I like the short intensity of running and despite being almost 50 i want to go faster.

i can run a 10k in about 52min which is 8 min miles, but i would like a program thst will make me faster. Does anyone have any suggestions? Im quite clued up with HR etc but need something prescriptive to follow for some more speed.

thanks

Ian

Threshold interval training. Just train your legs to run faster. Makes training runs more interesting too.

Can you expand on that? Im happy with my max hr and zones and my runs seem to take place at anaerobic threshold at the moment….so how much harder/faster do i need to go and for what time/distance?

I’d be happy running 10k, regardless of time….

Train at race speed or slightly faster over shorter distances. So rather than go out and run 5 miles at 8 min miles. Do 500m at 7min or 7:30 mile pace. Jog or walk recovery then and 500m etc.

Can be formal measured times distances or just picking a landmark and fast run until you hit it then slow recovery etc.

The idea being the body gets used to running race pace. But not every session. Once or twice a week. Other sessions can be slower paced just enjoying the run without pushing hard.

and if you haven’t already enter a 10k race. Training for a target is useful. Taper for a week beforehand. Then see what you do. You’ll always go faster running with other people in a race.

If there is a hill running scene local to you, try and do a few races. Beasting yourself up hills works wonders for strength, or it did for me anyway.

It’s also a lot of fun, I barely run on the road now.

I did 40:14 in my one and only 10k race so far in September and most of my training was just done incorporating hills into usual 7-8km runs: use them as intervals.

Find a running club and train with them. You’ll end up in a pack of similar abilitied people and gradually improve

If you can’t do that, follow a 10K training plan off the Garmin site, they’re really quite good.

What worked for me (so no guarantee it will for you) was 8x2min, 1 min rest. The 2 minutes bits are so flat out, you have to walk in the 1 min recovery period.

Intervals and hills have already been said. Make it tough for yourself and racing will be a breeze.

nothing to add to that lot really, threshold training, intervals, fartlek. If you can get access to a track that will make it easier.

Park runs are great for increasing speed IMO.

Other than that, integrate lamp post sprints or increased pace between specific points on your runs.

What you probably need is more running, but not too hard. Depends what you do at present, of course. I wouldn’t do more than 2 “tough” sessions a week (by which I mean anything with intervals or hard hill climbs in). Certainly don’t make every run a short tough blast. That’s a quick route to injury/burnout/frustration.

I ran a big 10km PB yesterday – 33m54s.

My schedule for the past three months or so has been broadly something like this:

Monday – rest or 4-5 miles very easy
Tuesday – 8 miles, easy or fartlek depending on how I’m feeling
WEdnesday – 10 miles, steady
Thursday – internavals (something like 5 * 800m), with a few miles warm up and cool down
Friday – 10 miles, steady
Saturday – Parkrun, maybe a few additional miles after
Sunday – long run 15-20 miles

Nice finbar, sub 34 PB December! Congrats.

Can you define Friday’s “steady” pace?

The rest makes perfect sense.

Build the week around one fast session, one tempo session, one long run, and fill the rest with miles.

Park runs are great fun and you can really push yourself with other people. A couple of weeks ago I was fairly pleased with a 20:30 run which isn’t bad for 50. I’d really gone for the last hill and got ahead of the runner in front beating him by a second which felt great until I looked at the full results to discover he was 70!
I run each way to work 3 times a week which is 5.5k each way and the way in has a 140M elevation gain so I’ve built in 3 uphill sprints into that and take the rest of the run at a lower pace. Next I plan to mark out a 1K stretch and keep running that till I can complete it in 4 minutes 5 times in a row with a rest between attempts. My only aim is to at least once try to break 20 minutes for 5K on my local Park Run course. If I can do that I’ll just go back to running for the enjoyment rather than with specific goals.

Thanks The Swedish Chef 8)

Friday is a bit of a weird one – I don’t really know why my club has a run then, but I’m going with it. It’s a hard steady rather than an easy steady if that makes sense – probably sub (just) 7 minute miles ish. It’s harder than the Wednesday run, because only the real running geeks are out on a Friday straight after work.

Parkrun is then invariably with knackered legs the day after.

Thursday – internavals

these sound interesting 🙂

So a minute per KM slower than 10KM race pace. Perfect.

Thursday – internavals

these sound interesting

😆

I was stuck at that sort of pace for a few years. I used to do every run as fast as I could.

In April, after spending last winter running intervals 2 or 3 times a week I discovered it had made no difference at all to the time of my longer runs.

So I did a bit of reading up on things and came to the conclusion my aerobic system was rubbish and I had never spent any time improving it.

