Help me with running

[isabelpatel]

I’m(30M) new to running and tried intervals. Have been running for 6 months. My maximum run distance is 6 miles and did that in 1hour and 5mins. Tried intervals today and these are the numbers. Pls help me improve. 0.25 miles - 2.39 1.30 rest 0.25 miles - 2.05 1.30 rest 0.25 miles - 2.25 1.30 rest 0.25 miles - 2.27 1.30 rest 0.25 miles - 2.33

 

[dawn16]

@isabelpatel Run consistently, don't get injured by doing too much, too fast, too soon. That's kind of it.

You can also read Jack Daniels book, or Pftizs and develop a base of knowledge.

Former D3 cross country runner and steeplechase, and current enthusiast. If you're looking for a coach DM me.

 

[franciscovelasco]

@isabelpatel What’s your goal with the intervals?

 

[isabelpatel]

@franciscovelasco I would like to increase my speed

 

[franciscovelasco]

@isabelpatel Gotcha.

I’m no expert on running, but while I was in the Army we were required to do a timed 2 mile run and I in fact hated running. I found an article with a program that closely aligned with my goal at the time of getting and keeping my time underneath the 100% score of 13:00 while lifting heavy. Here’s the relevant part, in case you don’t wanna scan through the article:

The 400 meter intervals were programmed by using a formula from Army Field Manual 21-20: Physical Fitness Training. You obtain the working time of your 400 meter interval by dividing your goal 2-mile run (2MR) by 8 and then subtracting 5 seconds. Using this formula and a goal time of 13:00 my 400 meter time was 1:32. Then you determine your resting time between intervals by doubling your running time. During the course of our training we identified that we were running the 400s far too fast, often finishing faster than 1:20 and never exceeding 1:32. My concern was that I was training a motor pattern that my cardio-respiratory system could not sustain for more than 2 minutes.

After 2 weeks we switched to 800 meter intervals using a similar formula, dividing our goal 2MR by 4 and subtracting 10 seconds giving us a goal of 3:05 per interval. Because this was a slightly slower pace than we had been running in our 400 meter intervals we gave ourselves relatively less recovery time, resting 5 minutes in between intervals. The 400-meter intervals were the key to getting us out of our comfort zone of the weight room and running again while allowing us to experience a degree of success and not beat us down mentally, while the 800-meter intervals were more effective in establishing a sustainable motor pattern.

I don’t know if that sounds like something you’d be interested in, but it’s a start. I’m sure the more hardcore runners would have better training plans, but it worked for my then-pack a day smoker ass.

 

[isabelpatel]

@franciscovelasco Thank you very much. Will try definitely.

 

[ericph]

@isabelpatel Check out the wiki over at r/running this significantly helped me. Specifically the easy runs/base building program helped me significantly prep for the half marathon in October.

 

[peppermint68]

@isabelpatel What are your goals with running besides just getting faster? Getting faster across different distances requires different approaches to training.

 

[sumeria]

@isabelpatel I think if you want to run fast, you need to do speed training and strength training with barbells. Those will lead to improvements in all your times.