runners: how did you increase your speed?

beachbum1980 · March 2012

any tips? i have the distance down pretty good I think, working the next couple of weeks to try and bring up my speed if i can.

thanks so much for any advice!

GRKaters · March 2012

I had a baby. Wink

Seriously, my times are consistently 2min/mile or more faster than pre-kiddo for all distances.

Other than that time-consuming method, try some interval training. Add short bursts of speed in the middle of a run. Try some track work. You can find all sorts of stuff online. If you're still just headed up to your first, though, I might not bust it out too hard this close to the race. You can handle the distance--get a time under your belt and THEN try to beat it. No use risking injury now.

clseale13 · March 2012

I did some speed work, but what has really made the biggest difference is consistently running with a few people who are 30-45 sec faster than me. They're not faster than me anymore.

I've also helped others in the group who were 30-45 sec slower than me speed up. I know it sounds really simple (& there are specific speed workouts,) but sometimes to get faster, you just have to run faster. Slowly, you start seeing a difference.

Joenali · March 2012

Weekly tracK workouts.

gt7301b · March 2012

Track work and increasing my overall distance. If you can run a 10K then you should be able to up the intensity on a 5K.

psyri · March 2012

Run faster. That's overly simplistic, but it also isn't overly complicated either. It takes time. Speedwork (there are many varieties of speedwork) is helpful. If you know what your target race pace is, you can practice it. My training plans have pace runs 2 out of every 3 weeks. You train yourself to know what that pace feels like so that on race day you push the button and go. I start out by doing my pace runs on a treadmill, and then I switch to running outside to practice doing it on my own. You don't want run every run at race pace. 2 out of every 3 weeks was enough for me.

Over time and once I had a good base, I got faster by deliberately dropping my training pace by about 15 seconds per mile. Of course, this was in the course of marathon training where I was training for 18 weeks for a particular race.

Gummybear · March 2012

Having a baby for me too Stick out tongue

Honestly, I think a few things have helped me. As others have mentioned, speedwork. I don't really do it on purpose either, I just vary my speeds on the TM because it's so gd boring. Losing weight. I think being 5-10 lbs thinner than pre-baby has made me a bit faster. Consistently running on hills. My normal running route is very hilly and I believe that has made me stronger and increased my endurance, thus making me faster. Also, jogging with then stroller. again, back to the baby thing -- I push that on most of my runs so I don't have it, I feel like I am flying.

doglove · March 2012

Running intervals on the treadmill.

CharacterZero · March 2012

losing weight and interval training

StingShark425 · March 2012

Running w/ a group of people that are faster than me. Really. I do my long runs with a group, and they are a bit faster than me. Every saturday my only goal was to keep up with them. I dropped my long run times from 8:45 to 8:05 over about 6 months. I head out w/ them and then hold on for dear life.

jillybean222 · March 2012

Ditto PP's: running faster (just DO it), speed work (track workouts or pick-ups on regular runs, and increasing distance (i think if you know you can conquer longer distances, you won't be quite as hesitant to run shorter distances a bit speedier, if that makes sense).

runners: how did you increase your speed?

Re: runners: how did you increase your speed?

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