Please help me run faster.

[jason_t]

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Ok, so how does this sound?:

Monday: 4-5 miles
Tuesday: Speed work at track (jason t's suggested plan)
Wednesday: 4-5 miles
Thursday: 4-5 miles
Friday: 4-5 miles
Saturday: Long run day, 8-10 miles
Sunday: Rest day.

I would assume the speed day and long run days should be spread out a bit, right?

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I would place the day of rest after the day at the track. That is going to be one of your hardest workouts if you've never done that sort of thing before. No matter what you do, the day after your track workout and your long run need to be easier than the other days. You can add in one more routine called a tempo run. Start your run at an easy pace to get warmed up. Once you're loose, increase your pace until you are at near race pace. Stay at this pace for awhile and as you get towards the end of the run gradually slow down. This develops your anaerobic threshhold. Given your schedule above I would do this on Thursday.

[mslif]

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Wow, your old times are awesome. If you like running middle distances maybe you should look into triathlons (if you haven't before). I've been racing in Tri's this summer and it's a blast.

I'll try your track repeats plan, thanks.

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I am a triathlete as well. What distances were you racing? My last race was in August and it was a blast.

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This was my first year, I started with an Olympic distance out of sure ignorance [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img], then did 3 more that were all sprints. Next season I'm going to try to fit in more Oly's (maybe 4-5) and end the season with the Half-Iron at Lake Geneva, WI.

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To avoid googling, what does Olympic distance mean? Is that like the Iron Man Triathlon? I think that's 2.4 miles swimming, 116 miles on the bike, and then a 26 mile run.

~D

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Olympic distances are much shorter than that: .5 km (0.9 mile) swim / 40 km (24.9 mile) bike / 10 km (6.2 mile) run

[namknils]

For triathlons there are a few different categories of distances.

Sprint Distance - These are the short races that are usually a 400-800 meter swim, 12.4-18 mile bike, and 3.1-5 mile run. These distances vary, but are usually in these ranges.

Olympic Distance - Triathlon became an Olympic sport in 2000, so the distance they race is 1500 meter swim, 40K bike (24.6 miles I think?), and a 10K run.

Half Iron Distance - 1.2 Mile swim, 56 Mile Bike, 13.1 Mile Run

IronMan - 2.4 Mile Swim, 112 Mile Bike, 26.2 Mile Run (full marathon)

[mackthefork]

I used to do a lot of pyramids when I was running long distance, basically 15 secs slow/15 secs fast, then 30 secs slow/30 secs fast, then do 1 min slow/1 min fast, then 30 secs again, 15 secs again, if you get good you can try a 2 min rep as well. That really helps you change pace in the middle of a race, good for up and downhill and changing pace for tactical reasons.

Mack

[M2d]

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It also helps if you have a training partner that you're competitive with.

You'll work harder, which will lead to faster 5k times.

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