Running - feeling stuck

Have you tried intervals? 2 minutes at your regular speed, 1 minute as fast as you can manage, for as many rounds as you can take (5-6 is about the most you probably want to do). It's a quick work out, but it is a big help to improving speed.

Edited to add: pushing yourself. I understand not wanting to get injured, but if you can do 4 miles at your current speed but are still running at 16 minutes per mile, a bit more pushing may be warranted. Try for a short distance, and just see what faster feels like, then try to last as long as you can.

I started really running in July or June maybe and I am still 11-12 min miles, pretty slow. I notice if I skip a week of running or two and do other things then I can't run more than 1/2 mile increments, crazy.

Keep at it! Enjoy your run. Quit timing yourself for a month - just go out and run. You'll break the barrier, trust me.

Try a shorter run faster once a week. Aim for 3 miles but faster. Keep adding miles... slower ones, faster ones... do some fartleks. While you're running, choose a marker and sprint to it... then slow back down to a jog for recovery. Keep doing that randomly for whatever feels good.

The thing that will make you faster is just more miles and taking off some pounds. That's it.

Are you making every single run as all out as you can do? And you are running frequently?

Not a good idea. That means you are training the short run carb-burning system, which would be great at speed - once you have an aerobic base.

If you fear joint problems at current weight, the interval style with some walking is probably not a bad idea.
4:15 running with 45 sec walking is 85% running.
4 to 1 is 80% running.

This may actually be faster overall than longer running spells that are slower, with walking that is barely catching up.
But this method would be considered the long slow aerobic day, do that for like 40 min after a 10 min walking warmup, and finish with 10 min walking cooldown. The running is in Aerobic HR zone.

On true interval days, after same warmup, do 30 second all out sprint, whatever that may be for now. Just count to 30 in your head. Recover immediately with some walking to get HR down, and then very slow jog. Recover for 4 min.
Then hit it again. Do that 4-6 times, 3 times a week, for at least 2 weeks.
Not only will this help burn some fat, it also can help increase endurance to failure by 100%.
http://www.exrx.net/ExInfo/HIIT.html

Do you use a HRM and know your zones?

1. If you watch your diet and get in your exercise, you will drop pounds and that will naturally make you faster.

2. At a 16-minute mile, extended endurance runs could be very hard on your joints. I would suggest doing leg strength and abs exercises after a run: squats, calf presses and abs also build strength in the legs and they will make you faster. This might be key for you especially if you're heavy. Do them 1-2 times a week after a run, and then either do some kind of walking/light biking/upperbody exercise the next day. One thing you don't want to do at a heavy weight is tear down leg muscles by working them too much. You want to build strength, which will get you through those runs.

3. An interval run once a week w/ a heart rate monitor could help. Run until you get up to 85 percent of your max. HR, then walk until you're below 65 percent, then run again. Repeat 4-5 times.

4. Flexibility is also key. Warmup before the run and do static stretches after--hams, calves, glutes, pelvis, quads. Everything.


Hope that helps!

I was stuck at my same pace until I started using a training plan that mixed up my workout. I went from running six days a week, frequently bonking runs and not making any pace improvements for months to improving my pace by over 30 seconds a mile in about two months when I started using a training plan.

I used one from Hal Higdon and really loved it. I used a 10-K plan and my schedule looked like this at that time:

Sunday - Run day, 3-6 miles increasing by .5 mile every week
Monday - Strength day, full upper and lower body workout, took about 45 min for three sets of a the full group of exercises I was doing at that time
Tuesday - Run day - 2.5 miles for the first few weeks, 3 miles the rest
Wednesday - Cross cardio day, any cardio that isn't running (cycling, elliptical, ARC trainer, stair mill), 30-45 min
Thursday - 2 mile run and the same strength workout from Tuesday
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Cross cardio day, 40-60 min

I stopped bonking runs, almost entirely eliminated injuries, and, as I said, improved my pace over 30 seconds per mile in the eight weeks I followed the training program.