Monday, January 19, 2015

Run Faster?

When I worked as an exercise physiologist on the Air Force base, one of my main jobs was teaching classes and advising the people who failed their fitness tests. There was a wide range of reasons and deficiencies, of course, but the 1.5 mile run test was a common source of concern. And "failure." I don't have the standards in front of me, but it seems for women in their 30s, a 9:30 pace (that means per mile) for that mile and a half was passing. Passing this test isn't just for the accolades; if they keep failing they can actually lose rank and eventually be kicked out of the military.

I asked a lot of questions of the people who failed, trying to figure out what was keeping them from reaching their goals. Sometimes it was simply motivation, which I had a hard time helping. If the threat of losing your job isn't enough, I'm not sure anything is. I actually went through 15 minutes of workouts with a woman who came to me asking how to improve. She then told me, "I'm probably not going to do any of that." Well ok then.

But for those who want to improve on their running, I have summed up ways that you might change what you are doing to increase speed and endurance. This mostly focuses on beginners, since achieving a 9:30 pace for 2400m isn't exactly what elite runners are working toward.

1. Run more. Doing 1.5 miles twice a week won't prepare you for a 1.5 mile race, for example. Add a few minutes here and there to your usual runs. Work up to 4 or 5 runs per week. Build slowly.

2. Don't run as fast as you can every run. Pace yourself. Lose the watch and Garmin sometimes (or often).


3. But on the other hand, run fast sometimes. It can be between light posts or mailboxes. Run to 3 mailboxes easy, then run to the next one hard. These are fartleks, and you can time them if you want to, but it's really not necessary.

4. Run with friends who are faster. Run with friends who are slower. Enjoy it a little.

5. Run hills.


6. Look at your body composition. On base, if a person failed the waist circumference, it made it easier to objectively correlate the run with weight. Look at your BMI for starters. If it is in the overweight range, you might think about losing a few pounds. BUT if you are of normal BMI and body fat percentage, maybe you  need to gain muscle.

7. Do strength training. Especially if you are female, over 40, or have an ectomorphic body type. Plyometrics are gold. Jump, climb, squat, press. Lift heavy weights quickly (and carefully).

8. Fuel yourself properly. You wouldn't pour Coke in your car's gas tank and expect it to run well, now would you?

9. Triathletes? Do bricks often. They can be short.


Now go enjoy yourself while you get faster.




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