Run-Down Forums

[vanessa]

Hello
I have run for the last 5 - 6 years as a basic form of health and fitness, but have recently felt as tho this has lacked direction and purpose and have looked at doing some races to keep me a bit more interested in my running.

I have therefore entered a marathon and a half marathon, I am less concerned about the marathon time as I 'just want to finish it' in under 4 hours.

But the half marathon I know I can do better with (did one a year ago in 2:05 with only 5 x half hour runs a week and only one 1 hour run the week before!)

Because in the past I have just been running along easily and not really increasing my speed for the last 5 etc years, I don't know any good techniques for getting a better speed.

I know that doing sprints in the middle of my runs is supposed to increase speed, but I am wondering what the story is with strides??? Do they enhance speed?

Thanks!!! (this site is really good)

Vanessa

[Dan]

Hi Vanessa,

A couple of things:

- You should be getting your longer runs in during the build-up phase of your training, not the week before a race; that's the time to rest.

- It sounds like you run the same pace and distance most days. The best way to get faster is to vary the two. Alternate hard and easy days, both in terms of pace and distance.

- No one actually sprints in the middle of a run. It may sound nitpicky, but there is a big difference between speed work and pace work. What you are thinking of is tempo or pace work, which is more beneficial for marathoning, anyway.

- Strides can be the single best method of getting faster! I recommend doing 4x100m strides after every run if possible.

Cheers,
Dan