What Can You Do to Improve Speed and Endurance for the Marathon: My 5 part plan
I am pleased with my endurance, but would like to be faster. I would like to be super-fast for my age group. While I know my large bone structure is unlikely to have me be super-fast, I want to see how fast I can get. It was just late June when I decided to train for my first marathon. The last time I tested myself was the 2005 Cowtown 5K where I ran 26:35, placing me at #32 among 40-44 year old men. Not so fast.
So, what can I do to get fast? Here’s my 5 part plan: (1) Build my endurance and distance, (2) Do speed work a couple of days per week, (3) Get much more flexible, (4) proper hydration and fueling for my runs, and (5) leverage sports massage after the big runs to help me recover faster. This plan is based on the far too much research, but it is still just a novice sort of theory. All that said, it seems to be working.
In July my paced runs were at a 9-10 minute mile pace. The best was a 5 mile paced run on 7/29 at a 9:01 pace. Saturday (10/7) I hit a new mark. My 5 mile paced run averages 7:58 per mile. I hope to bring that down to 7:30 in my first 10K race situation next Sunday. Here’s the by-mile results for a 5 mile paced run Saturday:
1 – 8:55
2 – 8:20
3 – 7:53
4 – 7:30
5 – 7:10
I try to do my runs in 1/3 segments getting faster at each phase. So, after nearly 4 months of serious running, I seem to be making more substantial progress. Much of the progress has been in just the last month. So, what had the most meaningful impact? Unfortunately, when you alter more than one variable in an experiment, you lose your chance of clearly defining cause an effect. I have recently been made a much more concerted effort to stretch. Not just before and after runs, but 2 other times during the day. I think this had more of an impact than the other things, but no way to tell for sure. What do you think?
So, what can I do to get fast? Here’s my 5 part plan: (1) Build my endurance and distance, (2) Do speed work a couple of days per week, (3) Get much more flexible, (4) proper hydration and fueling for my runs, and (5) leverage sports massage after the big runs to help me recover faster. This plan is based on the far too much research, but it is still just a novice sort of theory. All that said, it seems to be working.
In July my paced runs were at a 9-10 minute mile pace. The best was a 5 mile paced run on 7/29 at a 9:01 pace. Saturday (10/7) I hit a new mark. My 5 mile paced run averages 7:58 per mile. I hope to bring that down to 7:30 in my first 10K race situation next Sunday. Here’s the by-mile results for a 5 mile paced run Saturday:
1 – 8:55
2 – 8:20
3 – 7:53
4 – 7:30
5 – 7:10
I try to do my runs in 1/3 segments getting faster at each phase. So, after nearly 4 months of serious running, I seem to be making more substantial progress. Much of the progress has been in just the last month. So, what had the most meaningful impact? Unfortunately, when you alter more than one variable in an experiment, you lose your chance of clearly defining cause an effect. I have recently been made a much more concerted effort to stretch. Not just before and after runs, but 2 other times during the day. I think this had more of an impact than the other things, but no way to tell for sure. What do you think?
posted by givings at 11:53 AM
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