Anyone got any tips on improving run times. I'm trying to get my 5 mile below 40 minutes again. I've sort of plateaued at 45 (granted I'm running up some big hills and crossing some major roads). Like besides LSD runs anything I can To hep it besides pounding more miles on my body?
Well, it looks like you know part of the solution haha: more miles. Something else you can try since you have a base down is mix in some speed work/tempo on your 4-5 mile runs. Maybe start your warm up slower than usual, pick it up for a mile or two, back it down, pick it up, and then cool down. I don't know that you really need to do a full track workout, but you can always do one. It won't hurt you.
This is what I was going to offer as well. Break up the 'monotony' of going at one speed the entire time.
At the very least it would serve as a way to practice picking up the pace in the middle of a run. That is the toughest thing to improve as a distance runner. How do you improve those middle miles where you are working your butt off and the finish line is not close. For most runners, that is where the goals/times are missed.
My splits for my five miler are usually 750 850 930 950 1030 I basically just slowly die. Note: Before you do math this is just an estimation. I'd have to look at the data and that's off the top of my head.
Thanks for posting mile splits. I can definitely speak in that language. Honestly, the best advice would be for you to tone it down. What if you don't go out as fast and maintain a more consistent pace throughout? That's really what you are trying to achieve in distance running. The best runners have efficient splits, and they happen to be fast. You can answer this better, but is the 8:50 time doable the whole way? How about 9:15 or 9:20? Let's remove the 9:50 and the 10 because you are definitely better than that. What sounds a like a better threshold to you? Find that time and get your body used to that first and then add in some tempo. We don't want you trying to survive at the end. You should feel like you worked, but aren't kicked after a normal run.
I'll chime in and recommend that you don't neglect strength training/weight lifting. You can research some specific programs online, but it definitely helps. I'm back on the running grind. Just ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8K here in Chicago over the weekend. Happy with my time, but not happy with my performance if that makes sense. Hoping to get a ten miler in at the end of May before running a half in the summer.
I'll pull a better average splits when I get home. I love the frackers purely for the ability to pull the stats and figure stuff out.
I have terrible allergies get colds from time to time at the beginning of spring and summer. This is one of those years. Probably shouldn't have jogged this morning, definitely didn't help. I'll have to stock up on Claritin.
I have the allergies issue as well. Claritin no longer works so I have had to move to Allegra-D. If I don't use it during the early spring when pollen counts rise, my eyes water like a high school girl watching the Notebook. Living in the Miami Valley during college messed me up.
So I don't forget here are my 5 mile split I just ran. First number is the time I crossed that mile. Second is what its calling moving time. There are a couple of big streets I cross so I'd stop for traffic every so often. 7:51.5 / 7:48 8:35.1 / 8:26 9:18.4 / 9.15 8:56.3 / 8:49 9:39.6 / 9:37 Total: 44:23 / 43:55
Good stuff! I think my earlier post is the idea you are going to want to approach things with. Dial back the early miles a bit and find a pace that works consistently for your body. That may be the mid or high 8's based on the above and just taking a stab at it. What you may find is that you feel slow in the beginning, but that you can actually run for a lot longer and by the time you are done, you won't feel as tired. Probably less heavy breathing when you are done. It just seems like for a normal run you are fighting against more elements than you need. Running is hard enough. No need to create more obstacles for yourself.
Yeah. I'm curious what my time would be on a flatter course. There is a pretty steep uphill at the middle but also where I start its a pretty good hill I go down so at the end its just this steady climb. I think the hills probably are doing me some good for my ultimate goal.
shit didn't know this thread existed. whats everyone use to track their runs? any fellow strava addicts on here i can follow?
ive been having to cu back on my mileage lately. shin splints and tired calves are wrecking me.. every now and then you just gotta stop and reset.
It takes a couple days (read the instructions it better explains) but once it does it's so much better than the pills. It basically blocks the receptors that cause your body to have an allergic reaction to the pollen.
Thanks for the tip. I am going to look into this. Would you say this is something that after you take for a while you can then stop taking and be good, or do you need to stick to the program? As I said earlier, I am doing Allegra-D, but only on an as needed basis around spring time with the pollen counts shooting up. Most of the year I don't need anything.
I only take it starting in March and stop about end of May or beginning of June. Basically peak pollen season. That's the only time I have had allergies.