Speeding up my run

JennS19

I've been training for a 1/2 in April and while I love running I don't want to spend 3 hours trying to run 13.1 miles. Right now I run a min in little over 11 min. I would love to get it under 10 come April but I"m not 100% sure on how to do it.

Do I just amp up my speed a little bit at a time? I mostly train on a treadmill with outside running once a week.

What do you long distance runners suggest? Thanks so much!

heybales

I've been training for a 1/2 in April and while I love running I don't want to spend 3 hours trying to run 13.1 miles. Right now I run a min in little over 11 min. I would love to get it under 10 come April but I"m not 100% sure on how to do it.

Do I just amp up my speed a little bit at a time? I mostly train on a treadmill with outside running once a week.

What do you long distance runners suggest? Thanks so much!

You train your existing muscle to operate more efficiently so the oxygen you can supply is enough to burn fuel to propel you faster.

The kicker though - you may need more muscle.

That's going to be impossible eating at a deficit with running as your only means of gaining muscle. Which for starters isn't a great muscle builder.

You need to confirm you have a very reasonable deficit, and then hit the weights for leg strengthening.
Once you have more of something to use, then your long slow efforts will train it aerobically and allow it to propel you faster at the same level of effort.

2 days of lifting with focus on lower body, followed by 2 days of slow run (mainly for recovery so you actually get stronger from the lifting) to train the aerobic system.

Then 1 day of hill sprints. Steep decent hill. Long strides. Up as fast as you can, walk back down. Except for last hill, run back down. Links off this page for a program.

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni39a6.htm

On the day of the workout, eat a lot more than normal post workout, you need calories to hope to build muscle.

So days would be like this.
Lift
Slow - Active Recovery HR zone
Lift
Slow - AR HR zone
Hills - Anaerobic HR zone sprint up, AR HR zone walk down
rest
Tempo (not so fast your legs are dead for lifting the next day) - Tempo HR zone

10manda86

my hint is run outside more... its harder work to run on the ground than on a tredmill (assuming its not a self propelled one)... on a tredmill the ground moves for you you only have to pick up your feet... outside you actually have to push yourself forward... hope this makes sense!

ruststar

I finally broke a 10 minute mile this fall when I started running with a group that really pushed me to run faster. I also continued weight training, which helped significantly, and after lifting I did short but fast runs on the treadmill. The first time I did a 10 minute mile was on the treadmill - just the one mile. Once I knew I could do it, I pushed myself harder during my once a week group run. My last 5k time: 29:40!

jlgray12

Intervals!! Run at your normal pace for 2 minutes, then run at a thirty second per mile pace faster for 30 second. Then back to your normal pace for 2 minutes. Do this a couple times a week for 15 - 20 minutes.

Pick speeds that work for you. i generally start at 2 minutes followed by 30 seconds and end up doing either 2:1 or even 1:1. You can also crank up your speed even more during the fast portion (just don't take too big of a jump or you will hurt yourself).

This will get your body used to going faster. It works wonders for speeding up.

JennS19

This is all excellent information! Thank you all for your help! I'm going to try to start lifting here and there. It's definitley harder when the only time i have to workout is in the evenings. I'll make it work. Thanks!

lhergenr

Intervals!! Run at your normal pace for 2 minutes, then run at a thirty second per mile pace faster for 30 second. Then back to your normal pace for 2 minutes. Do this a couple times a week for 15 - 20 minutes.

Pick speeds that work for you. i generally start at 2 minutes followed by 30 seconds and end up doing either 2:1 or even 1:1. You can also crank up your speed even more during the fast portion (just don't take too big of a jump or you will hurt yourself).

This will get your body used to going faster. It works wonders for speeding up.

Yep, this is what has worked for me. I rarely run for distance and just stick to sprinting intervals. But I have noticed on those rare days that I run for distance that I'm faster than I was before doing sprints. I personally like 30 secs sprinting and 1:30 recovering. Whatever works best for you.

BrianSharpe

Run, run, run and run some more.

You didn't mention in the OP how long you've been running or what your total training volume is but just by improving overall fitness and aerobic capacity you will realize improvements in speed.

