runners: good programs to work on speed

Options
dawnna76
dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
so I have been running for a couple years. I done all distances up to marathon. I have the ability to just go an go for miles upon miles and finished my marathon strong and injury free. but my time, while where I thought it would be is still slow. 5:54:17 Now that I am an accomplished "jogger" I want to step it up and work on being faster. I want to go from running a 12:30 mile to about a 10:30-11:00 mile. I have goals beyond running so I can only dedicate 3 days to it. any ideas on a good program to follow or does anyone have any advice.

Replies

  • Swanson83
    Swanson83 Posts: 226 Member
    Options
    Check out Runner's World. They have a lot of articles on what to do to increase speed. I like them on Facebook and get a lot of good ideas.
  • arussell134
    arussell134 Posts: 463 Member
    Options
    Oh you are talking my language! This was SO me. I ran 5ks up through full marathons (with my slowest at over 6 hours!). Then I didn't do anything and put on a bunch of weight. Last year, I lost the weight and decided I wanted to challenge myself by running faster. I'd already btdt on the distance and I wanted to challenge myself in a new, fun way.

    As I ran consistently and lost weight, my times got faster. A big part of it was just wanting to run faster - and compete. I decided to temporarily nix the long distances to push myself at shorter ones. (It's much easier to run a fast 5k than a fast marathon!)

    Even so, I still run most of the time at an easy pace. About once a week, I'll try to push myself pace-wise. I'd add that I do run 4-5 days per week, so you may have to scale things a bit on 3 days, but I think you could still see an improvement.

    To give you an idea of the success I've had over the year... I took my previous 5K time of about 30 minutes to 26:30 in the fall, followed by a 25:02 and 25:08 times in the spring and a 23:31 5K this July - that's an average pace of around 7:30 min/miles! Mind you, this is coming from someone that used to run a similar pace as you. I'm also 36 years old, so not super young.

    I'm now going to run a 10K on Sunday and I hope to break 50 minutes. Then I'll be working with a coach with the hopes of breaking 2 hours for my next half marathon (current PR is 2:06 on that distance). My plan is to focus on racing the smaller distances with a long-term goal of smashing my marathon time in a couple years from now.

    I also recommend Hal Higdon's training plans. You can Google them, they are free.

    Wow, I know this is super long - so feel free to PM me or friend request me if I can help encourage you more! Bottom line - this is a VERY doable goal for you!
  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
    Options
    arussell134 wrote: »
    Oh you are talking my language! This was SO me. I ran 5ks up through full marathons (with my slowest at over 6 hours!). Then I didn't do anything and put on a bunch of weight. Last year, I lost the weight and decided I wanted to challenge myself by running faster. I'd already btdt on the distance and I wanted to challenge myself in a new, fun way.

    As I ran consistently and lost weight, my times got faster. A big part of it was just wanting to run faster - and compete. I decided to temporarily nix the long distances to push myself at shorter ones. (It's much easier to run a fast 5k than a fast marathon!)

    Even so, I still run most of the time at an easy pace. About once a week, I'll try to push myself pace-wise. I'd add that I do run 4-5 days per week, so you may have to scale things a bit on 3 days, but I think you could still see an improvement.

    To give you an idea of the success I've had over the year... I took my previous 5K time of about 30 minutes to 26:30 in the fall, followed by a 25:02 and 25:08 times in the spring and a 23:31 5K this July - that's an average pace of around 7:30 min/miles! Mind you, this is coming from someone that used to run a similar pace as you. I'm also 36 years old, so not super young.

    I'm now going to run a 10K on Sunday and I hope to break 50 minutes. Then I'll be working with a coach with the hopes of breaking 2 hours for my next half marathon (current PR is 2:06 on that distance). My plan is to focus on racing the smaller distances with a long-term goal of smashing my marathon time in a couple years from now.

    I also recommend Hal Higdon's training plans. You can Google them, they are free.

    Wow, I know this is super long - so feel free to PM me or friend request me if I can help encourage you more! Bottom line - this is a VERY doable goal for you!

    thanks for that response. and BTW your still younger than me ;)
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    Options
    Well, the best way to get faster is simply to run more. You could try running farther on your three runs, but how far you can go with that is going to be pretty limited.

    Have you thought about following a training plan like FIRST? (Marathon or half marathon length). It is three HARD runs per week, plus 2-3 days of cross-training of your choice. That might be flexible enough to fit with other fitness goals, although if your goals are things like be the best PTA mom ever or become a world class bass guitarist, probably less helpful.

    You could also try following a 5K or 10K program that incorporates speedwork. Plyometrics and lower body strength training (glutes and hammies especially) might net you *some* speed increase. But, again, you will see the most gains from simply adding even one more day of running per week

    Something else to consider is focusing on running for a period of time, getting your speed down a little, then broadening your fitness/hobby efforts back out.
  • arussell134
    arussell134 Posts: 463 Member
    Options
    dawnna76 wrote: »
    arussell134 wrote: »
    Oh you are talking my language! This was SO me. I ran 5ks up through full marathons (with my slowest at over 6 hours!). Then I didn't do anything and put on a bunch of weight. Last year, I lost the weight and decided I wanted to challenge myself by running faster. I'd already btdt on the distance and I wanted to challenge myself in a new, fun way.

    As I ran consistently and lost weight, my times got faster. A big part of it was just wanting to run faster - and compete. I decided to temporarily nix the long distances to push myself at shorter ones. (It's much easier to run a fast 5k than a fast marathon!)

    Even so, I still run most of the time at an easy pace. About once a week, I'll try to push myself pace-wise. I'd add that I do run 4-5 days per week, so you may have to scale things a bit on 3 days, but I think you could still see an improvement.

    To give you an idea of the success I've had over the year... I took my previous 5K time of about 30 minutes to 26:30 in the fall, followed by a 25:02 and 25:08 times in the spring and a 23:31 5K this July - that's an average pace of around 7:30 min/miles! Mind you, this is coming from someone that used to run a similar pace as you. I'm also 36 years old, so not super young.

    I'm now going to run a 10K on Sunday and I hope to break 50 minutes. Then I'll be working with a coach with the hopes of breaking 2 hours for my next half marathon (current PR is 2:06 on that distance). My plan is to focus on racing the smaller distances with a long-term goal of smashing my marathon time in a couple years from now.

    I also recommend Hal Higdon's training plans. You can Google them, they are free.

    Wow, I know this is super long - so feel free to PM me or friend request me if I can help encourage you more! Bottom line - this is a VERY doable goal for you!

    thanks for that response. and BTW your still younger than me ;)

    Well if it's any consolation I thought you were roughly my same age based on your profile pic. ;) My slogan at my profile is this: "it's never too late to be awesome." Go get it!

  • Meg_za
    Meg_za Posts: 18 Member
    Options
    I do a program on a treadmill. What I do it 30 seconds sprinting then 15 seconds rest. I do 8 sprints in each set and do 2 sets. I run at around 15.6 km/h usually with at least an incline of 1

Categories