Post Graduation: Increasing Speed

mrshoneybear1014

Hello all. I am in the middle of week 7 so I am looking forward to graduating soon

I am a VERY slow "runner" - about 4.0-4.5mph. I am proud I have the stamina now and I am looking for a plan post-graduation to increase my pace. Anyone know of a program or app that is like c25k? Should I just do c25k and instead of the "walk" interval use my current jog speed then during the "run" portion up my mph?

Any links to articles or sites on this? Having trouble finding what I am looking for. Thanks!

mostaverage

Looking forward to reading your graduation post - here's a link to cool runnings website, they have training plans for upping speed & distance. Choose which one you fancy and away you go..Good luck !

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/index.shtml

mrshoneybear1014

I have no idea hat 440s are. Can you explain?

mostaverage

I have no idea hat 440s are. Can you explain?

Ummm...errrr....awkward....I have no idea what it means ! I'm not at the stage where I'm increasing speed, i'm still aiming for 10k distance.

Just had a wee google as you peaked my interest - 440s are 440 yards or 400 m distances --- so I guess, you run 400m at a faster pace than your normal 5k pace, rest for 3 minutes & then repeat.

The 880 refers to 880yards or 800m.

MandaJean83

I'm trying to figure this out as well...but honestly, I'm just going to keep running the distance and see if my speed increases naturally.

fjrandol

440s are a quarter mile, 880s are a half. Because tracks are typically 4 laps/mile, the 440 would be one lap, 880 is two.

gersoco

mrshoneybear1, nice work, you should be very proud of your accomplishment!!!

I use the free 'droid app called RunKeeper. I've been using it to program my C25K runs since about Week 5. I'm on Week 8 now. I can specify times or mileage splits and a voice will come on to prompt you when your warmup ends and your run begins. It also prompts you throughout the run with distance covered and minutes gone by. Plus the app gives you all sorts of running info like, times, mileage, pace, cals burned, and such that you can review on their website (free reg).

Since it's programmable, I'm going to be using it after I graduate to help me lower my speed.

flabulous4

Hiya! I graduated from C25K last autumn and there are a few things which I think have helped with my speed:
1) Practice!
2) Running further - because it has built up my stamina further so I don't flag
3) Running with other people - because it pushes me as it would be so embarrassing to be left behind!
Something else you could try is fartlek - on a run get warmed up and then after a mile or so just pick something not too far away like a lamppost or a bin and run to it as fast as you can. Go back to your normal running pace and when you're ready pick another object and go for it. Repeat as required!
I'm still not super speedy but my 5K time is 4 minutes and 40 seconds faster now than it was in October when I ran my first race (same course).