Run fast or far!?

Focus on distance, and speed will come.

Truth

As far as weight loss and running goes.....I find that an alternation between the two works best for me. The increase and decrease of heart rate is important to raise your metabolism. I have incorporated sprint/speedwalks into my routine and it has helped greatly in both my overall speed and in the duration that I can run.

I usually start off with a 2 mile run at about an 8:30 pace...then I sprint .2 miles...speed walk .1 and I keep that up for another 4-5 miles.

I've noticed the same thing when looking at the stats on the elliptical trainer I use. For the same distance, you will exercise for less overall time if you go faster vs slower. I guess the time factor is more significant in terms of burning calories than the speed factor.

I believe if trying to lose weight, there is an ideal target heart rate range that you should be in while running...there are generalized tables on this usually based on your age that you can find online. And just about every piece of cardio equipment I have used also has these tables listed, usually with one for fat burn and the other for high intensity cardio. The tables are just a basic guide and depending upon your capabilities you could come up with different target ranges.

I'm no expert, but in general, if losing weight and building endurance are your goals, distance is more important than speed...but usually time is of the essence and so you always need to find a balance that is good for you. Walk for 5 hours at 2 mph or run for 1 hour at 10mph, same distance, more calories burned going slower but 4 hours more free time going faster and a better cardio workout. My guess is you'll find something that works for you somewhere in between those extremes. Good luck!

I am just new to running (6 months now!) I live on the east coast of Canada and our weather goes to extremes. On beautiful days I run outside and work on distance. On rain/snow/whatever days, I work on shorter distances/higher speeds...I get very bored on a treadmill. This has worked for me...shedding fat like crazy! Both my times and distances are improving and I find the change keeps me interested and my metabolism revving!
Good luck!

slow and close?

Thanks everyone for your input!!

carsonruns and vpetryshyn - I guess I just need to be patient and push myself to go further, even if it's slow.
I ran a half marathon a couple years ago and I was running 11 min/miles....I'd like to do another and crush my previous time!!

Also chad23jl - your alternation sounds like something I should consider! I usually just run run run, but boosting my metabolism with different speeds would be great!

belgerian - hills are the worst!!! :-P I've noticed on my normal running routes they're getting easier though, so that's a start....

any good song recommendations for long runs?? i've run to girltalk or my "running" playlist for a few years now and I think I need an upgrade

The long slow run is the cornerstone of endurance training, so yes, even if it is slow, run longer (your long runs should be 1-2 min/mile slower than your planned race pace anyway). Once you get your endurance up, then you can start to worry about things like tempo runs, intervals, and hill repeats. Those are all great workouts, but they are for sharpening speed skills. The majority of your gains right now will come from running more miles. Plus, if you jump into too much speedwork without a good base, you might injure yourself. A good way to ease into that is by doing strides

http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/add-strides-your-next-run?page=single

My favorite running songs - Eminem "till I collapse"; Maino and T-Pain "All the above", most songs from Chronic 2001; just anything that makes me feel fierce after 16 miles has taken its toll on my brain.