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Will I ever get any faster???
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 2009-08-04 11:55 AM |
Regular  134   Goldsboro, NC |  Subject: Will I ever get any faster???Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining...13 months ago I weighed 60#'s heavier and I was smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day...but I am curious... Whether I am running 2 miles or 10 miles...I fall between 11:40 and 12:00 minutes per mile. On the bike...8 miles or 30 miles...I average 15-16mph. Swimming...800 meters or 2000 meters...2:45 to 3:00 per 100 yards. Seems like I have been stuck at these speeds for a LONG time..... |
| 2009-08-04 12:02 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Champion 10471 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? 13 months a long time to be stuck at a speed? It took me 5 YEARS to FINALLY see some improvement. 5 YEARS. Yeah. After 5 years I finally went from a 10-12 mm running...to a 8:30 mm running (up to 3 miles). This stuff takes time. At 13 months you are still just getting into it. Now, I'm sure others will comment with some methods by which to get faster.  |
| 2009-08-04 12:07 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
| Member 195 Akron, OH | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? Your logs look like you've built up a pretty good base. Do you do any speed work, hills, tempo runs or bikes, etc? May be time to start incorportating some of that stuff. I'm sure the certified coaches will chime in here but that's what I'd start doing. PS. Great work on the progress you've made so far! Edited by dscottmd 2009-08-04 12:08 PM |
| 2009-08-04 12:10 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Elite 3315  Miami | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? i just added slow volume to my workout routine. alot more miles running, alot more swim yards....and i see huge improvements. This is in Triathlon July 08 - 5k 27 min July 09 - 5k 22:30 min that is no speed work what is so ever, and i rarely even do a tempo run. |
| 2009-08-04 12:12 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Sensei Sin City | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? Interesting comments... I have been sort of thinking along the same lines. After more than two years at this, I'm not any faster during my training than I was two years ago. However, my race times have been getting better. But let me ask you this, how do you feel after workouts? Better than in the past? For me, I realized that I can ride for 3-4 hours at my 16 mph pace and feel much better than two years ago. A work out like that two years ago would have me exhuasted. I try appreciate the fact that I can go a lot longer and further than in the past, even if it's not much faster. Maybe some improvements can be made by working on techinique. Especially the swimming. At 2:45 to 3:00/100 for swimming, that would indicate a technique flaw more than a fitness issue especially if you have been working at it for a while. (I hope not to offend) Also, what is restricting you from going faster? Heart Rate? RPE? It seems to me that you could bust out a 2 mile balls-to-the-wall run faster than 12:00/mile. Something you can't do for 10 miles I would bet. |
| 2009-08-04 12:13 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Master 1591 San Diego, CA | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? It took me 4 years to get faster. I found that my speed picked up when I started pushing the pace when I trained. It was only after doing speedwork on a regular basis that I got faster. IMHO, get out on a track or go out for a run and do 400m speed sets followed by 200 recovery or run hard for 2 or 3 minutes followed by a little recovery. These sets are hard but they made me much faster (from 11 min/miles to 8:30 to 9:00 min/miles). I also found people to run and bike with that were a hair faster than me, it helped but it took time. |
| 2009-08-04 12:27 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Master 1927 Guilford, CT | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? To me it doesn't really make any sense to be running 2 miles and 10 miles at the same pace. Is there an issue with your level of exertion? I'm pretty new too, so am not an expert, but I suggest you get a heart rate monitor to check out what is going on. The bike is sort of the same but not as much as the run. A 2 mile run is pretty much a redline effort while a 10 mile run is pretty much in a completely different zone so I don't think those two should be even close. While I'm sort of similar with swimming, I generally just go my cruise speed for both 800 or 2000 distances so would come in around the same splits too, that 100 time is high and I agree with the above that the cause of that is just technique more so than what kind of shape you are in. I'd try to take at least 1 lesson so they can point out any glaring form issues and you might be in for a nice surprise on your splits. Either way, I consider swimming a different beast so that one is tough.
