Sunday, January 27, 2008

Next Step: Figuring Out How to Run Faster


A running friend told me one time, "if you want to run faster, enter a couple 5Ks." Have you priced a 5K lately? Isn't $15-20 a little excessive for a 25-30 minute run? Or worse yet, if you're fast, a 15-20 minute run? Although, in most cases the runs are put on to benefit a good cause, so I guess(?) it's ok to drop some bucks to go faster. In the meantime, along with my swimming, I'm finding ways to improve my running. Runnersworld has a nice variety of training articles which led me to TEMPO running, a proven method of improving run speed. I've read about Tempo runs earlier in the training season and have been doing one tempo run per week for the past month or so. In the above article, it talks about exactly what to expect, and they are right on the money...the first two runs will be a struggle, and suddenly, you'll actually start to feel faster with each run -- to the point you'll have to hold yourself back. Well I'm not at that point yet, but today was the first I really felt good running. I normally plod along like I have a load of crap in my pants, but today was a little spirited for a change and it was a nice change. (AND, I might add, that was AFTER I sat my butt on the trainer for two hours for a semi-hard workout) - ha!). I still won't light the world on fire with my running, but its truly faster than in the past.

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