How to I increase my "comfortable" pace?

rofno1

Hi All,

Newbie question here, I've signed up to DCM and have been building up base mileage(16 to 20 miles a week atm.). I've signed up in to Rainbow's Novice DCM thread but have a question for vets!

My "comfortable" pace is 9:20- 9:30/mile depending on conditions. A fast run for me would be 8:30 over 3mls.

What is the key to increasing this "comfortable" pace. Ideally I' like to have it around 9 min/mile for marathon.

Is it a case of just putting in the miles and as fitness increases so does pace?

Krusty_Clown

I'm no expert, so can only comment on my own experience. For my first marathon, my average pace was 7:50/mile, and for my most recent marathon it was around 6:35/mile. The four things that have contributed to my increase in speed:

1) Mileage - Miles, miles and more miles: the body just gets more economical over time and experience, and adapts to the physical requirement
2) Training plans: specifically training plans that include speed-work. If you want to increase your ability to run faster, you need to run faster (for finite periods of time). 10K Training, I find particularly beneficial, but any program that includes intervals, tempo runs etc has a benefit.
3) Weight loss: not as big a contributor as the other two, but significant all the same. the less you have to carry, the quicker you will be.
4) Pacing: Good pacing means no slow-downs. It's better to run at a steady 9 min/mile, than to run at 8 min/mile and be forced to walk.

kit3

thanks. I'm in the same position. Have been concentrating on building up my long runs for Kildare on Sunday. I'm doing the Achill half also in July and hope to try to get faster - will try what you suggest - sorry if this is a hijack !

menoscemo

I echo what krusty says. Miles is most importantly the key. The more you run the faster you will get at the same level of effort.
If you are after speed for short races, you should do some intervals. e.g anything from 400m -1km reps with a recovery between reps.
During your marathon training programme however you probably won't need to do Intervals as endurance will be the key. You will find as you build up to 30-40 miles per week you will automatically get a lot faster over short races without and specific speed work.

Krusty_Clown

Yes, just to agree with memoscemo (and temper my own comments) for marathon training (unless you are an experienced runner) the key should be endurance. For subsequent marathons, you can worry about speed-work during training.

Vinny Mulvey

I agree with the above posts that mileage is the key for marathon - it will get you stronger and i believe that speed comes from strength. What I would suggest is interval training (maybe hills too). Lastly, a good way to increase your "comfortable pace" as you put it is to do strides after your runs. Something like 6 x 100m strides are ideal right after you finish your runs. Works wonders!

digme

rofno1 wrote: »

Hi All,

Newbie question here, I've signed up to DCM and have been building up base mileage(16 to 20 miles a week atm.). I've signed up in to Rainbow's Novice DCM thread but have a question for vets!

My "comfortable" pace is 9:20- 9:30/mile depending on conditions. A fast run for me would be 8:30 over 3mls.

What is the key to increasing this "comfortable" pace. Ideally I' like to have it around 9 min/mile for marathon.

Is it a case of just putting in the miles and as fitness increases so does pace?

You need to up your anaerobic threshold by doing intervals.
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/anaerobic.threshold.html

Doing miles miles miles wont get you anywhere.

tunguska

Speedwork. More specifically 400s and 800s.

ecoli

digme wrote: »

You need to up your anaerobic threshold by doing intervals.
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/anaerobic.threshold.html

Doing miles miles miles wont get you anywhere.

A marathon consists of almost 99% aerobic work with 1% anaerobic which is why this is what needs to be addressed in marathon training as this person is training for. Miles are essentail in marathon training but as part of a balanced training schedule. This is why 800m runners dont run marathons because the different approach to training and have not done enough mileage to tackle the longer distance
I do agree that intervals are important to compliment the a miles but intervals dont have to be anaerobic. The likes of 400m and 800m intervals can be aerobic and depending on intensity and recovery.
Hills have been suggested which can be very beneficial as they work on strength but also develop a runners biomechanics and muscle power

tergat

rofno1 wrote: »

Hi All,

Newbie question here, I've signed up to DCM and have been building up base mileage(16 to 20 miles a week atm.). I've signed up in to Rainbow's Novice DCM thread but have a question for vets!

My "comfortable" pace is 9:20- 9:30/mile depending on conditions. A fast run for me would be 8:30 over 3mls.

What is the key to increasing this "comfortable" pace. Ideally I' like to have it around 9 min/mile for marathon.

Is it a case of just putting in the miles and as fitness increases so does pace?

rofno1,

Some great advice above from everyone.

Because you only run 16-20 miles in total for the week the only route for you to go is to run more often and increase duration of runs. Also some cross training would help on days you do not run such as swimming, cycling, aqua jogging etc. You really need to improve your endurance/aerobic capacity or the marathon will be too much of a struggle for you.

By simply running more often and longer your "comfortable" pace will improve also. Do NOT start speedwork or you will simply get inured or wear away any endurance you have right now. You need to build a strong aerobic base but you can still keep in touch with basic leg speed through simple 4-6*100m strides after an easy run with walk back recovery. Do these at 5km race pace and keep relaxed. If you do this there is no lactate build up and no affect on your endurance.

Advice
1) Run long every weekend, starting right away. Be smart and don't increase the distance too quickly (use 10% rule). But, do run long regularly (at least every weekend, and even a mid-week medium long run would be very helpful, for all distances from the mile to the marathon). Note, it's important to "go the distance," rather than emphasise pace. Go slower and longer, and as you become more fit the pace will gradually increase with no greater effort. Actually, the best goal in the next few months may not be related to pace but distance. It's better to feel stronger and be able to run further at the same pace than it is to run faster but shorter.

2) Really work the mileage this summer. Schedule up and down weeks or 3-week rotations. Here's an example 3-week cycle/rotation: 15, 20, 25....then, 20, 25, 30...then, 25, 30, 35...then 30, 35, 40.

Just remmeber the key to progression in endurance running is "Patience" and "Consistency". Goodluck with the training.

Tergat

rofno1

Thank you all for you replies.

As I suspected, the key for marathon training is basicaly putting in the miles, with a bit of interval training.

Thanks again, I'm sure I'll have many more questions before DCM 2010!!

Degsy123

Hi, I have a question, I think it's more or less been answered for me in this thread but would still like some advice. I ran this years DCM and ran very comfortably just behind the 3:45 pacers for about 16 miles. The pace semed spot on (although about 15 seconds per mile quicker than my plan) but like all novices i made the mistake of thinking "banked" time in the first half would help in the second half - it didn't . Anyway, I feel comfortable at 8:30 pace but is it the case that i am fooling myself into thinking 8:30 is comfortable or is it that I need to increase my mileage. I had followed a Hal Higdon beginners programme for the DCM and that did the trick but I felt that 1 20 mile LSR was not sufficient. To me it felt like on the day I didn't have the miles in the legs. I totally enjoyed the DCM and will be back for more