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Health & Exercise
Arnegard
member
Runners - increasing speed?
Arnegard
member
I am running my first ever half marathon on 5/19. I have stuck in my head that I want to finish at 2:15. Thursday I ran 9 miles at 11:30 pace, yesterday I ran 5 miles at 11:10 pace. Today I hit the treadmill (too cold to take the kids out and DH is working), and ran 3 miles in 30 minutes.
I worked my times on a few predictors last night and it appears to be on pace for a 2:30 or so time. We live in a very hilly area, so there is no way to train w/o hills - the course is very flat (friend who ran it said it cut 15-20 seconds off per mile).
I just started running in June 2010, so any tips would be appriciated. Thank you!!
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Re: Runners - increasing speed?
Thanks! I wondered how you did. I have a few years on you (I'll be 35 a few weeks before my race). I looked at last years results and I think 2:20 was the average for females and this half tends to have about 6000 participants.
I agree with the PP. For your first half marathon I'd focus more on just running and enjoying it and not have a specific time goal in mind.
That said, the main thing that helped me increase my speed was to do weekly speed work (went from a 2:10 half to a 1:57 half). With any speed work you should do at least a 1/2 mile warm up and 1/2 mile cool down.
Do you have a track nearby? If so you could do interval training at the track. I like doing 400m intervals. So I sprint a lap (they usually recommend trying to run at or a little faster than your 5k pace) then slow jog a half lap (sometimes a lap), repeat. When training for a half I do intervals on alternating weeks. I start at doing 5 laps/intervals my first week and up it a lap every other week. (you could also do this on a treadmill - 0.25 mile sprint, 0.25 mile slow jog).
Another great speed work is a fartlek, and I try to do this once a week on the weeks I don't do the interval training. For this I usually go 3 minutes at a 5k pace, 3 minute slow jog, 2 minutes slightly faster than a 5k pace, 2 minute slow jog, 1 minute sprint, 1 minute jog. Repeat the whole sequence two more times.
Finally, if you have hills (and like you we have LOTS of hills around) they are great ways to improve your speed. Some people do longer hill runs, I like shorter hill repeats. The main hill I use for speed work is a little less than 1/4 mile. I try and sprint up it, then slow jog back down. When running up it I shorten my stride to try and increase the speed of my foot turn over.
Lastly, is just push yourself occasionally on your longer runs. If you have a watch start out slow, then maybe half way through your run try and up your pace for a mile. Slow it down for a mile, then up it for a mile again.
And good luck with your first half!
PP had great advice, I would just emphasize that you have to do speed work to get faster, I think. I was at my fastest times right before I got pregnant with my 2nd baby and that was because I was doing a lot more speed work (almost out of necessity because I had less time to work out!). It doesn't have to be any thing super formulaic either -- I would often just run a steady speed and then try to up it between .5 and 1 mph for a minute or so every five minutes give or take. It's easier to do this on a treadmill but if you have a regular running route you can make yourself go faster by saying you'll really push it until landmark X or whatever. And yes, push yourself on longer runs. For me, pushing myself on my 6-8 mile runs made a HUGE difference in speed.
Also, for your first, do focus on finishing. You really never know how you'll feel -- the weather may suck, you might not be able to sleep, etc., so just try to make it through it. 1/2 marathons are my absolute favorite distance to run -- much less work than a full but still a great sense of accomplishment! Good luck!
To increase speed, you'll have to do some speedwork. I usually do this about 1-2x/week. I have a set 5 mile course that I time myself on. My goal is to do it as fast or faster than the previous time I've done it. It works, that's how I got from running 8 min/mile down to 6:30 min/mile.
For your first half, just focus on finishing. There are plenty more out there.
I'm training for a marathon right now (first since I've had DS) and my focus has gone to distance, so I don't do as much speedwork as I should (like none). My goal for this marathon is 3:45 since it's been so long. I used to be able to do a 3:10 marathon, but I realize that I'm not in the shape I used to be. I will be, though.