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| 2009-08-04 12:37 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? atostig - 2009-08-04 11:55 AM Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining...13 months ago I weighed 60#'s heavier and I was smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day...but I am curious... Whether I am running 2 miles or 10 miles...I fall between 11:40 and 12:00 minutes per mile. On the bike...8 miles or 30 miles...I average 15-16mph. Swimming...800 meters or 2000 meters...2:45 to 3:00 per 100 yards. Seems like I have been stuck at these speeds for a LONG time..... of course developing endurance fitness is a process and it takes time however taking a quick look at your logs there is nothing in there which would suggest you should be seeing big improvements. Your volume has remain the same and in some months it's been lower, of course that's only half the story. In terms of intensity I wouldn't know what it looks like but reading your post I am assuming you pretty much train at the same pace all the time, this will allow you to improve over time at a very slow rate. The best way to improve your fitness (and speed) is by either increasing your volume (doing more distance/duration), increasing your intensity (how hard or easy you do a given session) or a mix of both (sometimes you go easy, others hard, others short, others long). Try playing with your training load (mixing it up), increase it gradually, rest/recover when need it and repeat. Good luck. |
| 2009-08-04 12:40 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
| Extreme Veteran 844 | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? not to be a ditto head, but as others are saying.. mix up your workouts either in intensity or type.. Took me throwing some tempo runs in, as well as some speed work to see my 5k times drop.. However that being said, the more distance I found i put under foot the more I could push myself on the shorter runs. no expert by any means, but I did stay at a holiday inn last night.. Good luck with it and congrats on the progress so far! |
| 2009-08-04 12:48 PM in reply to: #2327251 |
Sensei Sin City | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? As well as changing up workouts, I found that changing up venues and activities helped me. |
| 2009-08-04 12:50 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Master 1289 Franklin, TN | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? Like the new avatar, Jorge! I'm no expert either... but my times came down significantly when I started incorporating speedwork into my regimen. I try to do 2 bikes, 2 runs and 2 swims per week. One of each discipline is distance and the other workout in that discipline is speedwork. I only do sprints, so it isn't rocket science by any means. |
| 2009-08-04 1:58 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Regular 134 Goldsboro, NC | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? Thanks for all the input and suggestions everyone. I am probably just stuck in a rut...I certainly could stand to mix up my training...and I think the intensity level could be pushed more than I am pushing it right now. Hopefully I can make some changes and see some progress! Thanks again for the ideas/comments! |
| 2009-08-04 9:26 PM in reply to: #2327505 |
Master 1651 Breckenridge, CO | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? atostig - 2009-08-04 12:58 PM I am probably just stuck in a rut... Nope. Re-read what Jorge wrote. 13 months is WAY TOO LONG to have not improved if that is your desire. My football coaches drilled into my brain, "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." IMO, if you want to get significantly faster in races you must get faster in training. If you want to go faster for longer distances, you must also do that in training. That requires pushing and challenging yourself. Not always of course. But the more the better as long as you can recover. Your body should tell you "how hard, how long, and how often" that your fitness will allow, if you listen. IMO, it really is not all that complex. Of course, everybody's training philosophy is different and everybody responds differently to types of training. But if your training isn't working for you, by all means TRY SOMETHING ELSE. |
| 2009-08-04 9:28 PM in reply to: #2327088 |
Master 2404 Redlands, CA | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? I follow the Eddie Merckx school of thought on this subject: 'Ride lots'. Seriously, the best way to get faster, is to run / ride alot more. Every year I back off and go up to 11 minutes on my trainining runs but after 5 solid weeks of 30+ miles a week I'm down to 8-9 min miles. |
| 2009-08-04 10:13 PM in reply to: #2327505 |
Master 1610 Kirkland, WA | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? atostig - 2009-08-04 11:58 AM Thanks for all the input and suggestions everyone. I am probably just stuck in a rut...I certainly could stand to mix up my training...and I think the intensity level could be pushed more than I am pushing it right now. Hopefully I can make some changes and see some progress! Thanks again for the ideas/comments! once you have been training for a while, it is really easy to just slowly increase distance and always go out and do the same paces. going fast is hard. going fast hurts. you have to go faster and vary your intensity to be able to improve those paces. you have to break belief barriers. i never thought i would be able to go sub 7 min/miles running. . then during my first sprint last year (3rd tri, about a year of training), i did 6:55's or something in the race. i was so suprised! after that, i knew i could push myself harder than i had been. go out and warm up, and try to hold your pace on the bike at 18-19 mph for 5 minutes. see how it feels! go out and run 2 miles at 10 min miles or faster! it will be hard, and it will hurt, but you can do it. |
| 2009-08-05 8:05 AM in reply to: #2327088 |
