Improving my running

[Robmarriott]

I’ll have a look for one then, it sounds like it’ll help.

Went our tonight (which was faintly idiotic as it was -2.5 degrees!) jogged pretty much as slow as I possibly could and actually thought about what I was doing with my breathing and I ended up being faster overall because I didn’t have to walk as much!

Obviously I’m not ignoring the other tips from people but it’s difficult to try them all in one go.

I’m happy with the improvement even if it was only minor on paper, it felt considerably better than before so thanks to everyone who suggested slowing down and breathing better!

[Robmarriott]

WestyCarl said:

Or....if you can't speak in full sentences you're going too fast, take a walking break until you can.

Difficult to judge this one without sounding like an escaped mental patient as I run alone

[Robmarriott]

Little update for anyone who might be interested;

I’ve been thinking more about my breathing and seen a massive improvement in the distance I can push before having to slow down from a slow jog to a swift walk, in my last 4 runs I’ve knocked 30 seconds per mile off my time without actually running any faster.

I’m still not pushing myself to go faster by increasing my cadence but I’m getting much closer to being able to do the same route without slowing down, tonight (in the snow) I managed to cover almost a mile before having to walk.

When I can do the whole 2 miles I’ll add anothe mile to the route before increasing my speed I think.

Thanks again for the tips, they seem to have helped a lot so far.

[Robmarriott]

Knocked 53 seconds off my /mile time from Friday to Monday without running over the weekend, thought it was a fluke, maybe a tailwind or my whole route had become downhill but I went again yesterday and backed it up with a time within a couple of seconds of it.

No idea why, think I might be taking bigger strides so I'm covering more ground between breaths. Either way I'm impressed with my progress so far.

Still a long way to go, I'm still only at 12.30/mile but I started on 14.05/mile so it's a good improvement already.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Well done, we all had to start somewhere, just stick with it, times will tumble, pounds will be lost.

Massive frustration for me at the moment, haven't run for nearly two weeks due to getting hit with a really sh*tty cold that has left me with a bit of chesty cough. I want to get back out there but on the other hand don't want to make my chest any worse. Supposed to be getting my half marathon plan under way now. Might amble round Parkrun on Saturday.

[Robmarriott]

I had the same problem, couldn’t run for nearly two weeks because I couldn’t breathe without coughing!

It set me back with my times too, I lost about 20 seconds a mile when I started again but it soon came back down.

Although, last night I was 15 seconds slower than the night before per mile. Huge disappointment really, every other day I’ve been quicker but last night I just could not do it.

Going for a run on on Saturday with my brother, who runs in the 9s per mile. Not looking forward to it!

[Griff Boy]

Sounds like you’re making great progress, well done!

Park runs are a great way to get some good practice in, I’m doing my local one tomorrow and there’s a massive variety of different abilities there, and no pressure to go sub 20mins! Lol

I’ve also just joined a local running group, and received some great advice from the other runners, who have been really helpful to me as a novice runner. They also persuaded me to invest in a running gait check and get some expert advice on shoe choice, which has made a huge difference for me, definitely worth doing, and most good running shops do it for free too. I used run4it, but they are Scottish based, although I’m sure that south of the border offers some great choices too.

[biggbn]

For what it's worth. An no running expert but love going out for a run with dogs. Find a comfortable, easy pace and try to stick with it. Find 'soft'surfaces, forest tracks, parks etc. Place your feet deliberately, i try to always cushion weight by landing slightly toe first. Buy a comfortable, good quality running shoe.

Now, I don't run much more than quick walking pace. But I can hold that pace uphill and down ( I usually walk downhills, that's when my knees feel it), and can cover up to 10k a day using these simple rules.

Problems...i am 22.5stone, gotta watch the knees. BUT I ran a half marathon at 24stone adhering to these rules.

[Robmarriott]

Can someone just confirm this is fairly typical for me?

My runs this year have been;

14.04
14.01
13.52
(2 weeks with a cold)
14.04
14.01
13.48
13.37
13.30
12.37 (!)
12.40
12.18
12.10
12.05
12.18
12.10
11.59/mile

So the general trend is downwards with the odd day where I’m a couple of seconds slower...

Then today, after yesterday’s 11.59, I did a 12.42 and could not go any faster, my legs are killing me and I found it impossible to get into a rhythm.

Is it normal to have days where you’re so much slower? I’ve had a couple of slower runs but never by quite that margin, todays time is slower than I have been for two weeks.

Feeing a bit dejected now.

[gregs656]

Everyone has off days.

[Robmarriott]

Back down to 11:51 last night after a few days off (with a couple of bike rides) so it was obviously just a bit of a blip.

Planning to try for 5k at some point this week to see what my time is, my route lends itself to doing so as I run in a figure of eight, each half of which is about a mile.

I'm still not able to jog the full 2 miles without walking though so I don't know if I should do that first or go for a little more distance.

[Robmarriott]

Update time, I ran a 10:28 average over 2 miles yesterday evening and my first mile under 10 minutes, at 9:55.

