Allo I have been running for a couple of months now mainly to loose weight and get fitter.
I have lost a fair bit of weight now and feel fitter running and on me bike,
but feel I am getting hooked on running(feel bad when I don’t go for a few days).

I am not fast but would like to go faster when I try upping my pace I struggle, what is the best way of building speed an sustaining it?
My loop is about five miles at the moment.
Cheers Rob.

Fartlek. Google it.
Also, I suspect you want to ‘lose’ weight rather than ‘loose’ it as that could be messy. HTH.

Farlek is good or just normal – puke inducing – intervals

I’ve been running over the winter, in place of biking. I find it easier to cope with the bad weather, but now looking forward to getting back on my bike now that spring is here?!
I’d recommend entering an event like a 10k/half marathon to focus your training. You need to build in some speed sessions – have a look at Runners World, lucozade sites for ideas – this is the only way of getting faster.

You’ll find your bike fitnes will improve too.

If you want to run faster, you need to … wait for it … run faster. The thing is, you can’t sustain a faster pace at the moment, but if you don’t ever do any faster running then your body won’t ever get used to the idea. I’d suggest intervals where you run fast, stop for a rest and repeat until it really hurts, but they’re horrible horrible things, and all you actually need to do is fartlek (literal translation: speed play), which is much more fun. Basically the idea is you go out on your normal run, and you pick something you can see a couple of 100 metres away – run faster until you get to that, then slow down again. Repeat multiple times through your run, varying the distance you’re running fast for. Note I also didn’t say sprint, you can do that if you like, but it’s more beneficial to just run a bit faster than you’re used to – you shouldn’t have to stop to rest after each speed burst either, just slow down to your normal pace (in reality your base speed will have to be a little slower). As you get used to this, try extending how far you’re running fast for, and/or running each one a little faster.

There is an alternative school of thought that suggests you should actually run slower to run faster. Google “Maffetone” for more info but basically you do all your running at a fairly easy pace, using a heart rate monitor to regulate your effort. What you’ll find is that over time you will be able to run faster at the same heart rate (effort), as your aerobic “engine” develops.

I think this approach is much more sensible for relative newcomers to running as high intensity intervals carry more risk of injury. After a few months of aerobic base building maybe throw in one faster run a week but it should still make up a small proportion of your overall running volume.

I don’t follow the Maffetone theory religiously but I’ve been training for a marathon over the last 4 Months and the vast majority of my running has been at roughly Maffetone intensity. Along the way I have set new PBs at 5k, 10k and half marathon!

I agree with r0bh. Speed/fartlek sessions should only be used after a good base of a few months of running. Although I think a gentle fartlek type session once a fortnight would be ok.
They can be hard and can easily put you off, so that’s a good reason not to rush into them.
I’d recommend an event about 10 weeks away and aim for that.

hills. run up em. fast.

but whatever you do, follow a training plan / get a heart rate monitor / listen to your body. Easy to run yourself into the ground, so to speak, being too keen.

Don’t get too hung up on distance, run for time ie. run for 45 minutes and try to go further than you did last time. This stops you taking it easy as you get fitter

Your 5 mile loop is also something to consider. If you always run the same loop then try a shorter route and up the pace on that.

I use Nike+ to do fartlek intervals as I don’t want to have to time myself and it works well. If you run silent right now, a god way to up the pace is to run to music and use the bpm to increase your pace.

You can find podcast specifically designed to tie bpm to pace, they are free and I have used them a lot.

I have had the same problem. To be honest I think the best way is just to find a running buddy that’s quicker than you. Pick a route and run with them see how long you can stay with them.
I’ve tried intervals and just don’t have the will when I’m out on my own. i can run whatever distance required just can’t get quicker. Did 7 miles last week so will just keep plodding along to keep my base level of fitness up!

Running “slowly” as advocated above needs to qualified.
To improve it is important to build an aerobic base however as it builds you will find for the same effort you will run more quickly. You should measure the effort as oppose to the speed, otherwise you may continue to train slowly and lose the benefit. A steady run for a top athlete even over a distance of ten miles may be in the region of 5:15 miling however the effort expended may be relatively low.
To improve I would suggest varying your mileage, for example a few days running around 10k a day with a 20k run on Sunday and maybe a run of around 15k midweek.
Increase the speed of some of the shorter runs and slow down for the long Sunday run. Fartlek is a good way to get your body used to running faster but without too much stress,

My loop is about five miles at the moment.

Do different stuff. Faster, shorter, longer, hillier, repeats, run with someone better than you. If you’re not technically minded, just introducing some variety will give you results and stop you getting fed up. Leave the watch behind occasionally and just enjoy the running.

