Why is my running not improving? (Read 3981 times)

 I'm currently 26, female, 5'3" and somewhere in the range of 140-145lbs..... When I check my monitor after 5 minutes at my (fairly slow) pace, it's usually somewhere in the mid to high 180's. I know that's pretty high, but it's not causing me pain or anything, I just feel like I can't keep running at that point.

You sound very similar to my wife, except she's a little bit older than you (sssshhhh!).  In January she started running again after a long pregnancy-induced layoff.  At first she could only handle a few minutes at a time....I told her to ignore the pace and just do whatever pace she could get 20minutes in at.  Cover the treadmill display if needed...if it got easier, turn it up.  Soon she was faster and 20min was too short so she went longer.  A few months later and she was doing 6 miles daily, when before (even when she was your age!) that was the furthest she had ever run.  Then she kept getting faster at that distance at the same effort.  I don't know for sure but I think she was averaging 11-something per mile at the fastest...but did it 5 days per week.

So stick with it, ignore pace, and you will get there.  The pace will come with consistency but consistency will never happen if you get wrapped up in pace.  Pace only matters in races (for the most part).

Her HR was also scarily high...all the time...180-200+.  I never figured it out but with a resting pulse in the high 60s to 70s she quickly runs up to 180 or 200 with any sort of exercise but has no problem maintaining that for 30-40min when a similar HR would kill me.  So we are each different, there are no hard and fast rules.  But if you feel like you can't keep going and HR is 180....sounds like it's just too fast.  Get that HR down to 140-150 and go from there.

I've been slowly training to run a 5K since January of this year. This means, running 2-3 times a week. Well, running might be a bit of a stretch. I run for a while, then walk, then run. 3 times a week is the most I can do before my shins are agony. In January, I could only go a minute or two at most of running before I had to slow it down. I kind of expected this because I haven't been active in a long time. I'm not overweight, but definitely not in shape. Now it's almost June, and I can barely run longer than 5 minutes before I have to slow down to a walk for a few. I'm currently doing a 5K in my run/walk in about 45 minutes. The thing is, I feel like I should have made much more progress by now. I run fairly regularly (2-3 times a week), except when I get shin splints (which is happening with more frequency lately). Mind you, I wouldn't say running regularly really started happening until the middle of March. Is this normal progress? Should I be farther than 5 minutes at a time? Am I being too impatient with myself? Is there something I can do to help my time without running, so I can give my shins a break? Hoping some runners who have been where I am might have some tips or advice and some encouragement that if I keep going, a real 5K is not impossibly off in the distance.

Be patient. You've run around 60 miles this year and are averaging only about 4 miles/week for the last three months. At this mileage, progress will be slow. But if this is all you can do without getting injured at this point, then work with that. Slow down. Run/walk if necessary. Work toward running more often. Then work toward increasing distance. Running progress takes time. I hope this didn't sound harsh. That's not how I meant it. It just takes time and miles to improve.

I definitely feel the advice about running slower, but I feel like I'm barely at a jog as it is. Maybe it's my perception of my speed, but it's like if I go any slower, I'm just going to be walking fast. Perhaps I should include more of that into my weekly!  

When I started running about two years ago, I was in the 13 to 14 min/mile range and now after 3300 miles, anything slower then a 10:30 min/mile pace seems like a crawl. Its all relative to your conditioning and running economy. An "easy" pace for Spaniel is faster then my 5k PR race pace and I think he may feel an 8 min/mile pace as a crawl.

Its also probably pertinent to mention how high my heart rate gets. When I check my monitor after 5 minutes at my (fairly slow) pace, it's usually somewhere in the mid to high 180's. I know that's pretty high, but it's not causing me pain or anything, I just feel like I can't keep running at that point. I've heard from a few people that I should just keep going when I feel that way, and the endorphins will kick in, but I am little concerned about keeping my heart rate that high. Resting, it's about 78.

1. Make sure you're wetting the HR strap to ensure a good pickup, and also that your apparel isn't causing any kind of static interference that might contribute to an inaccurately high HR reading.  I've gotten a few race shirts that turned out to cause problems with my HRM -- always higher than actual, never lower.

2. What's the HR say after you've been going for ~10min?  15min?

Not trying to be all one-sentency here but, you just need to relax and run for more minutes per week.  

+1 and at whatever pace makes that happen.

Avoid pavement. If you can run on grass or easy trails, you probably won't have shin problems.

Or a track. If it is a nice modern rubbery track. Not a decades old asphalty track.

 really?  Is this the advice for someone who has trouble running longer than 5 min at a time.  6 X 400s, tempos, hills?

Well, maybe 6x4meters, and 2minute tempos.

What stuck out to me here is that you said you haven't even been walking more than to and from the car.  Maybe alternate running days with simply walking 30-45 minutes... it's still time on your feet, it will help you to recover from the running, and it will continue to build the muscles you need to run more.