Some training advice to speed up

nellocono

Hi Folks,
I apologise if this has been asked to death but its a not easy to find specific info.

I have been running for about 2 months now and am quite happy with how I am going but I want to follow a more rigid training plan to try to see some results.

My medium term goal is to run a 10 mile race in sub 71 minutes (by early next year).

So far, my 5K PB is 21.40. I want to get sub 19 min on this. I have also ran a half marathon in 1.53.00.

So can you running gurus out there advise on the type of training I should do to increase my speed at all levels above?

Thanks

RayCun

Join a club, is the short answer.

What kind of running do you do now? What does your weekly schedule look like?

nellocono

At the mo, I am not looking to join a club but maybe in the future.

Right now my training is a bit crap thats why I am looking for advice before I start something solid as I don't want to go down the wrong road from the off.

Really I haven't been doing much training at all bar a few runs of 6 - 9 miles that I put in in prep for the half marathon. Most of my running has come from races of 5k - 5milers that I have been doing weekly.

So far I have done, 3 X 5k races, a 5mile race and a half marathon prob in the last 6-8 weeks. Prob went out and trained in between 4 times.

So as I say, I want to get more serious and faster now

menoscemo

For now, just run more and you'll get faster. Build your miles up slowly though to avoid injury.

Take the training runs nice and slow, don't run them as time trials.

nellocono

Thanks Menoscemo!

I was actually going to start running faster over shorter distance to help with running faster miles. Example: Run 1 mile at 7 minute pace then jog for a recovery then do another 1 mile at 7 minute pace (if I can) etc and repeat.

What do you think? My goal is a faster 5k time and then a faster 10 mile time. Right now long distance is not a factor as I know I could do 15 miles if I needed.

ecoli

menoscemo wrote: »

For now, just run more and you'll get faster. Build your miles up slowly though to avoid injury.

Take the training runs nice and slow, don't run them as time trials.

+1 on this races from 5k + are roughly 95-99% aerobic this means that what people refer to as speed work will have very little benefit for you compared to miles.

There is a famous saying "miles make champions" which is very true but in order for you to get the benefit you need to build your body up slowly to be able to handle the workload. Try ramping up your training too quickly and you risk injury or illness.

Consistency is one of the biggest secret to training not how many miles you run on x week or y day but the training you put in on a consistent basis week in week out.

My advice would be easy miles for a few weeks (at a pace where you can hold a conversation is usually a good indicator that the pace is not too fast) You can push this pace once or twice a week to Half Marathon race pace but in the early stages I wouldnt recomend going fast than this.

From here you could start to work on form after a few weeks. Steep hill reps (roughly 5-10k pace) for 30 second can help with this just remember to keep the emphasis on form (driving the knees and arms) or strides (80-100m surges with walk recovery at the same pace after run) both of these should be focused on improving form rather than speed. With strength comes the speed. Also I would reccomend woking on flexibility to. This i find is a crucial part to staying consistent and staying on your feet.

sub 71 is a lofty goal given your current shape but it is possible the main thing is to keep things going week in week out and you will see improvements.

Hope this sets you in the right direction

Also as some people have mentioned a club is not a bad idea as you not only have company for training which can help for motivation but you gain access to a pool of knowledge and understanding of the various aspects of the sport

nellocono

Thanks ecoli.

Without trying to sound cocky I reckon sub 71 is within my reach. I ran my first 5 miler which had one bad hill and a few short uphill drags in 37.30 with very little training in me. I reckon I could get this down to 33-34 in no time and then it would just be down to working on sustaining it over the ten miles.

rom

nellocono wrote: »

Thanks ecoli.

Without trying to sound cocky I reckon sub 71 is within my reach. I ran my first 5 miler which had one bad hill and a few short uphill drags in 37.30 with very little training in me. I reckon I could get this down to 33-34 in no time and then it would just be down to working on sustaining it over the ten miles.

It would be better to compare your 1/2 marathon distance with 10 mile rather than the 5 mile. Using the mcmillanrunning calc and your marathon time running at that pace 10 miler would take 85 mins approx. So you want to knock 14 mins off that. If a marathoner said they wanted to get their time from 3:50 down to sub 3 hr by early next year then people would say it can't be done. Nothing is impossible but I think you should get a camera crew as I would watch it to see how its done. Sub 80 would a more achieveable goal for you. What milage are you currently doing per week ?

nellocono

rom wrote: »

nellocono wrote: »

Thanks ecoli.

Without trying to sound cocky I reckon sub 71 is within my reach. I ran my first 5 miler which had one bad hill and a few short uphill drags in 37.30 with very little training in me. I reckon I could get this down to 33-34 in no time and then it would just be down to working on sustaining it over the ten miles.

It would be better to compare your 1/2 marathon distance with 10 mile rather than the 5 mile. Using the mcmillanrunning calc and your marathon time running at that pace 10 miler would take 85 mins approx. So you want to knock 14 mins off that. If a marathoner said they wanted to get their time from 3:50 down to sub 3 hr by early next year then people would say it can't be done. Nothing is impossible but I think you should get a camera crew as I would watch it to see how its done. Sub 80 would a more achieveable goal for you. What milage are you currently doing per week ?

Thanks for the input. i don't see sub 71 as too unrealistic. i guess i just know how capable i actually am and the times i posted are for first run races where i wasn't sure whether to push or not

i know i am capable of 7 min miles over a 5 mile race so extending this to 10 miles is my goal. maybe important way off but i think i will be at that pace in a few months of consistent training

Kittycat77

I think this is achievable, you are obviously a decent runner given your times with next to no training, so I think a structured training programme could see you knocking minutes off these times. However it may take longer than you think, maybe ever a couple of years! It can be easy to underestimate how long or what kind of work you need to put in to achieve fast times, even if you run a fast 5k or 5 mile time, it may take alot longer to be able to sustain this for a 10 mile or half marathon. Having said that my first 10k was 52 minutes 3 years ago, and my last one was 41.03, and will be looking to break 40 in the next few months. So it can definitely be done, just be patient! I think you might be jumping the gun looking to go straight in to speed work with very little foundation running, I would focus on going for a few runs a week of varying distances just to get used to running regularly. Once you have a base start looking at interval training, loads of options, 200/400/800/1k repeats, or fartlek type runs. Hill repeats also excellant. Just enjoy running for now, and the speed will come. Good luck!

nellocono

Kittycat77 wrote: »

I think this is achievable, you are obviously a decent runner given your times with next to no training, so I think a structured training programme could see you knocking minutes off these times. However it may take longer than you think, maybe ever a couple of years! It can be easy to underestimate how long or what kind of work you need to put in to achieve fast times, even if you run a fast 5k or 5 mile time, it may take alot longer to be able to sustain this for a 10 mile or half marathon. Having said that my first 10k was 52 minutes 3 years ago, and my last one was 41.03, and will be looking to break 40 in the next few months. So it can definitely be done, just be patient! I think you might be jumping the gun looking to go straight in to speed work with very little foundation running, I would focus on going for a few runs a week of varying distances just to get used to running regularly. Once you have a base start looking at interval training, loads of options, 200/400/800/1k repeats, or fartlek type runs. Hill repeats also excellant. Just enjoy running for now, and the speed will come. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I prob am over estimating but ill drive on regardless...