Dear Runners....advice???

cbu23
cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm wondering how to work on my speed. I can run for a while, but I'm not a very fast runner. Any advice on how to get my speed up?

Thanks!
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Replies

  • lambeas
    lambeas Posts: 229 Member
    You need to train hills; time yourself first time you run to the top.. rest... go back down and run it again to beat your time... you will be surprised how much this helps.

    Check out the runningroom.com for more info
  • cbu23
    cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
    Thanks! I'll try that and check out the website!
  • Phantox
    Phantox Posts: 8 Member
    Squats
    Run faster
    Buy minimalist shoes (merell barefoot, vibram five fingers, etc)
    Run on your toes instead of your heels
  • tiptoeketo
    tiptoeketo Posts: 271 Member
    Speeds drills.... you can find this and other great running tips at runnersworld.com!
  • fitnessyeoja
    fitnessyeoja Posts: 357 Member
    bump
  • kazza2cats
    kazza2cats Posts: 87 Member
    I found the treadmill helped me. Just did 800m fast sessions with slow downs in between. Got my speed up in a few months. Also loosing 10 pound helped and less to carry.

    Good luck!
  • adrienneosuna
    adrienneosuna Posts: 4
    Google Yasso800. I was told to get hundreds of miles on your legs before you work on speed to prevent injury. A doctor told me that. I eventually want to work on my speed too :) good luck!
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
    Hill Training, do intervals, tempo runs, etc.
  • KC4800
    KC4800 Posts: 140 Member
    If you use an iPod, check out the podrunner podcasts. Its free and it features songs of the proper tempo to work on increasing your cadence incrementally until you're up to speed. Im not crazy about the music, but the tempo is right.
  • shannon_121285
    shannon_121285 Posts: 25
    hill repeats and speed drills. push yourself on your speed drills. make sure you don't run everyday. you need to take breaks in the week so you can recover your muscles.

    just keep going
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
    You have to run more to run faster. If you haven't built an appropriate aerobic base, all the speed and hill work in the world isn't going to make a whole lot of difference.

    How long have you been running and what is your current weekly mileage?


    Edit: "difference" not "distance".
  • ashreynolds09
    ashreynolds09 Posts: 257 Member
    at the end of every mile I run I make from .90- .10 of the next mile as much of a sprint as possible.....it helps me alot plus it gets my legs used to going when they are exhausted.
  • jdelot
    jdelot Posts: 397 Member
    Speeds drills.... you can find this and other great running tips at runnersworld.com!
    ^^ This
  • Fitfaery
    Fitfaery Posts: 68 Member
    strengthen your legs, bum, back.
    interval training,
    posture.

    Just be careful and don't overdo it before your ready x
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
    Google Yasso800. I was told to get hundreds of miles on your legs before you work on speed to prevent injury. A doctor told me that. I eventually want to work on my speed too :) good luck!

    Yasso 800s are a workout that is used as a predictor of marathon finishing time. It may not be appropriate for this poster.
  • marieautumn
    marieautumn Posts: 928 Member
    I have the same problem..i suck at running. i love these suggestions.
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
    agree with most things, also consider interval training. Plenty of stuff on tinternet.
  • tenunderfour
    tenunderfour Posts: 429 Member
    I'm a big fan of..... if you want to run faster then you have to run faster!! I would start doing some speedwork. That could be tempo runs, intervals at a track or on the treadmill, or even informal speed intervals such as fartleks (where you pick up your pace for a period of time - ex: I'm going to run all out until I reach the next phone pole).

    Another good way to get speed work in is to enter a lot of races. People generally run faster in a race than on a training run - the adrenaline, competition with other runners, etc. So I do a lot of 5Ks in the summer for my speed work.
  • littlegreenapple
    littlegreenapple Posts: 13
    I'd have to say, in my opinion, speed is a secondary issue for a recreational runner such as myself. I run 9 or 10 minute miles and have worked on my distance and my endurance more than my speed. I am running a half-marathon in a couple weeks. I am strong, consistent, and SO HAPPY, on 95% of my runs.

    Sometimes it's good to practice running for time, not distance as it relates to speed. So set out to run 30 minutes. See where it takes you. And see how much farther you can go in the same amount of time a few weeks later. :)
  • michaelthorsonjr
    michaelthorsonjr Posts: 80
    Buy minimalist shoes (merell barefoot, vibram five fingers, etc)
    Run on your toes instead of your heels

    I recommend minimalist shoes as well (I use Newtons and Adizero line of Adidas shoes) but be aware that you need to work up to them don't just slap them on and start running long distances or you will injure yourself.

    Also I wouldn't recommend toes...you should strike more midfoot (not toes or heel).

    Just keep working I started out running 12 minute miles and I would start trying to run faster to improved my time (basically racing against myself) and I now run a 7:00-7:30 minute mile consistently by myself and under 7:00 when I race.
  • KatieJane83
    KatieJane83 Posts: 2,002 Member
    - leg workouts - squats, lunges, etc.
    - fartleks, intervals, track workouts, repeats, etc.
    - keep increasing your distance
  • cbu23
    cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
    You have to run more to run faster. If you haven't built an appropriate aerobic base, all the speed and hill work in the world isn't going to make a whole lot of distance.

    How long have you been running and what is your current weekly mileage?

