a couple of days late but if I had posted it on the 1st you'd have assumed it was an April Fool's prank. So this is the Marathon group April challenge, not another madcap Rhomboid Channel escapade.
And it's really simple:
Now that Winter behind us and Spring is finally, hopefully here, it's time to shake off that hibernatory slumber and winter padding behind and put a spring in your step. This month is about getting faster.
There is often a lot of emphasis (a LOT of emphasis) on going slowly. Of being slow but steady. Of slowing down and concentrating on distance. Of not pushing ourselves because dire consequences.
Well this month we are going to go the other way. We are going to push ourselves and we are going to get faster.
Now that doesn't mean you have to start doing your 20 milers at 5k pace or sprinting your recovery runs, do constant interval training or even do all your runs at an increased pace.
Choose one of your regular weekly runs. It can be your long distance run or it can be your midweek 10k or even your active recovery day 1 miler, just make it the same one each week, and do it a bit faster than last week. If you're doing an 18 miler on Sundays in 3:15, try to get it down to 3:10 this week. If you're doing 60 minute 10ks a couple of times a week, shave a couple of minutes off on one of them this week. Then next week do it again, only a little faster. And so on throught the month.
4 weeks, 4 increases in speed.
It doesn't have to be race pace. You're not aiming to to get a new PB, just to progressively increase the speed of one of your training runs (althouh if you want to you can). You don't have to break yourself, but you do have to push yourself a bit.
Record your chosen distance and starting time. Then each week record your new time and the amount you have improved by.
At the end of the month someone who is clever at maths and spreadsheets will work out whose improvement is best, weighted for distance and initial speed ( they may even produce a table of results. I have no idea. I have no idea who that person may be but am sure amongst a community of marathon trainers there is someone who is nerdily inclined in that manner).
The winner may or may not receive a prize but everyone who participates will receive a boost to their performance.
Run, Bullseye, run like the wind!
And I'm like Curlygurly2 , I can't help but get faster 
