To be clear, I am trying to increase my speed. I don’t want to run fast objectively, but I am trying to hit an 8-minute mile as my first benchmark. Right now I am at about 10 minutes, so I am trying to get faster, just not “fast” by most standards.
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More nostalgia about technique, just because this is fun. I remember running a 100m in a meet just once, and I didn’t know how to start. I just decided I wanted to run it that day, jumped into an empty lane basically, and thought I’d figure the start out. I did not, and by the time I was 60m into this race, everyone else was done. It was so bad I actually had time to consider whether it was more embarrassing to just walk off the track from where I was or finish running it with no one else on the track.
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Did you finish?
I am a huge fan of the elite track and field meets. And speaking of high school athletes, start following 17-year-old Quincy Wilson. He might be on his way to being one of the greatest 400 meter sprinters ever. He just broke his under-18 world record in the 400 meter, winning the event at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix,
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I believe they are the best athletes on the planet. Especially the women. You watch women’s basketball or soccer then watch women’s track and you see another level of athleticism.
I did. Then I jogged right off into a corner to hide
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I respect that.
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This guy could have easily been a bodybuilder.
Most sprinters have the genetics to be gifted as bodybuilders.
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@enwar I meant dont bother “racing” further than 5K. Race pace efforts for 10k, 10mile etc require far more overall running and longer training distances that are beyond your (reasonably) conservative goals.
Fun runs of longer distances at jog/walk are less debilitating but not really necessary for your goals.
Steady runs of my suggested 20 mins (approx) plus some faster intervals are just a basic intro approach.
“To be clear, I am trying to increase my speed. I don’t want to run fast objectively, but I am trying to hit an 8-minute mile as my first benchmark. Right now I am at about 10 minutes, so I am trying to get faster, just not “fast” by most standards.”
Set your goal to 9 minutes first. Try running 800m reps in about 4mins 30secs. Once you can do this ok for a few reps increase the distance of reps to 1 mile and aim for 9 mins doing this. Periodically try a 2 mile time trial at 9 mins per mile pace. Then work your way to an 8min 30 pace with this approach. Progressive overload as in every sport.
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@Intermediate
I saw the similar studies about joint injuries in older runners. They were surprised to find the biggest correlation for late life joint injury was related to those with earlier life (20s to 30s) impact injuries, ACL and so on, experienced in contact sports such as football or rugby.
A key mechanism for sprinting speed is the ability to apply force into the ground, the vertical force vector is turned into horizontal speed by body, leg, foot position, dorsiflexion and so on.
In distance runners the same maths applies but obviously the ability (“endurance”) to do this for minutes/hours rather than seconds becomes more critical than the absolute magnitude of any foot strike.
23 secs 200m is decent. I used to do a few open graded meetings (esp Watford) and sub 23 would usually get you in the fastest heat in the event - so that makes you an ok club runner. Try the Power of 10 website and look up 2024 nationl rankings to see where you stand.
19.nn for a 5k is pretty good for a 200m runner ! Puts you in the top 5% of park runs. And an ok runner at a road running club (not an athletics club).
Saying someone is not as good as a a female world champion is a complete crock, so what. I trained on the same track as a world junior champion, sure as hell didnt make any of us feel inferior.
BTW look for posters here that document their times, their training history, their coaching experience, and so on, those little stories that you know ring true.
Good luck with your season.
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You aren’t trying to run faster; you are trying to maintain a faster pace. You need to simply run more. There is no hack or trick. You have to log more miles. Interval training is not as effective for increasing pace as some think. When I ran track, we included interval work after already having built a solid base. We were also training to race where for some, like me, the pace was going to be sub 5 minutes per mile. Training to run two miles under 10 minutes is not the same as training to run two miles at 8 min per mile pace. I would complete 10 miles in training in under an hour.
