distance or speed - what say you?

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chanstriste13
chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
i just completed my first 5k ever yesterday - very excited to mark that off my list! now, i am wondering what i should do next. i have two thoughts. the first is working on getting my 5k time down with some sprint training. the other is that maybe i should start training for a 10k and not worry about my speed. my pace is an 11:30 mile.

anyone have any experience with this? would one be better than the other?

Replies

  • TS65
    TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
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    Rock on! Good job!

    I think it really is just a matter of preference. What do YOU want to do? What's your goal? Do you want to keep running 5k's or do you want to run longer distances? What sounds fun to you? What would motivate you more - making it to a longer distance or running really fast?
  • poustotah
    poustotah Posts: 1,121 Member
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    I personally have no desire to go further than a 5k so I worked on getting my time down to under 30 minutes. It took me a while, but I got there. As the previous poster said though - totally a matter of what you want to do.
  • kgalea
    kgalea Posts: 156 Member
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    What I've found is that when I trained for loner distances, my speed at shorter distances improved as well. Of course, I was crazy enough to go from a 5k to a full marathon before trying a half marathon or anything else that wasn't a part of my training for the marathon... Congrats on your first of what will likely be many great races!
  • geekyjen
    geekyjen Posts: 103 Member
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    Awesome job!
    I have found that I enjoy distance goals a lot more than speed goals because I know I can attain them if I just keep trying, whereas sometimes with speed goals I feel like my legs are just short and my stride is small. Also I think I noticed the most weight loss when I was really getting my weekly miles up. Also as I got my distance up my speed naturally improved.
    Good luck and congrats again on that first 5k!
  • MayMaydoesntrun
    MayMaydoesntrun Posts: 805 Member
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    I'm right there with you! I also have a pace of 11:30 and would love to see it about 10..However, it would be so awesome to run farther too. Sooo, I'm working on both. Sprint work one day, and an attempt for a longer run another day, with my regular 3 miles in between. We shall see! Good luck and rock on! :)
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    If you want to improve your racing speed then you first have to maximize your mileage volume while still running some fast workouts during the week. How much maximize means is dependent on your current level of fitness and your training history.

    If you are not there yet, you probably should first increase your weekly mileage to between 20 and 30 miles and when your body can do that comfortably and recover easily between runs add some faster runs during the week. If you are training for a 5K, one of the weekly runs should be at least six miles.

    Increase training volume gradually so that your body strengthens without injury.
  • vendygirl
    vendygirl Posts: 718 Member
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    I say distance and then speed will follow.
  • bbush18
    bbush18 Posts: 207 Member
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    i run a lot of 5ks...and i've finally decided to start training for a 10k then a half... i think it all depends on your situation. when i run another 5k, i'll focus on my time...but when i'm training for a 10k or half, then i definately focus on distance...
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    I find it easier to train for longer distances. It's really difficult to try to maintain a slightly faster pace (if you're jogging the entire time), for an entire 5k. Like some others have said, train for longer and you'll be able to increase speed in the shorter intervals. You could switch between the two as well. One week go for longer distances, the next go shorter and faster. It would give you a little variation.
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
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    The best way to get faster is to up your mileage. You need the additional endurance to help support the speedwork you'll want to add in.

    For newbies, I'd suggest adding fartleks (Swedish for "speed play") to one of your weekly runs. Fartleks are unstructured speedwork. Get warmed up at an easy pace and then run medium pace to a then next telephone pole. Then go full blast to a tree or car parked down the street. Just mix it up. Fast, slow, etc.
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    thanks, everyone! i think i will focus on increasing distance for the time being - but i really like the sound of those farleks, so i'm going to try and incorporate a bit of that too. i'm hoping that as i lose more weight, that might also up my speed - i can't imagine what it would be like to run a 5k sans 30 more pounds - i'd be flying! or it seems like i would be...

    anyhoo, thanks again for the great advice and encouragement! :flowerforyou:
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    The rule of thumb is that for every ten pounds lost you can speed up by around 30 seconds per mile.

    So, for 30 pounds lost, you might do the 5k around 5 minutes faster. Add all the training between now and then and you should be a lot faster.
  • beccaboo1021
    beccaboo1021 Posts: 51
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    Fartleks...teeheehee...:laugh: Sorry, but this makes my giggle everytime I see it...guess growing up with mostly boys rubbed off!!

    I find that I alternate every week or so between working speed or working distance...I kind of think that it has more to do with what I 'don't want to do' that week than what I really should be working on!! My normal weekly running times are between 11-12 minutes per mile - some days are awesome and feel great, and other days it's a struggle all the way to the end. If I'm working on speed, about 1 day a week I just putz out a 3 mile run, 1 day I like to work on :blushing: fartleks on a 2 mile loop (and my pace is typically about 10 min/mile), and the 3rd day I like to do hill runs,but I just focus on over all time so IDK what my pace would be since I just run up/walk down the same hill over and over again for 30-45 mins. I might add in another 2-3 mile run (sometimes a 4 mile one if I'm 'feeling it', LOL) if I have time. If I'm feeling like distance is what I should be working on, then I typically drop the :blushing: fartleks and hill runs, and just focus on a 2 mile run, a 3 mile run, and a 4 mile run that week. However, I do find that when I am in a 5K race, my pace picks up, and I typically shave time on each race, so something's working! :smile:

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