How do I increase my pace from Snailpace to a little bit faster Snailpace?

[Yogamaz]

I am running in the Bournemouth 10K on 5th October for Alzheimers in memory of my Dad. I completed the C25K in June and then I started doing JuJu’s Magic Plan. I then switched to the Bournemouth 10K training plan. Yesterday I did 10K for the first time with a little walking after 7K and then ran to the finish. It took me 1 hr and 35 mins which is very slow. The cut off for the Bournemouth 10K is 1hr 30 mins!! How do I increase my speed without going too hard and injuring myself? Any advice would be gratefully received.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Try the +C25K Stepping Stones podcasts with Laura, you could vary them around on the same 3 days as you did C25K, pace, speed and stamina, still 4 weeks to go until the Bournemouth 10K, by then with the above training you should get a sub 90 minutes 10K time.

[Yogamaz Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

Thank you I will check them out.

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate10]

I read on the forum early on... to run faster, first you must run faster.

Sounds simple but of course you have to increase in small steps to get quicker safely.

The first thing I tried was just faster music, that pushed me on and gave me a bit more speed without too much added effort.

Another time I simply tried to run a 4/5k run as fast as I could. It got major results but of course it wasn't sustainable but it proved to me I could go faster than I thought.

From then on I tried just speeding up a little on flatter sections or easy parts, that seemed to have the best overall effect.

Try different things and see what suits you 👍🏻

[Yogamaz Graduate10 in reply to GoGo_JoJo]

Thanks for that. I think that is a good idea to try going faster on shorter runs. I will give it a go!!

[damienair Administrator]

I found that by doing interval training on my 5K runs it naturally made me faster at 10K. You just need to get used to running 5k at a faster pace and you’ll just get used to a faster pace overall. Although in a 10K race the crowd will pull you along and you’ll run a little faster than your training runs.

Damien

[Yogamaz Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Thanks, I was hoping that on race day the excitement of the day may mean that I go faster anyway! Here’s hoping.

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

I was also going to suggest intervals. There’s a great app lots of people on here use called JogRunSprint. It’s 30-20-10 seconds of each, and you can customise your sets/reps. I personally don’t enjoy interval training much, being a confirmed snail, but I do them because I feel I should, and they do make a difference. Worth a go? Good luck! 😀👍

[Yogamaz Graduate10 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thank you, I will give that a go!

[UpTheStanley Graduate10]

Wouldn’t disagree with anything anyone’s said, but it’s entirely possible the buzz of the event will give you those 5 minutes without you doing anything noticeably different. Just go for it 👍😀

[Yogamaz Graduate10 in reply to UpTheStanley]

Thank you, that is what I am hoping will happen.

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

My first 10k was very slow because I was really conservative. I just wanted to make sure I could make the distance. Second time around I was substantially quicker, I think because I was confident that I could move more quickly and still make the 10k. I have used intervals with JogRunSprint in one short run per week ...it did help me to speed up generally. You will get there...just don't overdo it or you will end up IC.😊

[Yogamaz Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thank you, I think I did go slower than I normally do for that same reason and I was worried that if I pushed to hard I would end up injured!! Hopefully on the day I will be caught up in the excitement and will go faster anyway! Now I know I can do the distance it has taken a bit of the pressure off!