So I got myself a heart rate monitor and from about May last year I ran every run at about 65% max heart rate (which turned out to be 11-12 min/mile to start). It was the most frustrating thing ever.

Anyway, to cut a long frustrating story short, in about July I decided to run my local 10k route flat out to see how things were going and did it in 48mins, an improvement of over 4 mins.

I started mixing the training up a bit more and ran a 7min PB at the great north run but I reckon if I had stuck to running slow it could have been a bit better. I should maybe add I was running anywhere between 25-40 slow miles per week.

Anyway, take from that what you will, but if you only ever run flat out try backing right off for a few months and see how it goes. Its actually quite enjoyable running slow once you can get over the shame of being overtaken by everyone!

Intervals and hill training as mentioned. I tend to do my interval training on time rather than distance. The area around us hilly anyway so not much choice other than to do the intervals on hills which normally consist of 90-100% maximum running up the hill, turn around on the recovery then back up the hill for the effort. Looks a bit strange but really works as when you run normally up the hill, as part of our local 10k route, it had knocked off minutes from our previous times on the long uphill section but also we recovered quicker for the rest of the run so gained time there too.

try and run faster over 1k.

keep going for 10.

Most of my running is over 1min 30sec per mile, 30%, slower than my 10k race pace. I would generally run very hard once week, either a race or an interval session, and one moderate session hilly fartlek.

I think the slow running filler is as important as the fast stuff, but its hard to get the balance right, easy to run the fast days too slow and the slow days too fast.

As durhamrob said above a HRM is realy useful, I keep HR below 145 for easy days and on a hard session I will look to get to 188 on the last interval.

Do some downhill, gentle gradiant intervals as well. Really helps with leg speed.

All, thank you for your input. Its apparent that i have change from having fun running to some proper work when training.

@Finbar….dear lord that is fast….chapeau!

I ran a big 10km PB yesterday – 33m54s.

My schedule for the past three months or so has been broadly something like this:

Monday – rest or 4-5 miles very easy
Tuesday – 8 miles, easy or fartlek depending on how I’m feeling
WEdnesday – 10 miles, steady
Thursday – internavals (something like 5 * 800m), with a few miles warm up and cool down
Friday – 10 miles, steady
Saturday – Parkrun, maybe a few additional miles after
Sunday – long run 15-20 miles

Well done Finbar 🙂

I do 5k about 3 times a week as fast as I can, and a longer 12k twice a week at a leisurely pace. The 5k is nearly all anaerobic and finishes with a max HR sprint. Apart from the fact that it proves I’m not about to drop dead from an iffy heart I find running to be the slowest sport to show improvement. Taken over two years of fairly steady training to get my 5k time from 25 mins down to 18, and that hurts.

Well done Finbar

Thanks – I’m only about two or three minutes slower than your PB now aren’t I Surfer…?

@Finbar….dear lord that is fast….chapeau!

Thanks! I’m focussing on my mince pie eating PB until January now 😀 .

How are you getting on OP?

Find a running club and train with them. You’ll end up in a pack of similar abilitied people and gradually improve

This – there’s years and years of experience to tap into in any good running club. Your natural competitive spirit will grow and you’ll train harder. The support you get from clubmates helps too.

Definitely +1 for interval sessions. they’re hard, they hurt but they’re very effective. Very helpful for racing if you’ve spend time every week hurting like hell and still carrying on – you reach the same place in the middle of your race and you know that you can keep going.

IME you don’t need to be running a lot – focus on quality. I was getting lifetime PBs as a recent Vet a couple of years back on 1x track session, 1x long run (total c 15 miles/week), lots of cycling, 2x core and conditioning sessions a week.

Get some racing shoes too – the lower weight definitely helped me, psychologically if nothing else.

Good luck

So if I want to do some time at a lower heart rate will sitting on the turbo watching the telly help at all for my running? I’m currently trying to run to work on some days at a lower rate but with over 150M of gain in 6.5k there are sections where it’s not so easy and it tends to creep up.

Everyone has said ‘join a running club’, and they’re right. That made a massive difference to me.

If you don’t have a club close I wouldn’t bother too much with increasing your duration/mileage but focus on running faster (as many others have said). My variation would be hills, starting at 30 second efforts, walking back down for recovery, then building the duration of those efforts gradually.

Having said that, pretty much any type of ‘on/off’ interval will help if you haven’t done them before and you push yourself.

Good luck!

Lose a few pounds

Intervals

Lose a few pounds

Hills

Lose a few pounds

Repeat

Thanks – I’m only about two or three minutes slower than your PB now aren’t I Surfer…?

Just over 90 seconds… Your breathing down my neck 🙂