speed
1003
Member
786 days
UFTriGator posted 26 weeks ago.
This is what I did last winter that took me from mid-18s to mid-16s for 5k:
Once a week do a long run, maybe do a couple miles hard in the middle.
Once a week do a tempo run....as hard as you can go for 5 or so miles (throwing up sometimes :D).
Once a week do a track workout. Mix it up....maybe 5x1000 at 5k pace or descending from 1600 to 400.
I was doing about 40-50 miles/wk while doing this. Running 6:30 comfortably on only 3-4 days a week is going to be really hard (not impossible, but tough). If your legs can handle it, I think ramping your mileage up slowly would help a lot, too.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
49
Member
412 days
sourbubblegum1 posted 26 weeks ago.
thanks. i hope its not impossible. my fastest 5k time was 22:36 around 7:30 min per mile or slightly less but i felt i was pushing myself. my primary distance is the sprint tri so i want to work on speed versus endurance at this point. i will try the tempo run tomorrow.
183
Member
1104 days
KenMierke posted 26 weeks ago.
Many factors go into this. I suggest working on the following:
Improving technique
Increasing distance of a long weekly run at VERY easy pace
Getting to optimal bodyweight
Increasing strength in the calves, quads, glutes, and hamstrings.
Incorporating tempo segments just below LT pace
Including interval training at aerobic capacity pace
Details about all these and many other aspects of preparation are available in my book The Triathlete's Guide to Run Training.
Ken
Ken Mierke Ken@Fitness-Concepts.com
Fitness Concepts Fitness-Concepts.com
Author, The Triathlete's Guide to Run Training
www.EvolutionRunning.com
81
Member
281 days
wirebook posted 26 weeks ago.
I was in a similiar position as you a year ago - and did pretty much exactly what Ken and TriGator described - all winter long.
1) One long run per week (generally 10-14 miles)
2) One interval session per week (generally 400m x 8-10)
3) One temp run per week (generally 5.5 miles)
4) The rest of the week is just base miles (4-7 miles per day, 2-3 other days).
With that, I'm now comfy running 6:30ish miles for upwards of 10+ miles (going to try and do a 1/2 mary at that pace Sunday). It's pretty amazing what intervals and tempo runs will do for you.
I didn't do weights, but I will probably figure out how to add them in this winter. They are very mysterious to me.
-Ray
Tri Blog: Http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com
189
Member
140 days
scottbland247 posted 19 weeks ago.
I did 5k's exclusively for a number of years and have a few pieces of advice. I would speed up from roughly high 18min 5k's to mid 16's every season and here's what we did.
1)Your intervals have to go as fast as you are hoping to run race day or just a tad faster. So aim for 6:20-6:30 for your intervals. If you are bad at self pacing, don't be scared of treadmills if you can find a good one, they are also easier on your knees (set the incline at 1% as it makes for a more accurate level of exertion) I would routinely not run in the off season and here's what I did every year and it worked fine. Start easy, maybe even 5x200's with equal distance recovery between. Slowly increase your distances until you are doing 800 or 1200 repeats. I would personally recommend 1200's but you don't seem to have the time for that so 800's will still be a dramatic improvement. (also I recommend limiting recovery to 400m)
2) A good strong tempo run of whatever distance your race is (2.7 sprint?) work this pretty hard but be patient it will continually get better and better as your intervals go up
3) I recommend a long run that doesnt measure distance as much as time (45min-1hr)....use a HRM to keep yourself in the high end of your endurnace zone (markallen has a website that pushes this technique).......as a neat bonus, you'll soon find that you will have to plan different courses becuase you'll go farther in your alloted time.
As treat everynow and then do some windsprints on the beach or barefoot at the park....and listen to your shins....faster can be harder if you don't use the right form.....also make sure your weight is where it needs to be....an extra 10lbs adds up
just put in your work and it will all come together......you can do it
It is better to hurt from doing something than from doing nothing...
First Triathlon (400m/20k/2.75mile) 1:39.15 including 33 minutes in the water
my comfortable pace right now is between 7:30- 8:30 minutes per mile depending on how i feel the day i run. I would like be able to run an average pace of 6:30 a mile. What is the fastest way to improve my time ? Right now i run 3-4 times a week and I run 3-6 miles per workout. I am training for a sprint triathlon so i dont want to run more than 8 miles per workout (decrease stress on my knees ) :) so can anyone give me some tips? I want to increase my speed to 6:30 a mile in like 6 months if this is reasonable.