I have got myself up to running for 30mins non-stop but only at a very slow pace (6km per hour). I was very, very unfit before starting. How should I go about increasing my speed. I run on a treadmill so it's easy to keep a steady pace.
advice please
No idea - I'm at 30 minutes too but only covering 4 km (8 kph). Like to get faster and run for longer but need to finish week 9 firstly!
It is said that doing hill work will improve your time on the flat, as will doing sprints.
You don't say how long you've been running... it takes time but the best way to improve your time is just to keep running regularly. You could try some intervals, running at your normal pace and pushing yourself into slightly faster speeds for a few minutes at a time, or hill running. I'd suggest simply taking a step out of the door and discovering running in the fresh air, unless you live in the North Pole - it's a lot more motivating than the same old view from the dreadmill.
Can you run outside and try fartleks? That's what sped me up. I'd pick a route outside that takes 20 minutes. Then start running. Whenever you fancy, pick up the pace and run faster. How much faster? However fast you want. Slightly faster, considerably faster, speedy as heck, doesn't matter. Then pick a point to slow down. Maybe after a block, maybe after a telephone pole or two, maybe after you pass somebody, etc. How slow? Back to your normal pace or slower, often I've pushed myself so hard I need to walk. And then after a little bit of recovery, pick a new point on your run to start going faster again. It's really, really fun, and it really helps you run faster on your usual journeys.
If you were outdoors I would say run further to run faster. Greater distance will improve your stamina. If you are on a treadmill.............turn up the speed!
I believe that training and running for endurance tends to DECREASE the ability to run faster. Makes sense for me - running longer at slow paces improves endurance but does nothing for either stamina or speed. Sounds pedantic? I regard endurance as the ability to run a certain distance, while stamina is the ability to run that same distance at a selected pace and speed is the ability to increase pace during that run for short periods ( to either shake off a competitor or to kick at the finish of a race to defeat a competitor) . Most people who want to run "faster" are really looking for increased stamina to run a certain distance at a faster overall pace. To do this we have to answer the question - how do we eat an elephant. Answer is one spoonful at a time. Hence to improve stamina over say a 5K ( and hence improve overall finishing times) we need to be able to firstly run segments of that distance at a faster pace and slowly combine those segments until we are running the entire distance at that increased pace. Hence running a number of "repeats" with short (but decreasing ) rests inbetween each repeat is the way to go. Try running a number 500 metre repeats at first, then increase to 1 klm repeats and finally mile repeats - all aimed at a per klm pace faster than what your average 5K pace is currently. So if your current best 5k average pace is say 8 mins per K, try some repeats at 7:45 mins per k - maybe twice per week if you are running 4 times per week or only once per week if you are running 3 times per week. Don't overdo it .
Have you thought about running outdoors where it is much easier to vary what you do?
I seem to have had an improvement in speed/return to where I was from running with my normal full backpack on for a while, you could try that on the treadmill.
I found that park runs were very useful, and running with others faster than you naturally pushes you on. Our parkrun also has pace weeks where you can try and keep up with a pacer for say 30 minutes, or 28 and so on.
I also found running combinations useful. So I would do a park run, a standard 5k at my pace or as quick as I could, and then a slow run extending by 10 per cent a week. This brought my times from 32:40 down to 27:27 over about twelve weeks. Distance wise I am now as far as a half marathon and enjoy it. I alternate my long runs between flat, and hilly trails which also builds strength and has had an impact I would say.
I’m not the fast by any stretch of the imagination but I enjoy trying to improve. Good luck.
Try using the stepping stone podcasts, there is one for stamina and one for speed. I found it really helped with my pace and got me started on intervals. Alternatively, the fartlek system works great, as described by runswithdogs. I also do intervals around a football pitch, running faster along the short end and recover on the long edge. Good luck 🏃😁
Two more 30min+ runs under my belt
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