' like that.
I've been running for a year, have run two 5Ks and a 10K and plan to train for a 1/2 marathon this year. I average about 12-18 miles a week. That's 3-4 runs a week (I don't run back to back days). I can walk out the door at any given moment and run a 5K at at least a 9:30 pace. Faster on a good day. I can also pretty easily run 6+ miles at least once a week. All without running 30 miles a WEEK. I really don't think anyone needs to run that much to train for a 5K.

To the poster, slow down and set smaller goals along your run. If you normally run on a time basis, push yourself just a little more each run. For example, if you run for 20 minutes normally, push yourself to run just 2 more minutes, then 3 more minutes the next time, then 5 more minutes and so on. For me, it is easier to accomplish smaller time goals than distance goals. And that should help build your endurance.

msbanana

To really train for a 5k you should be running a minimum of around 30 miles per week. If your body can handle it, more is better up to around 70 miles per week.

Umm, dude. That's just nuts. And wrong.

NO Joke.

When I trained for my first 5K it was more like 15 miles a week, It was 25 for my first 12K and now for my first "half" (Which is slightly less than half but has 25 obstacles TOUGH MUDDER) I'm going for 35 miles a week. 3-4 short runs (HIIT training) and 1 or 2 long runs (8+ miles) a week.

Not saying what I have done will work for everyone but there is such a think as over training and 70 miles a week for a 5K is WAAAAAYYYY over training.

51powerski

I said 30. Beyond that, more is better up to around 70 as your body can handle it.

She's asking for advice on how to get past 2 miles. Your advice is for her to run 30 and work on 70 if she can handle it.

Makes perfect sense.

mes1119

Use a heart rate monitor and stay below 80% of your max heart rate.

Why below 80%? Would perceived effort not be better as HRMs tend to calculate zones based on 22-age?

I have to agree. It is really hard to predict your actual max heart rate. I can run 2-3 miles at 90% of my "apparent" max heart rate. I don't feel as if I'm working that hard either.

Anyways, what I have found that helps me is I slowed down my pace. I'm a glutton for pain so pushing myself past that "I HAVE TO STOP" point is typically easy for me, so I wish I could help with that.

Overall, what helped me what increasing my time. Before I even started I would tell myself "I will run for 30 min and not stop until then end. No matter how slow I run, I will not walk" Sooner or later you find yourself getting over that hump.

scott091501

Maybe I missed it but how many days a week are you running? How far each day? At what pace? Kinda hard to offer advice w/o this info. Run slow. Run a lot. Your pace will start to pick up naturally. At some point go in for LT testing and accurately set your HR zones in something like a Garmin 305 and then train by HR. Once you have the necessary base then you can work in speed training and extend your endurance and push pace at the same time. The other thing you need to learn as a newb runner is the differnece between being done and needing to HTFU and push through a barrier.

gdunn55

Something I've done and it may or may not be right. I don't look at the mileage when I run, I just start my stop watch and run for x number of minutes. If I have it set in my head I want to run for 50 minutes, I run for 50 minutes. I'll worry about how far it is later like on a rest day, I'll take a drive and figure out my mileage.