Not getting faster

Ruxton Towers XC wrote:

fungames wrote:

I am 35 years old and I've been running 2 miles every day at anywhere from 8:30-11min pace. If I try to go faster I can't. My HR peaks 170-185 if I try to run 2 miles faster than 8:30. Currently my average time running on feet has been 1.5hr-2.5hrs per week since Jan 2023. Roughly 20 minutes a day every day.

If you are running 10 minute pace and your HR is 175, that is unusual. Get a real medical professional to check that out. The idea of hitting a HR of 185 (as you mentioned) is like what most runners would experience doing hard 800m repeats, not jogging.

What is your pace if you just jog easily with a running buddy and talk? What is your zone 1 talking pace? Whatever that is, do that for 5 miles six days a week and see if that gives you a base to work with.

Do you have a HR monitor? Running 170-185 is way too hard if you are just jogging. Are you built like a runner or are you a big dude? Sometimes that extra muscle/weight can really change the conversation. [Am I still allowed to say that?]

Jed Clampett wrote:

NERunner03533 wrote:

2 miles/day is a good start and, despite what you wrote, you are improving. What I would add is trying to extend past 20min/day. Do it slowly. But if you want to get better you need to train better. Instead of 20min 7 days/week maybe you only do 5 days/week but it's 30min for 3 runs, 35-40min for 1 run, and 45min+ for 1 (long) run. 8:30-11:00 pace is quite a range. Do the 3 30min runs on the easy end. 170-185 HR is not easy. On the 35-40min day, have that be your workout day. Experiment with stuff like 10min easy, 15-20min workout, 5-10min easy cool down. The 15-20min could be stuff like 1-3 minute reps @ comfortably hard pace w./ equal slow jogging rests or a sustained 15-20min tempo run. Key for the latter is that it's nowhere near your 5k pace. Run it at half marathon-marathon pace. Figure out what that effort would be. You can do strides 1-2 times/week after your easy runs. 4 x 20-30s, full recovery.

You take a blue print like that & add it up & it's close to 3 hours/week of running. Up from ~2hr20mins that you're currently doing. Once you're comfortably at 3 hours, you build to 4. 35-40min easy days, 45-50min workout days, 60min long run. Gotta run more to get faster.

Are you warming up and cooling down everyday?

fungames wrote:

I've been running since Jan 2023 and I'm still not getting faster. Well I am getting faster just very slowly. In Jan 2023 my easy running pace was 11min/mi. Now in Dec 2023, my easy running pace is still close to 11min/mi. In-fact my mile post 30 year old personal best in Jan 2023 was around 9 minutes. Today it is only 8min and 4 seconds. What is going on? I am 35 years old and I've been running 2 miles every day at anywhere from 8:30-11min pace. If I try to go faster I can't. My HR peaks 170-185 if I try to run 2 miles faster than 8:30. Currently my average time running on feet has been 1.5hr-2.5hrs per week since Jan 2023. Roughly 20 minutes a day every day. I also suplement with biking, rowing and hiking sometimes.

I started running at around age 19 and within 1 month I finished my first 5k in under 30 minutes. I could feel my body was stressed and a month later I was running 25minute 5ks. Actually within 6 months I was running 23 minute 5ks and within a year I broke 21 minutes. Within 2 years, I had broke 20 minutes. Now that I am 15 years older my body does not feel like it is being stressed from any of these runs. How do I make them more stressful? I can't run any faster my HR is capped. My body just isn't receiving the stress it needs to improve and recover. Like I ran a 5k in 33minutes in Jan 2023 and my body didn't feel stressed and my times felt worst the next month. How come I have such polar experiences, when my training is actually the same as it was when I was 19? My main question is, how do I give myself a new level of stress so I can improve?

Please help, anyone? Thanks,

Fungames

HRE wrote:

Jed Clampett wrote:

I like your registered name. You need to have FUN running. See my previous listed post. The main thing you need to do is get out the door. If you cannot do that, have days where you do jumping jacks and pushups. I am not kidding! I have found that calve raises help me a lot as I've gotten older. Be care with anything you change, though. EASE INTO IT!!!

Van Aaken used to have people run 350 meters in about a minute and then walk 50 meters in a minute and repeat this. So they'd be doing eight minutes a mile but the running was at a faster pace. This was his "Interval principle" and it allowed people to cover a fair running distance with less stress than if they'd just run at a steady eight minute pace.

But I'm not sure how serious the OP is about all this. He keeps talking about wanting to get his lungs to burn and his legs to be sore. I posted about this but that post seems to have been removed so who knows if this one will survive.

Jed Clampett wrote:

HRE wrote:

Van Aaken used to have people run 350 meters in about a minute and then walk 50 meters in a minute and repeat this. So they'd be doing eight minutes a mile but the running was at a faster pace. This was his "Interval principle" and it allowed people to cover a fair running distance with less stress than if they'd just run at a steady eight minute pace.

But I'm not sure how serious the OP is about all this. He keeps talking about wanting to get his lungs to burn and his legs to be sore. I posted about this but that post seems to have been removed so who knows if this one will survive.

#HRE I have written to you in the past that I always read your posts because they are usually spot on and I get something out of each one. I have interviewed the top three run streakers in the world. (All have now been running at least one mile each day for more than 52 straight years!) Then for good measure I interviewed the #5 streaker and he said that it does not matter whether you train 50 miles per week with quality or 100 miles with moderate intensities. So, there are lots of ways to get it done. I also read about Van Aaken in the 1970s. He was in a wheel chair.