Delacram wrote:
I'm new to running. I completed my first marathon without training just over a month ago and I've fallen in love. I ran a 5k last week and it, too, has inspired me to improve.
I currently run my easies at 10:30. That seems way too slow. I'm looking to be somewhat competitive. Maybe in the top 5-10% of the races I complete. I think that's a reasonable goal.
Back on track. I run my easy runs at roughly 10:30 minutes per mile. I feel like if I try to run faster, my easy runs won't be easy any more. Should I push the pace to 9? 8? I'm scheduled to run 4 miles tomorrow.
If I do push the pace here, at what pace do I run my long weekend runs? The same pace as the midweek easy runs?
I am very confused.
Cool man! This is great that you have started running and are getting hooked on improving your times!! If you are patient, and willing to put in some steady (not necessarily hard) work, you will probably improve way more than you can even imagine. I've been there. I've had friends there. Pretty much exactly where you are.
I went through the Hal Higdon training plans for several half marathons. 3 of my friends did to. We all improved a fair bit, and we all worked very, very hard. Probably too hard. I remember puking on one of those interval workouts.
What were your recent race times, by the way??
Here's the thing - there is a better way. Especially for somebody like you (and like we were)... who is just getting into running. Read, and follow that mark allen / maffetone article somebody posted earlier. Follow it for at least the next 3 months. 6 months would likely be even better. Heck, one of my friends did it for 9 straight months and PRed in the half by over 7 minutes (she was NOT even a new runner, by the way, she had been doing Hal Higdon-type stuff for over 5 years, and had raced 8+ half marathons before starting heart rate training).
It will help you develop your aerobic base, which is most likely your key limiter at this point in your running career. Once you start developing your aerobic base, you can THEN do the harder workouts and they will be much, much, much more effective.
I wish I would have started this way. My first three years would have been WAY more effective. Same with all 3 of my friends. All of us started hitting new PRs training this way, and we weren't even quite as new as you. Wish somebody would have given be that article, or the book below, in my first year.
"The Compleat Idiot's Guide to Heart Rate Training" by John Parker is also an excellent, simple book that will get you set up well.
My guess is that you do not need to speed up, or force your easy run pace. If you are like 98% of beginners, you probably need to run even easier. AND further, AND more often. It is the duration/volume that will help you improve a lot. The key to running more & more often is to run easy enough so it is not too taxing. The article & book explain it better than I can.
The book by Parker might be your best best - it has some great explanations and some various training plans in it, but all based on heart rates that will give you confidence in what you are trying to accomplish.
Daniels Running Formula is another book you might want to pick up and read, but it is much more involved, and won't get you out the door & training with a plan nearly as quickly as the Parker book.
Good luck - and remember that the biggest running improvement comes from consistency over LONG periods of time. Long periods, as in multiple years... not 12-18 weeks. If you stay healthy/uninjured and consistent, you will reach levels in year 2 that there was no possible way you could ever reach in year 1... no matter how hard you trained. Same goes for year 3 versus year 2. So, put in the work, but make it smart, steady training... not typical American type-A kick-ass ball-busting no pain no gain workouts (that many of us beginners that are excited attempt) that leave you trashed and burnt out.