Advice on Becoming a Distance Runner?

Some ideas:

-Cut back to 4 days and mix it up. 1 easy, 1 hill day, 1 speed day, 1 longsloweasy day. Example week:
Monday: 3 miles
Tuesday: 1 mile warm up. 5 hill repeats. 1 mile cool down
Wed: rest
Thursday: 1 mile warm up. 4x400 with recovery in between. 1 mile cool down
Friday: rest
Saturday: LongSlowEasy (add a mile or so each week)
Sunday: rest

You gotta mix it up to keep your head in the game You may not be able to add each kind of new run right away. Start with a hill day and then, if that goes well, add a speedy day. Up the number of miles you are doing weekly according to the 10% rule.

Are you following a set plan? Or are you just kind of winging it? There are tons of organized plans out there. Hal Higdon has some really good ones, so does Coach Jenny. Running simply 3 miles 5 times a week is great, but you really should break that up into a more structured schedule.

The speed work is great...however, I am going to step in and suggest to only do one a week if you decide to do it. Speed sessions are great, but they are meant to have you spent afterwards, so doing too many during the week can also lead to injury. My current schedule for my 10 NM race in 2 weeks is this:

Mon: Easy Run
Tues: XT
Wed: Speed work (Yassos or hills)
Thurs: XT
Fri: Easy Run
Sat: Rest or LSD (Depending on work)
Sun: Rest or LSD (Depending on work)

Another consideration you can do for your long runs is bring back walk breaks. That is what I did for my first HM was I walked a minute every mile (which convenently landed on the water stations).

Any help on pushing through to that next level? Any tips or tricks you have to make the longer miles more enjoyable, less boring, etc?

A structured plan, and for the long runs get off road.

I did a hilly 10K this morning and having done a lot of trail work recently found that most of my position gains were on the climbs. What I did find was that I was losing pace on the descents, so need to do some more training there.

are you running only on a treadmill?? i can't run more than a mile on a treadmill. but outdoors, i can run much much further.

however, i suck at doing loops. i have a nine mile run planned tomorrow. it shouldn't be a problem, as i've run 10-11 miles in previous weeks. but i need to go out far and then back home. i can't do loops around my high school tack to complete those miles. i'll die of boredom.

also, one trick i've learned in setting up a running plan is to work my way backwards. the week before your half-marathon write down 9 miles. this is your last long run, your taper run. the week before that you write down 13 miles, and the week before that 12... see where i'm going?? before you know it, you're ten weeks back and you're looking at a calendar and going "huh, my long run is only 4 miles this weekend."

here are some good half-marathon training plans, at the bottom of the page: http://www.nyrr.org/train-with-us/training-programs/nyrr-half-marathon-training-program

I am just finishing my training for my first marathon in 2 weeks (eek) - I think it helps to break the long run down into shorter chunks. So today I ran 13 miles / 21 km - in my head it was 4 x 5km runs with an extra bit at the end. For me it makes it easier.

Build up gradually - what now seems like a really really long way will after a while become the norm.

Also music really helps, or maybe audiobooks/podcasts.

I also find recording all my runs helps - maybe try Runkeeper or another app where you can set yourself distance goals, that can help give you the motivation to up your distance.

Good luck

I was at a point a couple years ago where I couldn't bear anything over 5 miles. So I asked somebody to drop me off 6 miles from home. Once you're there you have no choice but to run back! I found that once I was actually going I was fine, after the first mile I was strong and it occurred to me, hey, I can do 5 just fine! Every couple of weeks I asked my friend to drop me off further from home... after the first mile of the new route, I was back on familiar ground which I knew I could run. ("I ran home from here last week, this is no problem after all!") I found it a lot easier.

Tell yourself speed doesn't matter for the longer runs, take walk breaks if you need them, and music is often handy for distraction.

I agree with what others have said about breaking it down in your head, too. 6 miles is just two lots of 3 mile runs... you run those all the time, no problem! Or even better, three lots of 2 mile runs. 2 is nothing now!

One more thing that pushes me on is the bragging rights. I like to be able to add those longer miles onto my mfp exercise, or tell my friends/family I kicked butt in my run. (I'm lucky, they're very supportive).

Remember that running is often a mental game, make that decision to push through and you'll break so many barriers! Good luck to you! :-)

When a run gets really tough, I'll pick an object in the distance like a light, sign or side street and tell myself ok just make it to that sign and then I just keep doing that over and over.

Long runs for me are often mental tricks to keep at it. I mostly do out and backs for long runs. I also break it in half in my head. So at 4 miles out I think ok I am at the 8 mile mark. Music helps some days. After a while the distance will not seem too long just keep at.