I've also ran a couple of 5ks round the local (flat) nature reserve, fastest so far is 34:29 and I did 10k a few weeks ago the same pace (within seconds) of my 2014 time, did it in 1:19.54

From the start of the year, this is ridiculous, looking back on my first run at 14:04/mile, I really can't believe how much quicker I am. I know it's not actually fast but I didn't expect to be anywhere near where I am on day one.

I'm going to attempt another 5k on Saturday afternoon, I'm hoping to be a couple of minutes faster than last time because it's been a few weeks and I should definitely be quicker, might even push for the 10k depending on how I feel after the first half.

My goal at the start of the year was to be able to do 10k in under an hour by September, it's looking pretty good at this point, if I could maintain the pace I'm at, I'd only be a couple of minutes off and I've got a few months left to improve!

[SV_WDC]

My advice would be to not focus too much on your stats/timings when you're early in the programme.

If you have a goal to run 2miles or 5k then get comfortable with that first - maybe using one of the apps or podcasts.

It's easy to start looking at timings and making all these comparisons, but this is where too much information can hinder your performance. By all means track your performance if you want to, but look at all the data in a couple of months. Otherwise it's too easy early on to look at the timings of each run and feel like you're not making progress.

This is the best advice I've gotten from several mates. Now when I look back over several months I can see a marked improvement, and for any 'off-days' they don't look as pronounced because they're preceeded and followed by decent times/distances.

[Robmarriott]

True, I might start doing a couple of days when I don't time it between the ones I do. Tracking it with Strava means that I've got a (hopefully) accurate record of it but I suppose it's like measuring your weight, it can become obsessive if you weigh yourself too often/

[anonymous-user]

Surely anyone wanting to shave a couple of seconds off their 5k time mustget one of these?

https://www.runfun.com/en/

Have you ever seen anything crazier?

[Scabutz]

JPJPJP said:

Surely anyone wanting to shave a couple of seconds off their 5k time mustget one of these?

https://www.runfun.com/en/

Have you ever seen anything crazier?

That has to be a joke surely? 1800 eur for something a running watch will do and wont make you look like a prize tt using .

[GadgeS3C]

Scabutz said:

JPJPJP said:

Surely anyone wanting to shave a couple of seconds off their 5k time mustget one of these?

https://www.runfun.com/en/

Have you ever seen anything crazier?

That has to be a joke surely? 1800 eur for something a running watch will do and wont make you look like a prize tt using .

Thinking of the couple of sets of steps on my usual 5k route reminded me of this...

[Red 5]

Robmarriott said:

On final reply for now, I'm not sure I can slow down any further, I'm already jogging at what is basically fast walking pace, if I go any slower I'll be walking, which seems completely counter intuitive, walking fast is easy, jogging slowly isn't but there's not really any middle ground so I'm in limbo with it really.

Sounds like you’re doing well. I started at 120kg and am down to 90kg.
Started form never running, to doing 7k 5 times a week, plus dog walks and occasional long walks and bike rides.

I have a slightly differing opinion to yours relating to walking....

Now I can jog along happily, I find momentum is working for me.
(Once I got past the stage where each footfall is jarring and my lungs could cope)

However, FAST walking (marching) can be harder and great for conditioning!
If you use a hilly walking route and take a good fast stride, you’ll stress some different supporting muscle groups, as well as the larger ones. Especially around your hips.

Your momentum during running doesn’t exercise this smaller supporting tissue, but hard walking up/down hill will do!
When walking, you kill nearly all your forward momentum with every footfall. Especially up hill.

Running days after some longer walks feel different. It feels like I’m on rails and my ‘technique’ is better supported.

I know it sounds weird, but on along fast walk, I have slipped into a jog for a rest.
It feels so much easier to have momentum on my side again.

Just my findings coming from a background in weight lifting and building muscle, moving into fitness into 2015, after a few years on the pies / see food diet!

[Robmarriott]

Thanks for the reply, it’s an interesting point you make, I might try a quick walk on my non run days, I’ve been struggling with shin splints this week so that could be something which helps me, my breathing was fine I just couldn’t handle the pain!

[Red 5]

Robmarriott said:

Thanks for the reply, it’s an interesting point you make, I might try a quick walk on my non run days, I’ve been struggling with shin splints this week so that could be something which helps me, my breathing was fine I just couldn’t handle the pain!

A good long fast walk, so you really feel it. An hour or more if you can
I first noticed the positive effects after a 10mile cross country walk by myself. I just wanted to get it over with, so walked flat out!

I too had horrible shin pian when I started running a little faster.
It was frustrating, as I felt I was just getting past the ‘I can’t run’ stage!
I put up with it, until I felt like I was going to fall over, getting out of bed.

That’s when I bought a bike and spent all summer riding that, instead of running.
I’ve been back mostly running for 18months now and have not suffered again

I just took it to be a noob thing. Lack of development in that area and not used to the impact.