Fast forward to basic training; the majority of recruits were out of shape. They tested us on a one mile run and based on our times, we were separated into three groups. I was in the fastest group. There was one company where they needed four groups because of how unfit some were. On a side note, no females were in the fastest group. And after a couple of months, only one female managed to graduate to the fastest group. We ran at least once a day, sometimes twice. You always have people ask how to improve their times when PT tests come around and no one likes the answer: run more. I never failed a PT test and always got a perfect score on the run, not just in my age bracket, but when compared to the toughest age bracket, which was 20 years younger than me. The key to improving pace is to improve proficiency/efficiency, not trying to improve speed.
Talking 200 meter times got my interest and I went a looking. I found some massive numbers of men who ran some very fast times.
6 men ran under 19.50 seconds
112 men ran under 20.00 seconds
1024 men ran under 20.50 seconds
5215 men ran under 21.00 seconds
Also, 924 women ran under 23.00 seconds
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I run every day. Before i moved i was running on sidewalks or black top. Now I’m out in the woods a little and it’s a mix between dirt roads and black top. Mostly dirt roads. I can’t stand treadmills. Boring, harder on me. My opinion. I only use it o have to. At one time i we running 2x day. Am and pm. I’m on my first break. I did it for 4 years. Just resting a little. I was running two 4 mile runs. I started lifting again more seriously about 3 years ago. I was 170 pounds, now I’m about 195. I run 3-5 daily, listen to my body if i need a rest day. Sometimes it may be 2-3 months. Remember everyone is different. I’ve had some try to tell me what I’m doing is wrong. NO. it’s right for me. Plus running changed my life. 6 years clean this passed dec 16th. I was a fat guy, 310 at my biggest. But, running is my main chick and lifting is my side chick 
my biggest advice is, but good shoes. After years of trying different ones im using asics gel nimbus 25,26. It the novablast 4. Amazing shoes. But back to your question me personally I’m a road runner. I hate treadmills. I’ve only found one i didn’t mind and it was at my local gym lol
@zecarlo you are right about the benefits of a base of highish volumes of aerobic training followed by faster work. Its the classic Lyddiard approach and has been successful. However the frequency and volumes necessary means running becomes your main sport. Generally 30 min runs are the minimum duration in volume programmes.
I am assuming this guy wants to improve using limited running sessions so he can continue with strength training. We need more info from him.
The benefits of high volume approaches with or without intervals have been the subject of numerous debates. The parameters for how to balance them are varied and pointless to discuss without individuals backgrounds.
@RT_Nomad absolute performance times are only relevant in the context of a persons ability, goals and competitive landscape.
A coach has to base his programmes on the raw material he has to work with. Extrapolating elite methods or specialist environments such as the military to Jo Public is difficult and often applied badly.
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I wasn’t the one to bring up 200 meter times. But it caught my interest. Times point toward a competitive landscape. I like knowing where I stand compared to those around me.
I have always been competitive. I was faster than the vast majority of guys my age, but not nearly competitive track times. I would have loved to compete in the sprints. I was just not blessed with competitive speed. I barely made the high school track and field team as a high jumper. I wasn’t very good and jumped higher than very few of my competitors. I still loved the competition.
I found that I had a pretty good chance to be competitive in bodybuilding. I lifted weights to get better than anyone I saw. It is nice to say that you are competing against yourself. People like to hear that. I never entered a bodybuilding or powerlifting contest to compete against myself. I was there to be better than as many other competitors as I could. Improving is nice, but it is not in the same class as winning.
If someone wants to talk about sprint times they ran, I am all onboard to listen. If they compete in the sprints, I am all ears to hear the stories.
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How can you increase lung capacity? When I reach top speeds, I struggle to get enough air per breath.
That’s what makes that top speeds. If you could sustain it for a long time, it would be sub top speed.
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When you watch elite sprinters and they post each one’s speed as they run, when running the 100 meter sprint, almost all are slowing down the last 30 meters. Only Noah Lyles can hold his top speed. The illusion is that Lyles’ speed is increasing, but it isn’t. The field is slowing down around him.
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