I found the easiest way of speeding up was to run speed sessions, over a few weeks I noticed that my average pace dropped a fair bit.. hill reps are also good, a word of warning though, ease into hills.. I did too much too soon and ended up getting shin splints

Thanks for the advice folks,I will try the fartlek method tommorow and see how I get on.

just get a timer and time yourself round the loop, and then tell yourself every time you run the loop you HAVE to do it faster, and then let the pain comence. works for me

Maffetone worked really well for me. I found this easier then Farlekand knocked loads of time of my half. That said, my missus tried it and did serious injuries to her calf as she changed her gait loads when running slowly. Give it a try.

Well went out running tonight for approx 5.6 miles and tried the pushing it between points .. it clearly worked as I got a PB however whilst I was out I didn’t actually feel like I was running much quicker, just that I was picking my feet up higher and running on the balls of my feet! oh well will try again later in the week when I go out.

Maffetone is working for me too. I think if you’re a new runner then you can get a lot of benefit from time on your feet. If you spend longer actually running, your body develops running economy. I used to do tons of “threshold” running. I now slow my runs down, but do more mileage. This is easier on your body. Don’t forget to only increase you weekly mileage by modest amounts. I think one of the well known theories suggests that up to about 120miles per week, there exists a good relationship between your performance and your mileage. Forgotten who it was, maybe “daniels” or some such. If you want the running bible, get “lore of running” from the library. Carrying it home will give you a workout too!

Oh yeah and offroad running in a hilly area really helps too! Builds your core muscles and therefore improves your economy….gives a more stable base for you legs to push from IYSWIM.

I’ve heard doing a short fast run once a week amoungst your usual runs helps. I’m starting that again now the evenings are lighter. I’m back up to 7 miles, my breathing is ok but my legs get a bit tired so I have to keep going until I have the balance right. Aiming to achieve 10 miles this month!

Good luck and enjoy.

Adam
Agree with all that but suprised you are feeling a benefit from Maffetone training. As you say their is strong correlation between mileage and performance. If mileage is run too slowly then the benefits are minimal and are sometimes outweighed by the potential for injury.
By following the Maffetone method all you are teaching your body to do is run slowly. As a form or performance improvement it is questionable. It may be attractive because it is “easy” however there is no secret to improving running performance it simply needs to be specific and hard.
Lydiard in the 60’s advocated longl slow distance training and this was pounced on by hoards of athletes who wanted to be told by an authority to run slowly. In reality Lydiards methods were misunderstood and his successful athletes were running long distances at relatively high speeds.
The most effective and established methods include varied speed training including Fartlek and intervals, they are puke invoking but they work.

Run at your normal pace off road. Especially if you can find some decent hills to peg it up. Then when you run on road, you’ll go like the wind…

Incidentally try running your (biking) singletrack, it’s ace, and much more entertaining than road bashing. For extra thrills get a couple of DX CR203 LED lights, a fenix dual torch head mount, and then run in the dark….ace.

Interesting thread this.

I’ve run for several years now and done the Old County Tops fell race since 2004. We’ve never applied any science, just run in the hills when the clocks change and upped the mileage to the event.

The Maffetone thing sounds like what we do in the winter and fits with my observation that although regular loops never get any easier, they do get faster, suggesting that I naturally maintain a steady heartrate but that fitness allows this HR at a faster speed.

Varying the pace seems important in many training methods but on our regular 15 mile run round the Rothbury Hills I reckon we probably cover at least 4 different paces. Perhaps hill running is all that’s needed?

Diet is another matter. Anyone any good advice for performance enhancing diets (legal!)?

Anyone any good advice for performance enhancing diets (legal!)?

A good balanced diet is all thats needed and supplements arent really required unless you want to carb load for longer events. Hydration is all important however if you are running lots of miles you should be eating whatever is not nailed down!

all that has been said above really, mix it all up. Don’t get stuck doing the same old run twice a week, plodding along like erm… a plodder, ’cause that’s all you’ll ever be. Do a short fast run, do a long slow run, run up hills, sprint up hills, run at intervals, run cross country, run on the road. Another good one which really up your fitness levels and what I need to get back into is doing press ups, burpees, star jumps, sit ups, parallel dips etc whilst out running. Find a route where there is plenty of soft ground and not too many people about ’cause they think you’re a bit nuts when they see you, and do some sets of exercises every half mile or so. A good one is to do a set of star jumps, say 10 at the foot of a hill then run up it and do some press ups at the top, then jog along a bit ’till you get your breath back then do some sit ups, that kind of thing.