How to speed up?

[Fermerswife]

Hi everyone I am now on week 3 run 2 and I am just wondering if anyone has any tips for lengthening their stride? I'm doing c2k in a small group and while I know it's not about speed it's frustrating me because I am the only one who it actually completing all the running segments but yet I'm left running along behind people walking? It's not getting to me too much but i would just love to be a bit quicker so my hard work pays off....currently about 8.5 minutes per km. Thanks in advance!

[mrrun Graduate]

Run alone. Your run, your rules.

[Fermerswife in reply to mrrun]

Thanks Mrrun I started on my own and there's positives and negatives to both. The group gets me off my bum on the days when I get home from work and all I want to do is sit on the sofa! It's hard to know what's best.

[mrrun Graduate in reply to Fermerswife]

The best is when you have a personal goal and call the shots in your own time, on your own terms. Oh, and with a little help from self belief and discipline.

[Sofabunny]

I am running on treadmill so I can guage my speed easily...so I know I'm not doing any speed at all..in fact it's anti-speed..someone at work told me that you can speed up by trying to do short bursts at a higher speed then slowing down .personally I am not going to try that till after graduation.

I do worry about it though as I don't want to stuck at jogging very slowly when I want to be running around the park at a reasonable speed ( faster than walking !)eventually

[icklegui Graduate]

"I am the only one who it actually completing all the running segments"

"so my hard work pays off"

- your hard work is paying off as you are actually completing the running segments! and you're doing it at a steady pace which is what is recommended. Sounds to me like you're doing perfectly.

If you want some reading, in the FAQs (check the pinned posts) there's one called "too slow.... Too fast" which explains that a comfortable, sustainable, conversational pace is efficient for building your running legs - better than going fast.

After you complete C25K you could work on speed using things like intervals and running long slow runs which help speed up the shorter ones.

[Fermerswife]

Thanks everyone I'll keep going as is then x

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Please don't try to lengthen your stride. It is likely to cause more strain and stresses. To speed up you increase cadence.

To complete C25K you run at your pace, not somebody else's.

[Sofabunny in reply to IannodaTruffe]

What's cadence? 😕

[Tbae in reply to Sofabunny]

Cadence is the number of steps per min.Or beats per minute.

You can count them.Every time your right foot or left kisses the ground count them for 60 seconds.Or like taking your pulse , count the number in 15 seconds and x by 4.

Double that is your cadence for both feet in one minute.🤔👍

Speed or pace = your cadence( steps/min) x your stride length.

As Mentor advises do not lengthen your stride, higher risk of injury as you build your very unstrengthened running legs.

See the FAQ Posts.

Hope this helps.

Keep smiling and enjoying this gift to yourself.🌟👏👏

[Sofabunny in reply to Tbae]

🐎👌

[Fermerswife in reply to Tbae]

Thanks so much that's really helpful advice x

[Kar43]

That's quick enough for now, you'll get quicker as your legs get stronger over time 😊

I asked similar question while ago.

but worse for me I'm 10 min per k 😂🏃‍♀️🤣 so your doing better than me an I've graduated 😂😉😊