    I've been running for 2 years. I'm doing around 15-20 miles a week. There is this yearly 10k that i have done the past two years and both times I come in at 1hour 15minutes. I REALLY want to do an hour this year!
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
    interval training
  • Maridelsol82
    Maridelsol82 Posts: 90
    bump
  • cbu23
    cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
    Thanks everyone for the comments!
  • Il_DaniD_lI
    Il_DaniD_lI Posts: 1,593 Member
    I found that incorporating stair running into my workout routine has helped improved my speed/endurance in running.
  • cbu23
    cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
    I'm a big fan of..... if you want to run faster then you have to run faster!! I would start doing some speedwork. That could be tempo runs, intervals at a track or on the treadmill, or even informal speed intervals such as fartleks (where you pick up your pace for a period of time - ex: I'm going to run all out until I reach the next phone pole).

    Another good way to get speed work in is to enter a lot of races. People generally run faster in a race than on a training run - the adrenaline, competition with other runners, etc. So I do a lot of 5Ks in the summer for my speed work.

    ^^^I like the idea of running all out to a certain point! Thanks!
  • zakkthebear
    zakkthebear Posts: 52 Member
    slow down to go faster. get a good, long time of LSD runs to build a big base. once you have a few months of solid base, that is where the really benefit of speed work will come into play and lessen the chance of injury as well.

    Running speed work done right is about the most challenging this you can do, IMO. threw up afterwards on more than one occasion...
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
    You have to run more to run faster. If you haven't built an appropriate aerobic base, all the speed and hill work in the world isn't going to make a whole lot of distance.

    How long have you been running and what is your current weekly mileage?

    I've been running for 2 years. I'm doing around 15-20 miles a week. There is this yearly 10k that i have done the past two years and both times I come in at 1hour 15minutes. I REALLY want to do an hour this year!

    Okay, so you have an appropriate aerobic base to work from.

    The first thing you should do is start to do strides at the end of one of your runs each week. These are short bursts that are run fast, but under control. Not a full out sprint, but something around mile race pace (you may not know what that is for you, but I'll get to that in a second). 4 repeats of 40 meters is a good place to start. Do that once a week for a month and then do 6x60m and build that way monthly to 10x100m.

    The second thing you should do is incorporate a tempo run once a week or every two weeks, depending upon how frequently you are running. If you are only running 4 days a week, do this every two weeks. 5 days and up, do it weekly. This is a 10 to 20 minute section of a normal easy run that do at a pace that you can reasonably hold for an hour. If you're not there, yet, don't worry.

    The third component is the Long Slow Distance run (LSD). Once a week, you should be doing a run that is at least 90 minutes, up to 2 hours. Now, don't just go out and do that. You'll need to build up to it by adding a mile at a time to this long run. Be aware that this shouldn't exceed about 1/3 of your total weekly mileage.

    The last thing is, you need to run more. More miles, more days a week. Just run more. And it doesn't have to be hard. Lots of easy peasy running.

    Okay, now to the pace question. Take a recent race time and plug it into this calculator and it will tell you what your training paces should be.

    http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/calcUsage/calculate

    Also, a note about hill work. Hills are good for the strength portion of your training. They would replace strides, but I wouldn't do hill work for more than once a week for 6 weeks. After that, you reach a point of diminishing returns.

    Hope this helps!
  • oats4breakfast
    oats4breakfast Posts: 225
    There are many different ways and methods but basically, you have to learn how to pace yourself and build your endurance. You also need a "base" of work to build from. Before doing some methods over others. Fartlek and hill repeats are all good, but don't always translate into faster when you don't have a good mileage base (endurance) to work from in the first place. That is paramount.
    Endurance is simply your weekly mileage. Don't try to run these fast because all you'll do is burn out or injure yourself. If anything, run then slower. You should also be trying to increase this overtime if you actually want to be able to run longer faster too. Then you also need to do some speed work to learn how to actually run fast. This is best done on a track over short distances.

    Have a target distance that you want to run too. Say you want to run 8 min miles for 3 miles as a goal. You need to work off of this number now. So over the next number of weeks, build your endurance so you know you can handle this type of distance. So, running at ~10 min miles, go for 2x1.5 mile run in week 1, with 1x2mile run.
    Week 2, do 2x 2mile and 1x2.5 mile
    Week 3, do 2x2.5 mile, and 1x3mile
    Week 4, do 2x3 mile, and 1x4mile
    Week 5 do 2x3 mile, and 1x5 mile
    Week 6 do 2x3 mile, and 1x6 mile
    Week 7 do 2x3 mile and 1x6 mile.
    Week 8 do 2x2 and 1x4mile.

    Now that will build your endurance, but each week, do some speed work. Running 8 min mile will require you to run 400m in 2 minutes. Go to a track and do 400m repeats each week too. Week 1 do 4x400@2min. Week 2 5x400m@2min. Week3 6x400m@2min, Week 4 8x400m@2min, week 6 10x400m@2min, Week 7 12x400m@2min (this was your goal) Week 8 do 6x400m@2min.
    Always rest 2 mins between 400m, no ifs ands or buts, and try to run that 2 min pace +/-2s even if you can bust them out faster - this should be within your abilities, not at the extremity - say 80% or less. Obviously, if you can't run that fast, then choose something more achievable.

    Once you get here, you can test and see how you do. From there, keep your weekly mileage up and you can drop the 400m stuff (if you want) and introduce fartlek or hill climbs into your runs. Fartlek would be good once your at your desired pace and endurance, that way you can learn to go faster with "less effort". Hill runs for a beginner will just kill you.

    This type of programming is everywhere. There are plenty of books and websites on how to run a faster 10k or 5k or whatever.

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