[kikkoman]

There are some really fit looking ladies who blow past me on the trail and it would be nice if I could keep up Seriously, I've had a goal to do a mile in less than 7 minutes but I just don't know how to get there. Last time I ran that fast I was 17, now I'm 32. I have not timed myself but I would estimate I'm doing about 8:40/mile right now and I'm really running hard to get that. Any training suggestions to help get my speed up?

[budster101]

You are running an 8:40 mile is a fast walk or a jog.

When I was 17, I was running in the low 6 minute miles, and now I'm worse than you are so don't feel badly.

Beleive it or not, for indurance, do wind sprints, and then run distance, and then wind sprints. Break up your routine. Increase your efficiency when running. Do you relax your face? How about your stance, stride and your arms? Any wasted motion or motion that will fight you? What do your shoulders do when you run? You don't want to move them much. Any wasted motion will decrease your stride and times, while making you put out too much effort and become less efficient.

I used to do the 1 mile, 2 mile in track and then I was also a Cross-country runner for a while to train for Wrestling season. (Also did Pole Vaulting one year... missed the landing foam once and decided my neck wasn't worth another near disaster.)

Anyway, consult a good running magazine, and here are a few links to help you out. If you are really into it, get a personal trainer, and they will analyze everything from the things I mentioned, like head position, etc. in order to make it so that you are not wasting movement and cutting through the air, as well as your psychological walls you may have developed.

Runner's World

Running Network

Running Times

[suvsr4terrorists]

I used to. I need to start again. The biggest thing for me was always baby steps. Start out small. Gradually increase your distances. Focus on breathing. Sounds nice actually, maybe I'll go for a run later today.

[residentEvil]

That is one of my goals in my diet plan, IS to be able to run again. When I was in the middle of a season, I could do about a 5:20 mile. Not too bad; but I needed the long distance/stamina for soccer. Even after I was done playing and away from the sport for a few years, I could do 5 miles at/around 34 minutes. I would die if I had to run 1 mile, let alone 5

If you are interested in just running/times for 1 mile, always run 1 1/2. When it comes time to time yourself again, you will have a little left in your tank and can add a little sprint to the end. You will see your times start to drop.

[DeathMan]

I read once that a good way to get your mile speed up is to run fast quarter miles with a 30 second or a minute break in between. Do this until the total running time is the time you want to be able to run your mile in. Then start reducing the time between laps. Once you tie it all together you'll have your speed. Mostly I think this gives you some solid numbers and goals to work toward. It seems like a lot of work to me though.

[iREZ]

how long have you been running again for?...it usually takes about a month to get into your peak low mile times if you're trying for that. just run 4-5 days a week for 4 weeks and you should be back to your 7 minutes at the end of the month. diet plays a significant role as well .

[kikkoman]

I've been running for about three months but I only have time to run three days a week. During the week I'll do a couple three mile runs and then a long run on the weekend.

[historylme]

The fastest I did a mile was 5.10 and the 2 miles at 11:20 and the x-country course (3.2) in 17:05... good enough to compete but not good enough to run with the top dogs.

Anyway, I just wanted to show off former times. I now can't even run because of my bad knees.

However, I did learn a few tricks after competing for all those years. Do a gradual increase of miles, run up hill when you can and walk the down hill (to avoid problems with the knees). If you're going for speed, do wind sprints (they are really fun when going up hill).

Stretch for at leas 1/2 hour. Go for longer runs always, and do make sure to do weights to strengthen your upper body. The leg muscles will take care of themselves through longer runs, however, you have to keep you upper body just strong to keep up with the legs.

Eat right, carbos are great and if you eat meat, don't eat as much.

Find running buddies, it's nice to run by yourself, but to keep motivation and discipline, it's better to run with a buddy.

Goals: You have one, but also make smaller more accessible ones to help you reach your ultimate goal.

And the last thing, have fun. Make it a fun habit, if it's not fun you wont reach your desired goal.

Good luck.

[Sage]

I run in high school Cross Country and Track (in fact, summer training for CC just started a couple weeks ago).

Quite honestly though, I hate the mile, so I don't think I'd be the best person to give you advice on that. My heart is in long distance – six miles and up. Even CC courses feel too short for me (my leg turnover speed is very slow, except when I'm sprinting).

Definitely try to run with somebody though – it really does make all the difference in the world (especially if you run with somebody slightly faster than you). You might want to work on endurance before you work on speed – try completing 3, 4, and 5 mile runs, going as slow as you need to (without walking, of course), then once you're comfortable with that, start concentrating more on shorter distance speeds (intervals are good for this – do a fast quarter mile, rest, then try to beat your previous time, rinse and repeat).

Good luck! Oh, and, as history1me mentioned, don't go too fast down hills – it'll kill your knees, your lower back, or both. Going fast up hills is a great way to build strength.

[Ganesha]

Buy a bike and follow them really slowly.

[ghporter]

The VERY FASTEST I have ever run was a 1.5 mile route in 12:06, which comes out to just over an 8 minute mile. That's EVER, folks, EVER. I was about 30 at the time, too.

I hate running, by the way; my prefered human-powered transit is bicycle.

[Freeflyer]

First things first, do you want to run a couple of miles fast, or do you want to run longer distances fairly quickly. They are two very different things.

If you want to just run a couple of quick miles, concentrate on running faster short distances. If you want to run longer distances and improve your overall aerobic fitness, you need to build your base fitness first. The following article is a bit lengthy but well worth reading through. It takes time to build the fitness but it will work.

http://www.ffh.us/cn/hadd.htm

For reference, I used to race reasonably competitively, with a half marathon PB of 1:16. I then spent 15 years not running at all. 3 years ago I started doing some triathlons, and a year ago got a bit more serious about my running. I used Hadd's techniques to just slowly build my fitness and aerobic capacity, and over that 6 months took 6 minutes off my 5k time. Over the next 6 months I took 5 minutes off my 10k time, and I'm still improving.

Once you have the base fitness and are comfortable with the mileage and staying injury free, you can start building in speedwork, which is when you'll really see the improvements in speed, but first you need to get the fitness to really use it. When you start it will seem like you're going too slowly, but stick with it, it works.

I would recommend you join a running club if you're at all serious, as they support you'll get there will be very worthwhile. As a result of this and other training, I'm about to do a half-ironman triathlon next month (swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 mile, run 13.1 miles) and next march doing a full ironman, which is double that lot.

Good luck,

J.

[kikkoman]

Originally Posted by Freeflyer

First things first, do you want to run a couple of miles fast, or do you want to run longer distances fairly quickly. They are two very different things.

I think an easy goal would be to run a 5K race.