Regular 134 Goldsboro, NC | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? I have an update already... This morning I got out of the pool and had a little time before work...so I decided to set the treadmill for 15 minutes and go as hard as I could...1.42 miles...a 10:34 mile...fastest I have ever gone in my life!! It may seem slow to most people...but it showed me that I CAN go faster if I PUSH myself! Thanks again for all of the ideas! |
| 2009-08-05 8:48 AM in reply to: #2329050 |
Champion 10471 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? atostig - 2009-08-05 8:05 AM I have an update already... This morning I got out of the pool and had a little time before work...so I decided to set the treadmill for 15 minutes and go as hard as I could...1.42 miles...a 10:34 mile...fastest I have ever gone in my life!! It may seem slow to most people...but it showed me that I CAN go faster if I PUSH myself! Thanks again for all of the ideas! Great job! Nice to hear it! |
| 2009-08-05 9:13 AM in reply to: #2329050 |
Champion 5376 PA | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? atostig - 2009-08-05 9:05 AM I have an update already... This morning I got out of the pool and had a little time before work...so I decided to set the treadmill for 15 minutes and go as hard as I could...1.42 miles...a 10:34 mile...fastest I have ever gone in my life!! It may seem slow to most people...but it showed me that I CAN go faster if I PUSH myself! Thanks again for all of the ideas! That is where I am. I finally got to where I could run 6 miles so on Sunday, I did another 6 mile run on the treadmill and watched the pace to make sure I was pushing to go a little faster than the previous. Then on Monday, I decided to only do a 3 mile run and push that pace a lot harder since mentally I kept telling myself that it was only half the distance. I'm going to do the same on swim. Now that I have done mile swims a few times, I'm going to start going balls-to-the-wall every the first 5 laps wk1, then the first 10 laps wk2, then the first 15 laps wk3, etc. To me, we should be able to increase speed or distance until we can catch up to these fast people.  |
| 2009-08-05 9:30 AM in reply to: #2329220 |
Regular 134 Goldsboro, NC | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? Pector55 - 2009-08-05 9:13 AM atostig - 2009-08-05 9:05 AM I have an update already... This morning I got out of the pool and had a little time before work...so I decided to set the treadmill for 15 minutes and go as hard as I could...1.42 miles...a 10:34 mile...fastest I have ever gone in my life!! It may seem slow to most people...but it showed me that I CAN go faster if I PUSH myself! Thanks again for all of the ideas! That is where I am. I finally got to where I could run 6 miles so on Sunday, I did another 6 mile run on the treadmill and watched the pace to make sure I was pushing to go a little faster than the previous. Then on Monday, I decided to only do a 3 mile run and push that pace a lot harder since mentally I kept telling myself that it was only half the distance. I'm going to do the same on swim. Now that I have done mile swims a few times, I'm going to start going balls-to-the-wall every the first 5 laps wk1, then the first 10 laps wk2, then the first 15 laps wk3, etc. To me, we should be able to increase speed or distance until we can catch up to these fast people. Sounds like a plan! |
| 2009-08-05 10:35 AM in reply to: #2329220 |
Master 1651 Breckenridge, CO | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? Pector55 - 2009-08-05 8:13 AM I finally got to where I could run 6 miles so on Sunday, I did another 6 mile run on the treadmill and watched the pace to make sure I was pushing to go a little faster than the previous. Then on Monday, I decided to only do a 3 mile run and push that pace a lot harder since mentally I kept telling myself that it was only half the distance. The way I got faster on the run when I was younger was to: 1. Pick a reasonable goal pace that I wanted to maintain for an Open 10K. 2. Learn exactly what it felt like to run that pace on a track. 3. Run that pace for some of most every workout unless I needed a recovery easy day. 4. Regularly increase the amount of time I was running that pace in those workouts. I started by running that pace for 2 minutes with 4 minutes of recovery during most runs and I'd do a few reps. Once I could do the entire workout that way, I change to 2 minutes on / 2 minutes off and did that as long as I could during most runs. Once I could do my entire run like that I'd extend my "on" periods for a 10 count, 15 count, etc. When that pace got easy for me to maintain, I'd pick a new goal pace, go back to the track to learn what it felt like to run that pace and start the process over again. It was pretty much regular, mechanical improvement to each goal pace. *** This is not advice for anybody. It works for me and that's all I can say about its effectiveness. *** |
| 2009-08-05 10:39 AM in reply to: #2329050 |
Coach 10487 Boston, MA | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? atostig - 2009-08-05 8:05 AM I have an update already... This morning I got out of the pool and had a little time before work...so I decided to set the treadmill for 15 minutes and go as hard as I could...1.42 miles...a 10:34 mile...fastest I have ever gone in my life!! It may seem slow to most people...but it showed me that I CAN go faster if I PUSH myself! Thanks again for all of the ideas! just don't over do it, mix it up, build slowly, be patient and most important, take care of the details specially on the tough intense training days! (warm up, cool down, stretch, massage, fuel-refuel, compression, ice, etc) |
| 2009-08-05 10:49 AM in reply to: #2329446 |
Master 1651 Breckenridge, CO | Subject: RE: Will I ever get any faster??? JorgeM - 2009-08-05 9:39 AM just don't over do it, mix it up, build slowly, be patient... Good advice ! |
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