Faster average mile

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ntjelmeland
ntjelmeland Posts: 24 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
DISCLAIMER: I am not saying this by any means to gloat or discourage anyone who has a different athletic ability.

I recently ran my first 5k in 30:13. As you can imagine, I was very excited and jumped right back on board the next week. Frustratingly, my mile times were much slower than I expected (11:30, 12:00 mile). Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get my average mile down to around 9:00 or 9:30? Does interval training work?

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  • dunadan
    dunadan Posts: 105 Member
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    Run. Run. Run. A lot. Then run some more. :smile:

    I have found that interval training helps. I do a 2-minute warm-up @ 3.5, ease into the sprints at 7 or 8mph, and then settle into a pattern of 1 minute @ 10mph/2 minutes @ 4mph. Keep that up, and you'll finish a 5k in under 30 minutes, and you will have walked for most of it.

    Eventually the sprints get easier, and you increase them from 8 to 9, to 9.5, to 10, and beyond. That's what happened with me.

    Good luck!
  • sammyneb
    sammyneb Posts: 257
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    First build up a good base (which means run, then run, then run more). If you are looking to conquer the 5K (opposed to running longer distances) I would suggest a long run of 5 or 6 miles once a week and, once a week do either hill training or interval training, pick a day to run tempo runs (running a 5k at race pace) then if you run a 4th or 5th day keep them light and easy.

    and yes interval training works. I improved my half time from 2:21 (around 11 minute mile) to 2:00 (a little over a 9 minute mile) in 4 1/2 months by adding interval workouts and hill training.
  • ntjelmeland
    ntjelmeland Posts: 24 Member
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    @sammyneb, I will be running an 8k Turkey Trot in November; do you have any suggestions on how to improve time with longer distances?
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    DISCLAIMER: I am not saying this by any means to gloat or discourage anyone who has a different athletic ability.

    I recently ran my first 5k in 30:13. As you can imagine, I was very excited and jumped right back on board the next week. Frustratingly, my mile times were much slower than I expected (11:30, 12:00 mile). Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get my average mile down to around 9:00 or 9:30? Does interval training work?

    At the top of my game I averaged a 6:45 mile in 5K.

    Intervals, Intervals, Intervals.... And as I got closer to the end of my training runs (5.25 miles), the intervals got shorter as the intensity increased.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Nothing will help your running like more running.

    However, I saw significant improvement in my times after lifting all last winter. My typical pace this year is down a solid minute from last year.
  • sammyneb
    sammyneb Posts: 257
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    @sammyneb, I will be running an 8k Turkey Trot in November; do you have any suggestions on how to improve time with longer distances?

    really the same suggestion as above with the inervals and some hill work, but you will want to increase your long run distance. Unless you are going marathon..and some may argue this..but I suggest running further on your long run than your target distance. Since you are looking to run an 8 K (which is just under 5 miles) I would take your long run to 6 or 7. Of course do it slowly, only adding about 10% mileage a week...
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    duplicate post
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    Reading this will help you understand what you need to do.

    Athletic Training by Arthur Lydiard, available free at http://www.maratonvu.hr/INDEX DOWNLOAD/al training eng.pdf
  • bfinup
    bfinup Posts: 47
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    Adding distance and weightlifting (squats/dead lifts) have helped me dramatically
  • cwsikes
    cwsikes Posts: 86
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    Run, run, run, and then run some more. Consistent running, mostly slow, sometimes fast will get you speed increases at all distances. Long run, short runs, medium runs, all kind of runs, just run.

    Over the past 3 years, I've dropped from a 12:03 min/mile 5k pace to an 8:02 min/mile 5k pace and all I've done is be consistent in my running and run, run, run, and I was (am) not a natural runner. Also worked for my husband as he dropped from a 7:33 min/mile 5k pace to a 5:37 min/mile 5k pace without ever running a single interval.
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
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    More miles, more miles, more miles.

    Just listen to your body as your ramp up.

    Having good genetics will help too...
  • cwsikes
    cwsikes Posts: 86
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    More miles, more miles, more miles.

    Just listen to your body as your ramp up.

    Having good genetics will help too...

    Ughhh genetics.
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
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    Run run run. Doing interval training won't do diddly for you if you don't have the aerobic base to support it.

    If you want to run a fast 5K, you don't just run 5K. Most specialist at this distance run between 40 and 60 miles a week (some even more!) with a long run of 10 to 14 miles. Of that, about 85% will be at easy, conversational pace.

    Mile, miles and more miles.
  • achonator
    achonator Posts: 32 Member
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    Just run.Don't be scared to get a bit out of breath.I used to run 8km for about an hour - now its around 25-30-35 mins depends on how I feel and how much I'm willing to push it that day.Personally for me sprints haven't helped me for this, but I can say that heavy squats (heavy for me) have and when I have around 500-600m left in the run I try to do it as fast as I can(not sprinting).

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