Experienced Runners: Question abt Increasing Speed

Bloomsday
Bloomsday Posts: 66 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi -- I have a few questions for experienced runners:

I recently finished a 5K running program about 2 wks ago. I am now able to run for 30-40 minutes 3xs a week.

1. Is there a rule of thumb about when to incorporate sprints or hills for a newbie like me? Wd it be OK to do it now, or should I run 30 mins for a while before introducing this new kind of work?

2. Similar question about when to add another day (or two) of running to my week. When is that OK?

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
    As a general rule, speed comes after you increase your cardio fitness, so, more miles, more miles, more miles. You can do hill repeats, intervals, tempo runs etc, but the real gains come from the distance. As far as how many days a week you can run, that is up to you. I might increase to 4, stay there and see how my body feels, then adjust. You don't want to get too crazy and have an injury.

    It would also be worth it to start strength training. Lunges, squats, planks, etc have really helped me get faster and stay injury free.
  • TheSlorax
    TheSlorax Posts: 2,401 Member
    Cool, I was wondering this too. So is it not a good idea to work on speed until the distance has accumulated more? I am running a 5k soon and would like to have a decent time but really just being able to finish it is good with me. :)
  • wolfgate
    wolfgate Posts: 321 Member
    The biggest impact on decreasing pace for newer runners is, as stated earlier, more miles. You'll find your 5k times and your comfortable running pace will drop for quite a few months, perhaps even a couple of years, without any speedwork. Slowly increase time of your longest weekly run. More slowly increase the time of your normal runs. Add a fourth day when you can do so without getting too fatigued. Start on the 4th day with a short 15 minutes or so and go from there. You can try that now if you wish. Listen to your body.

    Running fast is fun for many, however, so if you want to throw in a few pickups (fartleks) do so. Pick a telephone pole, tree, etc. about 15-30 seconds away and run faster to it. Then slow down to normal pace. Just play with it. You can also add 5 or so strides at the end of your run (pick up the pace for about 10 seconds to a relaxed but quick tempo. Slow back down).

    No need for any tough speedwork for quite a while. Definitely don't add speedwork the same time you're increasing weekly distance. That carries too high a risk of injury.

    Summarize - add distance until you're running as much time per week as you feel you want to run. Hold there for a month or so. Then you can think about true speedwork. In the meantime, feel free to play with fartleks and strides a little.
  • Bloomsday
    Bloomsday Posts: 66 Member
    Thanks you! I appreciate the responses.
  • guessrs
    guessrs Posts: 358 Member
    I'd say you are ready for speed training. You can do speed intervals with slower runs or rest in between. What got me way faster is tempo runs. I run 15 min at medium pace and then I go all out at max heart rate for 20 min. I went from 9 min a mile to 7:30. You hold the fast pace for 20 min which is a long time to sprint. Down the road add hill training and long runs, that will also make you faster.
  • moondawg14
    moondawg14 Posts: 249 Member
    You need to add: more miles, a day of speedwork, more miles, and follow that with more miles. More miles will also help. Finally, if you can find some time to add miles, it seems to help most people.

    Increase your mileage slowly. Try to add 10% to your longest run every week, and increase your total mileage for the week 10% as well.

    Add a day of "interval" training and/or tempo run into your schedule.

    "intervals" can be something like 2 minutes of sprinting followed by 1 minute of easy running... for as long as you can stand it.

    Tempo run, as stated is a longer push at your max tempo. IT should hurt. a lot. If you can *just* keep yourself from vomiting at the end, you've nailed it! :^) (similar to knowing that you've nailed your 5k pace: You vomit ON the finish line, not before or after.)

    If you're in the process of losing weight, keep it up. This will also make you faster. If you have weight to lose, go ahead and do it, but slowly. You need to fuel your exercise.
  • tadjo
    tadjo Posts: 41 Member
    heavy squats really helped my speed.

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