running sub 1:45 HM - any advice? (Read 671 times)

run more. lots more. a month is a short period of time to make a big change, you are talking taking 15 seconds off per mile for a longer race. Ramp your miles up, get some long runs in there (your longest run to date is the 10 mile race?) and in a couple months you should break 1:45 easily.

I'm with Ennay on this one. A month is not very long to get that extra 15 sec per mile. You need more base miles. The speed is there but not the base. You should ease into consistent mid to high 30s and when that gets easy bump it up. With your times you should be looking more in the 1:35 range if you put in the base. Good luck.

Hi Kimmie, I am also from Ontario, (Newmarket area), and have recently broken the 1:45 barrier, so run about your pace. I am 58 years old and had been running for 2 years before I managed this, but will be going for 1:40 this fall. What I notice is your 5k time is fast compared with mine, but your 10 miler a little slower. The conclusion would be that you need to work on finishing strongly: you have plenty of speed but maybe not good enough endurance. The other possibility is that you did not pace yourself optimally for the 10 miler. Experience with long runs will give you a better sense of how much to save for the end, but I like to run the final 5k as my quickest 5k split. To do this I do several long runs in the 25-30km range, and also do some shorter runs with a fast finish. I would be interested to know what race you are going to try for the 1:45? Good luck! Simon.

Sorry, I see its Ottawa- didn't read it closely enough. I do my easy runs around 9:00 per mile, about 5:35 per km.

I know I need to put more miles on but I think I am just addicted to going faster I am thankful for all of your advice because I have only been running for 2 years now and I am still young (19yrs)

Sounds pretty much like me back in the day. I hated long runs and only liked the fast workouts. Of course I only ran 400 and 800m races, so I didn't see the point in long runs. Seems like you are running 5-6 days per week and just below 30 mpw, here is what I would do. First, increase one of your runs each week to be a "long run". Start in the 8-9 mile range and work up to 11-13. For me these 11-13 milers are a breeze, after the first 2 or so miles I just fall into a groove and before I know it I'm done. Someplace in the 9:00-9:30 range I believe would be an easy pace for you. Second, slow down most of your midweek runs a little and as suggested increase a couple of them to the 6-8 range. Third, go ahead and keep 1-2 days for harder workouts. Warm-up a mile, 2-3 at tempo, cool down a mile. Or include the tempo in one of your 6-8 mile days Ironically this is almost identical to the stage I am in now. I am training for a marathon in Oct. In summary, my weeks have looked like this: Monday - 7 with tempo Tuesday - 5 easy Wednesday - 7 easy Thursday - 5 easy Friday - off Saturday - 12 long Sunday - 4 easy/recovery Total - 40 miles

Seems like you are running 5-6 days per week and just below 30 mpw, here is what I would do. First, increase one of your runs each week to be a "long run". Start in the 8-9 mile range and work up to 11-13. For me these 11-13 milers are a breeze, after the first 2 or so miles I just fall into a groove and before I know it I'm done. Someplace in the 9:00-9:30 range I believe would be an easy pace for you. Second, slow down most of your midweek runs a little and as suggested increase a couple of them to the 6-8 range. Third, go ahead and keep 1-2 days for harder workouts. Warm-up a mile, 2-3 at tempo, cool down a mile. Or include the tempo in one of your 6-8 mile days Ironically this is almost identical to the stage I am in now. I am training for a marathon in Oct. In summary, my weeks have looked like this: Monday - 7 with tempo Tuesday - 5 easy Wednesday - 7 easy Thursday - 5 easy Friday - off Saturday - 12 long Sunday - 4 easy/recovery Total - 40 miles

Kimmie - I personally think the above is some seriously good advice. The only thing I would add is to make sure and add/increase your mileage slowly. Or in other words, don't start the 40 MPW schedule today, start working up to this schedule over the course of quite a few weeks..........If you go straight to this schedule too quickly, you risk injury (and you don't want to get injured)..... I got similar advice from some when I asked a similar question and they said to go: Mon - 3 Easy Tue - 5 Easy Wed - 8 - some easy and including Tempo (about three miles) Thrus - 3 easy Fri - 4 easy Sat - 5 easy Sun - 12 - easy the first 10 and tempo for the last two miles.. My point on showing the second schedule is simply to say that my advice came from someone else and yet the schedule (although different) are still very similar -- so there must be something to it.... You need the longer runs to increase you endurance - and ultimately allow you to hang on to your pace for greater distances..... One other thing -- I wish I was as young as you and as good of a runner as you already are ---- you have a long and great running future ahead of you....

From what I understand, your easy pace is going to want to be 1:30-2:00 minutes slower than HM pace. At least that's my usual easy pace compared to the HM pace, and my speed has boosted just by logging lots of quality miles at an easy pace. Slow down, enjoy the run, reap the benefits.

Ryan is on the spot and in case you can't seem to dial back the speed with a pace try these two tests: 1) if running with someone you should be able to hold a conversation with that person without labored breathing 2) if running alone you should be able to sing some of your favorite tunes with the same results as #1. Nice low tech way of keeping an easy pace. Also, Jim said it well - your longest run has only been the 10 miler. You should be able/need to go much longer. Personally, for me I learned that I was not ready to run a good HM unless I am in marathon training with long runs in the 18 - 20 range but that's just me. Work on getting longer at an easy pace and your races with still be fast. Its about patiently building base - most of us have learned this the hard way through mountains of injury. Good luck. With your built in speed you should achieve some great race results with the proper base.