Forgive me if there is one already, if not, can someone start a training plan focussed on improving speed?
Many of us started with the C25K and then did he 10K. So we are experienced endurance builders. But, we dont have much ideas for improving speed alongside endurance. Searching online throws up a 1000 methodologies. It would be nice if someone with experience would set up a plan to follow.
There are so many out there, it is just a matter of finding one to suit you
Maybe Heath Unlocked will start an initiative, as they did with Couch to 5K...
Lots of running is the answer to many things... strength and stamina build with each run... Mixing runs up helps, and short runs are great... but it is the long, slow relaxed runs that build everything up, and over time, speed and distance follow
I am working on being more consistent in my running, 3 days a week with a long run on Sundays. Crossed fingers, but I do 5 k on Tuesday/Thursday and 8 - 10 k on Sundays and Yoga on Saturdays. Just that if I feel sick/tired/busy on one running day, the entire week is shot. Sometimes the drag impacts 2 - 3 weeks and I lose all the speed/endurance I had worked hard to get.
I understand..have you upped some of your strength and stamina work on some rest days at all ?
Yes, but less consistently than running... I do Nike Training Club exercises. Cant do push ups/pull ups but I can go almost everything else the different exercises suggest. 20 - 45 minutes of exercises.
I have improved from close to 10 minutes to an almost consistent 9.37 pace. Also I can run 2 - 3 km at a stretch. A year ago used to walk 2 minutes for every 5 min of running. But I am not improving anymore and I seem to slip back to 10 pace as my distance crosses 7 or 8 km
Touchwood, but no injuries thus far. Some lungs issues, but they are always there.
I'll get back to you as I'm just on my way to work. What distances are you after improving? I took my 5k from 33mins down to 24mins in just under 8 months and took 15mins off my 10k in the same period. Not sure I can assist much with HM distance as I'm still working on that but hoping to go from 1:59 (first HM) to sub 1:50 this year.
Intervals and hills mainly. Let me know what your trying to achieve. I study this subject 🤣🤣🤣
Wow! I have been running 1 year now and have a measly 3 min imp in my 10k My 5k is 42 min!! and 10k is 92 min. I would be thrilled if I can bring down 5k to 30 min and 10k to 80 min. I have no plans of increasing to HM until I can improve my pace.
Please let me know what I should do? I would be eternally grateful!
Ok cool what's your current weekly routine/milage? PM if you wish dont wish to make it public. Sounds like a 10k improvers plan for you my friend 🤪
There are two ways of "speeding up" - increase your cadence (steps per minute) or stride length. You need to try to do one or the other, or both, over short distances at first, to get some idea of what is possible. We all have absolute limits (which decline with age 
) for both of these. We also have absolute limits for combinations of pace and distance. But while you're in the "improver" stage, you don't know what these are. Maybe 8k is absolutely as far as you can go at 9'37"/k, but hopefully not.
Personally, I am (at 68) in the "declining" stage as far as 5k goes. 4 years ago I managed a sub-23, now I'm happy to break 25 and will be delirious if I get a sub-24 this year. But having not run further than 5k for many years, I am now pushing my distances up again in preparation for this year's Great South Run and am possibly seeing minor improvements in performance at distances over 10k.
Before you can work out a plan, you need realistic goals. You've said your 5k PB is 42 minutes, so 40 is realistic - 30 is currently absolute dreamland. You've also said you're only running 2-3k at a stretch, so presumably that 5k included some walking, so eliminating the walking might get you down to 40 mins (unless you walk as fast as you run, which I know is true for some people (Oldgirlruns ) , though I find this difficult to imagine myself). For 10k, 92 down to 85 (not 80) is realistic but would be a big big step.
I also just can't equate the speeds you quote with your PBs. 92 minutes for 10k is a 9'12" average, 42 for 5 is 8'24". So you seem to be going faster than you think you can …...
Whatever, an idea ….. If you've got access to a treadmill, you could run a gentle k to warm up then tweak the speed up a notch at a time until you think you're about to fly off the back (this will be your absolute max speed, currently). Then turn it down a couple of notches (so you still feel you're being stretched, but in control) and see how long you can maintain that pace. Then just cool down gently. Next time, after the warm-up k, set the pace you arrived at before and just try to go a couple of hundred metres further. And so on ….. once you've got the distance up a bit, tweak the speed up a fraction and see if you can manage the same distance. Get the speed up to 8'00"/k and the distance to 5k and bingo ……. goal achieved . Now you can think about 35 minutes, or perhaps 37.5.
Incidentally, there's no way missing one session in a week should knock you back at all, let alone set you back three weeks. That's a gremlin playing with your head - just tell him where to get off!
Sorry if that's all a bit heavy ...….. good luck however you decide to proceed
It is not just missing one session, it is missing one session from allergies and too groggy from meds for 2 or more sessions and then suddenly a whole fortnight gone.
I will try the treadmill when I can.
I thought everyone ran shorter distances faster than longer distances? Isn't a longer pace for 10k the norm?
I found intervals on the treadmill helped.
Also, I know it's frowned upon, but when I ran outside these last 2 weeks, I built up by running 5 times a week, gradually increasing the distance, and I found that I knocked 5 mins off my 10k time. My cadence was faster outside than on the treadmill, which just proved that I could go faster than I thought I could.
Try going just a tiny bit faster. You might have it in your legs and not know it.
Oh thank you for that and yes, I can go faster! I have tried some of those speed work outs and I show a Pace of 7:37 for 2 min! What follows afterwards is barely moving at a pace of 12 or more 
Last Thursday I ran 3 km in 25 min. That's the fastest+longest I have run continuously.
I just need to translate that to 10k.
This seemingly well respected calculator (runsmartproject.com/calcula... suggests if you can do 3k in 25 mins (8'20"/k average) you might expect to be able to do 5k in 42'21" (8'28"/k) and 10k in 88'10" (8'49"/k). Which aren't that much different from your PBs for those distances, so you are already translating the speed when things go well. So, apart from the treadmill trick, I would suggest maybe for one run a week you only do 3k (after warming up) and try to shave a few seconds off that 25 minute time each week.
Good luck!
Edit - don't know why that hasn't come up as a link - but you can cut and paste the URL if interested ……… oh it has now
runsmartproject.com/calcula...
It was a nice morning, I left home without water or music to focus on my 3k, but one look at the hydration support for some marathon in progress, I decided to do a 8k. As always, without ear phones my enthusiasm flagged post 5k. My body keeps telling me to just walk and smell the bougainvillaea (no roses on this road). I decided to counter this by doing strides, 6 strides over a total distance of 1km game me my best km speed of 8'14" in the 6th km!!! Now, I believe I can make it to 85 :).
And yes, I will focus on under 40 5k first, a fairly reasonable goal
Thanks for all the encouragement
Roll up Roll up for the next 10k plan 🤩
Music, Goals and Max Heart Rate W12R3
Another HM signed up for...😀
Plan to improve 5k speed?
Running Slower For Endurance.
