Hi guys! I am still around -- been very busy this June! I did want to post a thought/question. I decided today that I want to train towards an ultimate goal of making a 10 minute mile. I decided this for several reasons.
1. It is a sore spot with me because I have always been very unfit. I even remember back in high school kids could do this no problem and I would take like 23 minutes!
2. I have gotten myself quite comfortably down to a 15 minute mile. I could probably do it a bit faster if I was on a flat surface and actually broke into a jog. I was jogging, but there are too many hills when I do it outside that are really hard on my joints. So i have been walking at approx 4mph. Soon, I will have regular access to treadmills, though.
3. For motivation. I know my goal is, ultimately, better fitness and health. However, I thought having a focused goal would help me out a little bit with motivation.
Now my question: Those of you who have been involved in training towards a goal...how should I go about this? Is it really simply doing as much as I can, and trying to increase my speed incrementally every couple weeks? I know this might be a bit different than training for something like a marathon (and, therefore, probably a little bit slower going) because I really want to maintain this level of fitness. Also, I think that probably has more to do with endurance? Going for long periods of time...as you can see, I am a little confused. Any thoughts?
Hi! I find training toward goals to be very motivating, and it sounds like you've picked a good one.
I'm a little confused about whether your goal is to walk a 10-min mile or run one. I think it would be hard to walk that fast --- at that speed it is much easier to break into a run. If you work on extending the time that you can run, you will gradually increase your speed. I started out at around 15-min miles and now in a short race I can do 9 1/2 minutes per mile.
If you want to start running, just start small. Running takes some serious adjustment by your body and joints. I'd recommend adding a few minutes of running intervals to your walks at first.
Make sure you have good running shoes. Two good resources for new runners that I'd recommend: http://www.newrunner.com and John Bingham's The Courage to Start.
----------- Jen
Posts: 2868 | Location: Ohio | Registered: March 11, 2004
Kara, I would slowly up your speed each week... when I did I would stick to the previous week on day 1 and days 2&3 I would up the speed a bit and day 4 back to the previous week and day 5 back up... repeat the process another week or start upping it again.. I found it helpful to see the difference... Cindy
Be happy and healthy
Posts: 72 | Location: Florida | Registered: March 23, 2004
Yesss! I knew you guys would have the best ideas. I loooove those websites. I am really kind of a beginner to all this running stuff. The strength training for runners was really interesting too. I was doing some of those regularly, but definitely not all. it's really amazing to find out muscles that you would never suspect are involved are essential. I didn't even know Hers magazine was a muscle and fitness mag!Thanks for all the advice. Can't wait to see what trigirl says too!
Kara, Trigirl (Jen) has given me some great advice that spoke to my specific needs. She is out of town this week, but will be around next week, I hope.
As for your question, I simply upped my speed on the treadmill once/week. I found that once I had it down on the treadmill, it was easier to run outside on varying terrain at the faster pace. Plus, it's much easier to monitor your speed on a treadmill! I also increased my speed very slowly at first and then I found that as I became more fit, I was able to jump up a bit.
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
That sounds like a worthy goal to me! I'm more of a distance gal than a speed gal, so I'm gonna envy your speed. I have no idea what my current speed is.
The current issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers actually has a whole section on running. There's a related article on weight training for speed at the bottom:
"Running lots of miles at a slow pace is good for building up your mileage, but speed makes you physically and mentally sharp in a way that allows you to break through in races. If you want to run faster, this is your program.
Do one or two speed workouts a week, cycling through the following three programs. The rest of your cardio workouts should be done at a moderate pace so you don't wind up injured. Do these workouts on a track, treadmill or somewhere flat, and precisely measure your distances.
800 repeats with equal active rest: Warm up for five to 10 minutes by walking briskly or jogging slowly. Sprint 800 meters (about half a mile, or twice around a track) at an all-out pace. Don't stop between intervals; instead, jog or walk the same distance as slowly as you need to, using the time to recover for the next sprint. Repeat for a total of six to eight times. Cool down as you warmed up.
400 repeats with 200-meter active recovery: Warm up for five to 10 minutes by walking briskly or jogging slowly. Sprint 400 meters (about a quarter-mile, or once around a track) at an all-out pace. Don't stop between intervals; instead, jog or walk half that distance (about 200 meters) as slowly as you need to, using the time to recover. Repeat for a total of six to eight times. Cool down as you warmed up.
Sprint Ladder: Warm up for five to 10 minutes by walking or jogging slowly. Sprint for 200 meters, then jog or walk to recover for 200 meters. Repeat this sprint/active rest pattern for 400 and 800 meters. Repeat this ladder two to three times, and then cool down as you warmed up."
I'm sure TriGirl will probably have some input too!
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Posts: 1428 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: March 11, 2004