One of my tri coaches is of the opinion that speed work (interval, hills etc) shouldn't really factor into the equation until you're running at least twice your race distance on a weekly basis, consistently, for several months.

If it's any consolation I do limited amounts of speed work (hills once every couple of weeks in spring & summer), weights mostly for injury resistance (speed is more a function of turnover and economy than leg strength per se) and a 10 minute mile seemed impossible a couple of years ago but is now a pace I can sustain up distances of 10 miles (my last HM was 2:14:43 which is a bit over 10 minute miles)

TylerJ76

Run, run, run and run some more.

You didn't mention in the OP how long you've been running or what your total training volume is but just by improving overall fitness and aerobic capacity you will realize improvements in speed.

One of my tri coaches is of the opinion that speed work (interval, hills etc) shouldn't really factor into the equation until you're running at least twice your race distance on a weekly basis, consistently, for several months.

If it's any consolation I do limited amounts of speed work (hills once every couple of weeks in spring & summer), weights mostly for injury resistance (speed is more a function of turnover and economy than leg strength per se) and a 10 minute mile seemed impossible a couple of years ago but is now a pace I can sustain up distances of 10 miles (my last HM was 2:14:43 which is a bit over 10 minute miles)

This.

Don't worry about the speed work, just run more, and speed will come..

Snikkee

I've been training for a 1/2 in April and while I love running I don't want to spend 3 hours trying to run 13.1 miles. Right now I run a min in little over 11 min. I would love to get it under 10 come April but I"m not 100% sure on how to do it.

Do I just amp up my speed a little bit at a time? I mostly train on a treadmill with outside running once a week.

What do you long distance runners suggest? Thanks so much!

You train your existing muscle to operate more efficiently so the oxygen you can supply is enough to burn fuel to propel you faster.

The kicker though - you may need more muscle.

That's going to be impossible eating at a deficit with running as your only means of gaining muscle. Which for starters isn't a great muscle builder.

You need to confirm you have a very reasonable deficit, and then hit the weights for leg strengthening.
Once you have more of something to use, then your long slow efforts will train it aerobically and allow it to propel you faster at the same level of effort.

2 days of lifting with focus on lower body, followed by 2 days of slow run (mainly for recovery so you actually get stronger from the lifting) to train the aerobic system.

Then 1 day of hill sprints. Steep decent hill. Long strides. Up as fast as you can, walk back down. Except for last hill, run back down. Links off this page for a program.

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni39a6.htm

On the day of the workout, eat a lot more than normal post workout, you need calories to hope to build muscle.

So days would be like this.
Lift
Slow - Active Recovery HR zone
Lift
Slow - AR HR zone
Hills - Anaerobic HR zone sprint up, AR HR zone walk down
rest
Tempo (not so fast your legs are dead for lifting the next day) - Tempo HR zone

I think this is good advice, as well as running in intervals, and yes do strength training, upper body as well. I am training for a full marathon in May that is pavement and a half marathon in July that is all trail.

I have previously completed one half marathon ( pavement ) with a chip time of 2 hours and 44 minutes, which averages out to be an 11 minute mile. 9 minute mile you would be looking at about 2 hours. IT is very hard to keep that pace if you are a new runner, trust me, hard hard work.

My advice is do the strength training, run on trails, run on pavement, run hills, do sprints, and run at different times of the day and in different places. Also shoes make a huge difference.

sasab904

Intervals!! Run at your normal pace for 2 minutes, then run at a thirty second per mile pace faster for 30 second. Then back to your normal pace for 2 minutes. Do this a couple times a week for 15 - 20 minutes.

Pick speeds that work for you. i generally start at 2 minutes followed by 30 seconds and end up doing either 2:1 or even 1:1. You can also crank up your speed even more during the fast portion (just don't take too big of a jump or you will hurt yourself).

This will get your body used to going faster. It works wonders for speeding up.

This really helped me with my half marathons. Each one, I was able to shave some time off. Also, are you following a training program? I really believe in them and there are some great ones out there. Good luck!