Running/jogging improvement

Keep running i also run, and have been running for about 3 months...the weight does come off easily but you do loose some upper body strength. I do 5km 3.2 miles 5 days a week and my best time is 37.29.

 

It's a very realistic goal depending on your body type. But if you hit a wall it is good to do sprints and opther types of runs to continue to progress.

 

I think that's a little ambitious. I run quite often and I don't think I could do it that fast. Maybe try in increments, say 5-10 seconds the first two weeks, then 15, then 20 off your beginning time. Just so you can be sure to achieve your goal and not get discouraged.

 

Lostmykeys has the right idea; now that you've been running regularly for a while, you might incorporate some speedwork. By this, I don't mean sprints. I mean intervals and tempo runs.

Tempo runs are continuous runs at a pace hard enough to be able to feel it, but not so hard that you can't maintain it for the duration. You should start by doing a warmup jog for about ten minutes first, and accompany it with a cooling down jog of a similar time.

Intervals you might already be familiar with; hard running (remember, NOT sprinting) over a certain distance, preferably on a track, followed by a cooldown jog or walk, then another hard interval. Try a half mile at first to try it out (twice around a track in the second lane) and see how it goes. At this point, don't worry about a goal time, just familiarize yourself with the feeling of running harder than you're used to. Don't go out too fast, as the idea behind intervals is to do a few of them per session. Don't wanna burn yourself out on the first one.

Eventually, build up to doing mile and then mile and a half intervals, maybe even two mile sets. You'll be surprised how you'll cut your times (at least at first).

 

............I'd steer clear of trails, at least inasmuch as it would affect what you're trying to accomplish here. Trails have uneven surfaces, which means you have to leap here and there, slow down to avoid this, speed up around that; the pace tends to be very uneven on trials, so I don;t see that helping at all.

Tell me if it's different for you when you do get outside, but I predict your mile time will be faster on a track than on the treadmill. For some reason, that always seems the case.

I would absolutely advocate getting off the treadmill. The test is going to be on a track, so might as well get used to it. Spice it up with some runs around the neighborhood, parks are a great idea. I find the need to change venues once in a while if the scenery gets too boring.

 

is this true?

 

Yes I have noticed that I have lost a little upper body strength, but i am not lifting as much due to the fact that too much bulk tends to slow you down. Also if you are asking about my times yes 37.29 is my best time for a 5km run on a tread mill with a slight incline...although I ran 6km outside in around 43min or a little less but i went by the clock as I was leaving the house and I am not sure how accurate I was.

 

not a fan of sprints?

 

.............No. Tempo runs and interval training are far more useful.

 

isn't that sort of like sprinting?

 

what i do is. set the clock for 5 minutes. and have it ding every 20 seconds and i start the clock when i start running and sprint 40 yards rest till it dings again and keep doing this until 5 minutes is up i repeat 5x

 

I've been sticking a 3 miler for some months now where I keep up a good pace and then give it everything in the final stretch. I've clocked about 23 mins before. I think that's pretty good.

 

.............Not at all. A sprint is an all-out thing, whereas an interval is run at a slightly lower intensity and typically (though not always) done at longer distances. I mean, you're not going to sprint a mile. And, as his goal is to finish in a certain time over 1.5 miles, running sprints over much shorter distances isn't going to help him.