running for dummies

[rmgrimes79]

dont know much but when i was young was pretty good at running without trying, now post knee reconstruction ....
what i do is just aim for say a 5min run and then build up, but dont stop keep moving until you have done half hour workout. run walk run walk. three times a week. on a nice oval. you will get to half hour and then try hills, when you can do hills, race ... race improve your PB quickly, here in townsville (i know its a bit out of the way for a weekend race) we have a race a varying distance every week --- it is a great way to improve fitness (my aim is just to beat a friend of mine --- she is 15 years older than me and has 3 kids ..... each week we have a bet (coffee post race) i was only shouted 5 times last year but this year shes mine
also i have a smallish 3.5km loop around the uni that is perfect to race PBs, so I would recommend getting your own little track where you can try different techniques to determine what works best for you
and keep at it, and try not to get discouraged with poor performances, we all have them.

[Addict]

hoping to draw on the collective wisdom of BNA to improve my running (i know, i know...blasphemy but this is a tri thread )

background: recently took up running on the treadmill at the gym to improve my cardio (i find it easier to pace myself with a speedo in front of me) would prefer to be on the bike but alas time constraints dont allow.

have gone from barely being able to run 1km in 7 mins to achieving my goal of 5km in 30min and further improving the time down to 28m30s (AT) 10.5km/h. this has no doubt helped my cycling and vice vesa having become addicted to riding hills on the weekends

i dont have a particular goal in mind other than further improving my fitness, which raises my question of where to focus my efforts. should i:

- increase the time spent running at a given intensity/speed
- increase the intensity/speed at which i run for a set time
- increase the intensity/speed (moreso than in point 2) for a given distance thereby bringing my PB down

???

i'm leaning towards option 2 or 3 as i like to have time to do free weights at the gym too but was wondering what those with more experience suggest. IMO both have their merits i.e from a roadie perspective #2 could be compared to a crit race over a set time and #3 a road race over a given distance

thanks,

JV

really depends on what your goals are.. besides fitness which u can achieve via the bike... did u want to improve ur speed for 5.. or run more than 5k??

how long have u been running for?

[bennysthe1]

I am trying to crack 12km in under an hour. I started off going in too hard and running out of juice. I can easily do the 5km in under 30 min but doing that extra 7 in another 30 is a lot harder than I thought.

[Thoglette]

I am trying to crack 12km in under an hour. I started off going in too hard and running out of juice. I can easily do the 5km in under 30 min but doing that extra 7 in another 30 is a lot harder than I thought.

Can't get there from here.

You need to work at it from two ends:
* how far can you get in one hour (or hour and a half)at a constant cadence (start with 6min km)
* how far can you go at 12km per hour

An hour is long enough that you have to be running at constant, sustaintable, aerobic pace. (Ok, so you can sprint the last 2km)

Find an earworm of a track with a suitable cadence (for me it is a remix of Cure's Lullaby) and run as far as you can in an hour or so. GO SLOW.

At the same cadence, but at a larger stride, work on your 1km, 2km and 4km times (in different sessions!!!)

[JV911]

really depends on what your goals are.. besides fitness which u can achieve via the bike... did u want to improve ur speed for 5.. or run more than 5k??

how long have u been running for?

no particular goals (i guess it would help if i did!) apart from fitness. achieved my 1st goal of 5km in 30 mins within a relatively short period. 6-8 weeks from memory

i've been slack recently so will set myself a new goal. given most races are of set distances i will try and bring my time down to say 27mins (~11km/h)

havent been running for long. was a good sprinter and rugby player at school (12 years ago!)

[Chaderotti]

And don't run far at first - your cardio fitness is probably far better than the state of your knee/ankle ligaments and muscles.

+2
"Hey let's go for a run!"
-next day trying to stand up from couch-
"I need a crane! "

[Avanti22]

Easiest way to keep motivated while running is get a armband for your Ipod and upload some songs with a constant cadence and slightly up beat melody to encourage you to push hard and sweat it out........ some of my faves for running (not necissarily my fave music but great songs for getting the blood flowing) are:

Lets get retarted - Black Eyed Pea's

Sand storm - Darude

Bust a move - Young MC

Your Hot - Sneaky sound system

How far we've come - matchbox 20

Sexy back - Justin Timberlake

Animals - Nickleback

Stronger - Kanye west

Thoughts of a dieing athiest - Muse

and heaps more....


Can easily push out 8-10km .... Love it!... 4min30sec/km

or theres always my interval workout for faster training and race times:

10min - warm up - run at a nice easy pace
2min - push the pace to 80%
2min - back to recovery pace which is slightly faster than warm up pace
2min - 80%
2min - recovery pace
2min - 80%
2min - recovery pace
2min - 80%
2min - recovery pace
2min - 80%
2min - recovery pace
2min - this is your last 80% effort feel free to expend your remaining energy
10min - return to the nice easy running pace you started with, it is important that you take this time to warm down to prevent muscle soreness and follow by streching.

This workout absolutely drills and I could prob fill a bathtub with my own sweat if I rung out my clothes but it feels awesome afterwards.