Thread: Running Improvement?

Don't think of it in terms of increasing your running time. Pace increase is a long term thing and an 8 minute mile from 14 is pretty ambitious but doable over a fair amount of time. Don't try to increase a lot of a week of time - recovery is very key in this or you will get injured in a hurry.

Start doing speed intervals. The only way to train yourself to run faster is to actually run faster. If you have access to a track then this will be easy - jog 800, then go hard for 400 and repeat 4-5 times. If you're on a treadmill you can do the same thing. If you're going to increase your pace over longer distances, try mile repeats instead - 2 miles easy, 1 mile at hard pace - what you would do for a 10k race or less. Try for 2 times per week and 2 times per week do a long, slow easy run at a low heart rate - this will train your body for sustainable endurance.

I've been running for two years and I used to do a 10 minute mile and now I'm at about a 7:30-7:45 mile - for 13 miles. For a 3 mile run my fastest is about 6 minutes a mile at this point.

Originally Posted by ponyboy

jog 800, then go hard for 400 and repeat 4-5 times.

I don't know if this is such a good idea (specifically the "go hard for 400" part) if your current mile run is 14 minutes. However, my suggestion is this:

Try to do the whole mile without walking at all. Then step up intensity, but remember to pace yourself. Go slow in the beginning laps. I think when you get down to under 10 minute miles, try to step up intensity during your last lap (or couple of laps depending on the size of your track.. I'd say the last quarter mile intensity should be increased). Eventually, try to increase your pacing speed (but it should always be slower to faster). Hope this helps.

By the way ponyboy, 7:30-7:45 miles for 13 miles, wow! That's impressive. Good work. (Gives me something to aspire to).

Lastly, it might be a good idea to change up your diet in addition to doing running (there are a lot of good diet ideas in the Diet & Nutrition forum). Other cardio wouldn't hurt either, such as biking, etc. if you have access to it.

Originally Posted by KentDog

Try to do the whole mile without walking at all.

Why would you drink whole milk to loose weight?

Originally Posted by ihateschoolmt

Why would you drink whole milk to loose weight?

I wouldn't . I think you misread my post, ihateschoolmt.