increasing jogging/running speed?

I have been working my way thru that speed question for over two years. I was barely finishing 3 miles an hour in the beginning I was still over 275 pounds and in my 60's. I set goals to improve and just kept working at it. I used to go to Jones beach on LI NY every sunday at least 48 sundays a year it was 2 miles out and of course 2 miles back so I first had to be able to finish the 4 miles and then set my goal to finish in an hour or 4 miles an hour 15 min/mile. I eventually finished and just kept at it to improve my speed. I am now doing 5 or more miles 4 times a week and as I increase my weekly miles my speed increases as well. I try to include some hills in my daily runs to help me build strength.
I have also continued to lose weight although now much slower than originally and that helps my speed as well.
Long winded answer I guess to say keep building your miles and your speed will continue to improve
Oh and realize its alot easier to say 3.5 to 4.5 than it is to run it 3.5 is 17.30 4.5 is 13.30 min/mile that is a major improvement I took almost a year to pick up 4 minutes

Short answer: Increase your mileage, and just keep moving. Speed will come. Also, you could optionally add tempo runs into your schedule. Stop worrying about time and pace yourself by exertion level and heart rate. They are much more important factors than time, and will ensure you go the right speed that your body can handle.

Long Answer: I tell you this because even just in 9 weeks of running, I've seen the difference that adding mileage to my week has made. I'm doing a modified version of C25K, and I was stuck running 17 and 18 minute miles when I first started, and that was at the high end of my fat burning heart rate zone :X. I felt slow as a damn snail. People looked at me and actually made fun of me for it. I went on vacation with a friend and her mom and they wouldn't leave me alone to run being that it was a different place and they didn't want me snatched up, and her mom looked at me running and said, "I don't know what she's doing, but I don't think that's running..." The fastest I could do a mile then was 16:30, and I was proud of it!

That was the beginning of this month. I decided to add 2 more days to my running schedule, increasing my mileage to ~9 miles per week up from probably 6. Last time I did a tempo run, my mile was at 14:23. In just a month, adding in those days and increasing the length of long runs has helped immensely. I've seen many elite coaches say that if you can't run an hour a day, 6 days a week, you need to focus on adding time and let speed worry about itself later.

But with that said, the two days I added were both tempo run days. My normal "long run" days are 3x per week and I run for 40 minutes at a very slow pace. If I can't have a conversation in full sentences, I'm going too hard (but if you can sing, you're going too slow). People will tell you that you need to hit a certain time and do your pace that way, but that isn't true. It's all about heart rate, and heart rate almost always directly corresponds with breathing rate. Long runs help your body comfortably learn how to send new capillary networks to your muscles so they can get more oxygen, which is what they use as fuel to keep you going. It's very good for your overall fitness, endurance, speed, everything to do long easy runs.

Tempo runs are where you do a moderately difficult but still comfortable pace that you could (and do) maintain for a good 20-25 minutes. This helps your speed by putting you in a place where you must push yourself but also hold back enough so that you don't kill yourself doing it. You never want to leave 100% of you on the track -- save that for whatever race you're eyeballing.

If you have a heart rate monitor or can get one, pacing becomes a lot easier. The good zone for fat burning as far as heart rate goes is 60-85% of max HR. Any less, you're not pushing hard enough. Any more, you're burning too hard and it's going anaerobic, which is bad because it isn't maintainable past a few minutes. Find your max HR by subtracting your age from 220.

Mine: 220 - 24 = 196

60% of 196 = 118
80% of 196 = 157

So I keep my heart rate between 120 and 160, and I'm good. Long easy runs, I shoot for 135-145. Tempo runs, I shoot for 150-155. The last minute of every single run, I all out sprint and get up to 175-180. The last five minutes of the long easy runs I finish strong by doing my tempo run pace (which you should train yourself to do -- finishing strong when you're tired is a very good way to shave time off the end of your race).

Good luck! If you have any questions, let me know xD. I'm glad to answer whatever I can.

Commenting here so I can keep an eye on any further discussion.

Although I have to ask, what advantages do short runners have? I'm five foot three and that statement got me curious.

they keep telling me to keep going for longer distances to get my short speed up. It seems to be working, i can do a 10 minute mile now where it used to take me 40 minutes to do 5k

I just downloaded couch to 5k on my windows phone! awesome. Thank you all for the great advice and nice to see that being short is actually an advantage as well!

If you're going to do c25k, I suggest joining the MFP group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k
There are a lot of people that are at every level, and you can get a lot of great info and support there. :flowerforyou:

Although I have to ask, what advantages do short runners have? I'm five foot three and that statement got me curious.

If you look at the great, contemporary marathon champions most could be described as compact (both in stature and build) - what it comes down to is, in theory, a shorter person can achieve a lower healthy weight than someone who is, for example, 6 feet tall. Less mass = less energy required to move at the same velocity over the same distance.

Same idea as bodybuilding and distance running not complementing each other, more muscle mass means more oxygen needed.

To the OP, height makes no difference in terms of speed. Geoffrey Mutai (a champion marathoner from Kenya) is about 5'5" - he ran the NYC Marathon in 2011 in 2:05

And my hero, Gebrselassie - 5'5, 123 lbs. Fastest 5,000 M and 10,000 M runner through the 90's. Broke the marathon world record not that long ago. Then lost the record. But hey, he had a good career!

When you're really new to running, don't worry about your speed too much. Focus your fitness level and form first. Try to run 3 miles or 45 minutes without stopping. When you get really comfortable with running, try doing doing hill repeats or intervals once a week. That will help build your base pace. I'm not sure you need the tempo run yet. You'll also find that as you lose weight, it will be easier to speed up. Every week I notice the extra pound missing on my long runs.

I've decided to finish c25k (I'm on week 8) and then after I do my 5k I'll work on speed. Right now I'm just focused on finishing the race without walking, no matter how long it takes...my second 5k will be to improve the time it takes. Good Luck!:flowerforyou: