Slow parkrun

[60sgirl]

Disappointed that my parkrun time this week was 2 minutes slower than my PB. In previous weeks I have had to walk some of it, so yesterday I concentrated on being able to keep going the whole way round - but obviously at the expense of my speed! Does anybody have any tips on how to improve speed week on week, so that I can do it faster without feeling like I am about to die?! I have just bought a GPS watch - can I use this to set myself speed targets? (I haven’t quite got to grips with how to use it yet..)

[John_W Graduate]

I wouldn''t worry tooo much about speed, but if you really feel like it, there's all sorts of things you can to go faster. It's a truism that to run faster you simply need to run faster - sounds daft but it's true. So..

- you could try intervals - either outside or on a treadmill.

-- 1 minute fast, then 1 minute very slow - and repeat about 8 times (have a look at the C25K Speed podcast)

-- 4 minutes quick, then 4 minutes very slow - repeat 3 more times.

- you could try improving your endurance but going for a long SLOW run every week.

Stuff like that will improve you

Good luck!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I am afraid that you have to come to terms with the fact that you are not going to inexorably increase your parkrun time week after week...........progress in running is not a continual upward curve.

Frankly, trying to beat your pb each week is not a particularly good training regime. You might be better off doing more longer, slower runs to build stamina and strength and targeting the pb perhaps once a month.

There are links in the guide to post C25K running healthunlocked.com/couchto5... to articles about getting faster and they all say spend more time running slowly.

My all time PBs at 5 and 10k came two years after I completed C25K and came in a period when I was running a greater monthly distance than at any other time..........I believe those facts are linked.

You are still a very new graduate, so be patient.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

IannodaTruffe has said it all..😊

[Tasha99 Graduate]

Run further and hillier!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

They’ve already said it above.

Do this like a pro, don’t try to run faster every week or every run, target an event. Maybe every 4th parkrun is a PB attempt and the rest are just nice runs... run slower in the runs leading up to the one you’re targeting, leave some fuel in the tank. Go longer on one run, go shorter and faster in another.