Hey Runners - How can I get faster?

Sprints! I am on a training plan having me do speed work 1 x a week. I warm up, do 1 mile at a 2 min/mile pace faster than normal, jog for a 1/2 mile, do another mile at the 2 min/ mile faster pace, another 1/2 mile at a job, then a 3rd mile at the 2 min/mile faster pace, then a cool down. This is for an 8 mile run. You would do more repetitions if you're running longer. Check Runner's World. They have some great ideas.

You didn't say how long you've been running, but frankly, time will help a lot too. I've been running for 2 years and haven't focused on getting faster, but my average training mile has gone from 13 minutes to 11 minutes. I ran a 2:34 half marathon in 2009, then a 2:23 half in 2010. And as I said, I haven't been TRYING to get faster. Your body will become more accustomed to running over time, and your speed will naturally increase.

Losing weight will help a lot too. I'm about 15 pounds lighter than I was when I started running, and now I'm deliberately trying to lose another 20 pounds so I can run faster. This is the first time I've made a concerted effort to actually run faster. Once I achieve my goal weight, I'll probably look into speedwork, etc. Having 20 pounds less to schlep around should help me a lot.

Good luck! )

Track or treadmill if your a lone runner or a fast friend who is willing to help you. Its hard to work on getting faster and running farther. If you really want to get faster you need to pick some 5K races a few months apart and train for them. Sometimes getting faster causes more injuries so watch out. You can google "fartlek" training. Getting the weight off has helped the most for me but I will never be a fast runner so I go for distance.

Hey GIRL!! I would TOTALLY recommend Hal Higdon's intermediate half marathon plan.. I was on it for 6 weeks before i DC due to not wanting to push myself too hard with baby on the way. It lowered my long distance time down to 9 flat. I ran my half marathon at an average of 11, and I can do a timed mile in like 7:30 ish now if I gun it. It REALLY works, just follow the workouts, then you won't even realize how much faster you are getting.

http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/inter.htm

It depends. How many miles are you running a week?

Last week I ran 23
This week I ran 11 (but Im in taper mode for the race)

I average 15-20 per week, sometimes more and sometimes less.

OK. I personally don't think you need sprints yet. You would benefit more from just adding running volume. A lot of the running gurus will tell you that easy running and consistency are the key. This is what worked for me. I was only at about 20 miles a week. I built to ~30 and dropped my times quite a bit.

When I started to add to my volume, I was at around 15-20 miles a week I think. From the time i started my volume build to now, I've dropped 2:30 off my 5k PR and my easy training pace has dropped considerable as well. As you add volume, your easy pace gets faster. Just run often and run easy and you'll get faster. Once you plateau at a decent volume, then add speed work in my opinion.

I'm not fast at all but you can see my training charts and see how my easy training pace has gotten quite a bit faster. I saw the results by easy running done often. All my training runs were done easy. Monthly totals are shown here.



Sprints will help for sure as there is more than one way to skin a cat. But easy running and adding volume has less chance for injury if done right in my opinion.

I suggest building to 30-35 miles a week and holding that for a couple months. Be careful. Only increase mileage by 10% a week.

Or do sprints. Whatever you prefer.

If you want great advice get "Daniel's Running Formula" by Jack Daniels. Great information in there.

They key to increasing your running speed is intensity.

If you want to be faster, cut your mileage down to 2miles and try to finish that in 20minutes. If you increase your running distance, you'll only get slower.

A way to get your body used to the increased strain is through hill running.

Keep doing that until your body is accustomed to a 10min mile, then convert back to distance running.

I had a friend tell me that if I wanted to run faster I'd have to run faster. Uh, yeah...

So, you can do that! Sprints, fartleks or tempo runs are all great for building speed.

But my secret weapon is hillwork. Hills are speedwork in disguise. If you can increase the incline on your 'mill or find a hill or two to trudge up and down once or twice a week you'll get faster.

GOOD LUCK!

I did P90X just for this reason, and I'm going to do insanity when I finish P90X in 4 weeks. My MPM was 11:11 when I started P90X and had finished my marathon at that rate. I"m now at 9:20 on my runs. I also started with just short runs fast and went a little longer on each run.