Why am I so slow?

[hart0201]

Finished my second 5k on Sunday and was really pleased with myself for running the whole way - but it took me 42 minutes and I didn't feel like I could've pushed myself much faster. Does anyone have tips on increasing speed?

[Oldgirl Graduate]

This is my second time of doing C25K, I completed it last year then a month later was struck down with sciatica. I was much faster last year when running too. So now I'm on week 7 and on Sunday I decided to try and lengthen my stride to be faster and cover more distance. It worked that I was able to knock 1 minute 7 seconds off the previous run of the same distance & route. I knew by my muscles that I had worked harder, only time will tell once I have completed the C25K again as to if I am back to my original speed.

So in short, try and lengthen your stride once you are warmed up and see if that helps with your times.

Good luck.

[sfb350 Graduate]

Try doing a shorter distance once a week and running "intervals". Alternate a comfortable jog with a faster run, perhaps following the Week 1 podcast as a guideline.

Strength training on days when you are not running is also supposed to help with increasing speed.

There's a good program here for people who can run 5k but want to get faster (and the download is free, yay !) : runningtrainingplan.com/tra...

[mair99 Graduate]

I'm not really the expert here but i think if you do 5k consistantly for a few weeks then you see a gradual improvement in your time. Your body has to get used to it and you will know when you can increase your speed a little because you will feel like you have a bit of energy left at the end of the run. Happy running!