How can I improve my speed? (Read 93 times)

Hello all,

I’m an athletic person who let my stressful job get the better of me and I became sedentary and began gaining weight so about 6 months ago I started running. While I played many sports I never ran for distance and now I quite enjoy it.  
i run 3-4 miles most days and my best time for 3 miles is a 7.5min/mile pace, which is also roughly my pace on the one day I ran just 2 miles.  When I run 4 miles my pace is typically 7:55/mile. Though last week I decided to run for a full hour and was able to run a little shy of 7 miles at a pace of 8:50/mile.

I may be wrong but it appears to me as though I’m not running my 3 miles fast enough proportional for how I ran nearly 7 miles.  Is there a mental obstacle which is keeping me from breaking the 7.5min/mile  mark on my 3 mile runs or do I need to consider some type of training regiment for improving that time? Or maybe it’s a third option I’m not familiar with as a newbie runner. 

Any advice?

miles miles miles

If you get to the point where you're running 40+ miles a week, you'll see big improvements over time; even without doing any "speedwork".

Gotta work up to it, though; only increase mileage 10% per week so you don't get any overuse injuries or run yourself down.

Rest and recovery is just as important; that's when your body builds back stronger.

The principle of easy day/hard day also applies to easy week/hard week.

Don't try to run your fastest pace every outing; you don't get faster by racing every day. Mostly easy, sometimes hard. Vary up your distance each day you run and once a week, you can pick up the pace. Most of your runs should be at a conversational easy pace; if you can't talk, you are pushing too hard. Give yourself some time. Six months isn't very long. Gains will happen over time.

Thank you for the message. 
does a conversational pace imply that, I should be finishing my runs with enough energy and stamina that I could have easily gone another mile or two at the same or maybe even a faster pace?

 

Actually it's just the opposite.  That's because you haven't been running all that long and aren't running the miles needed to run 7 miles as well as you run 3 miles. It appears you may have also fallen into a common beginner's mistake in running hard all the time.  CanadianMeg gave you good advice.  Longer, slower runs trigger a training response that helps you develop the endurance.  Shorter, faster runs elicit a different response that improve your ability to take in and use oxygen.  Your body makes these adaptations, not while you are training hard, but when you are recovering between runs, so running hard every day actually hinders improvement.

Thank you for the message. 
do I need to have complete rest days to recover or can I recover another way, such as maybe a slower paced run?

At this time I run once per day, but is there any benefit to breaking my runs into a morning and an evening run to still total the same miles in a day?  Or am I best to keep running all the miles consecutively?

 

Thank you for the message. 
does a conversational pace imply that, I should be finishing my runs with enough energy and stamina that I could have easily gone another mile or two at the same or maybe even a faster pace?

Yes. Don't worry about speed. Enjoy the running. Speed will come. Try speaking during your next run; if you had someone running beside you, could you hold a conversation or are you breathing too hard? You should finish most runs feeling like you could keep going.

And if you are using your log here, make it public in your settings. A lot of good runners here can look at your log and give you tailored advice.

 

Thank you for the message. 
when I work my way up to 40 miles per week, is that including 7 days of running? Or do I need to avoid running 7 straight days?

Most people take at least a day off from running every week. That doesn't mean lay on the couch and eat pizza; the day off from running should have some activity like bike ride, hike, swim, or some other easy activity.

(and there's absolutely no reason that training schedules need to follow a 7 day pattern simply because that's how calendars are written)

We all have different ideas, but generally the same idea, of training schedules and patterns. It would be impossible to follow all the advices given on Running Ahead regarding training. People will find what works best for them, and a few will make the mistake of assuming that training pattern and specific workouts will work for everyone else, too. That's why we're giving generalized advices.

There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of "one size fits most" training plans freely available online, ready to be discovered with a magical combination of search-words.

 

Yes. Don't worry about speed. Enjoy the running. Speed will come. Try speaking during your next run; if you had someone running beside you, could you hold a conversation or are you breathing too hard? You should finish most runs feeling like you could keep going.

 

And if you are using your log here, make it public in your settings. A lot of good runners here can look at your log and give you tailored advice.

I just posted most of my runs in my log of the past month (a few dates I didn’t track but I think my runs are well represented in the log, including my first easy run yesterday). 
Are you able to see my log?  How can I make it public?  Do you have any thoughts after seeing it?

 

Short, easy runs are a great way to recover.  Save any all-out efforts for races.  Even your hard and long runs should end feeling you could have done more.  Generally it's better to get all your miles in one run.  Leave running doubles to high mileage runners or those whose schedule doesn't allow them time to get in a long run all in one run.

Thank you for the information. 
Can you share advice for how I should spend my recovery days?  Or do you have any advice for recovering after a run, such as stretching or heat/ice or rolling, etc?