After the Couch to 5k: A Recipe for Getting Faster

You walked, you ran, you did it for 10 weeks, and you finished your first 5k. Yay!

I'm not a mind reader or anything, but I bet you're thinking...."That was great! Now how do I get faster?"

Okay, so maybe I'm a mind reader.

 (By the way, if you're not interested in getting faster, check out this post here, and definitely this post on recreational running after the Couch to 5k)

When it comes to a faster 5k, there are some essential ingredients that you need to learn to cook with.

1) The Couch to 5k plan had you running less than 10 miles a week. Work to add a mile every week until you're somewhere around 15 miles. This will probably have you increasing your running days from 3 to at least 4 or 5.

2) With a goal for speed, every run should have a purpose. If you're running 4 days a week, it should look like this:

Speed

Tempo

Easy

Long

I'll elaborate.

SPEED: Might sound silly, but to run faster, you have to run faster. A great way to start is with timed interval training. Looks like this:

Start with a 5-10 minutes warmup jog

Run fast for 1 minute (a non-conversational pace)

Follow with a 2 minute easy jog (catch your breath and continue at a conversational pace)

Repeat the run/jog sequence 5 times

You can move up to 2 minute intervals with 2 minutes of rest, and you can also use measured loops--.25 miles and .5 miles. Run a loop, jog a loop, run a loop, jog a loop. Once it starts feeling easy, increase your intensity (run faster), or increase how many times you repeat the sequence.

Limit your speed work to once a week. It builds anaerobic capacity, so as a distance runner, you don't need too much of it. You mostly need aerobic work. 

TEMPO: A tempo run is the absolute best for building your aerobic capacity. Run a mile at your normal pace, run one to two miles at tempo pace, and wrap it up with a mile at your regular pace.

What's tempo pace? You can measure it two ways. If you train with a Garmin, aim to run 30-45 seconds slower than your 5k pace. Otherwise, run somewhere between a conversational and non-conversational pace. Tempo pace is too intense to chat about your favorite daytime Soaps, but not so intense that you can't turn to your friend and squeek out the words, "Holy crap (huff, huff, puff) did you see (gasp, gasp) what that lady was wearing?!"

EASY: An easy run is exactly what it sounds like, a sweet little jaunt through the park where you sniff the roses and listen to the robins. If you want to up your mileage, do it by adding in a few extra easy days. As you increase your fitness, your easy run pace will get faster.

LONG: In order to increase your aerobic endurance, it's important to run beyond 3.1 miles.Try adding .25-.5 miles onto your long run every week. Every fourth week, give yourself a break and cut your long run back by a mile. 

If your plan is to keep running 5ks, work your way up to 5 or 6 miles. You can vary the distance every week, but try to keep it over 4. Once 5 or 6 starts to feel easy, increase your intensity, or consider training for a longer event like a 10k of a Half Marathon.

3) After your easier workouts, toss in some strides. That means you'll run 50-100 meters up and down your street at your 5k race pace. Do it 3 or 4 times to help your body and brain learn what it feels like to run fast.

4) Work in some basic body weight resistance exercises and drills. Squats, walking lunges, crunches, push-ups, skips, planks, and toe raises are all good, basic movements for a runner. If you have questions about proper form, check out the Livestrong Channel on YouTube.

Does this sound complicated? Don't worry, it's not. Here's an example of a 2-week training plan:

Monday: 2 minutes fast and 2 minutes slow, 6 times

Tuesday: Easy 2 miles

Wednesday: 3 mile run with 1 mile at tempo pace

Thursday: Off

Friday: 4 miles

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Easy 2 miles

Total: 14ish miles

Monday: .25 miles fast, .25 miles slow, repeat 4 times

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: 3.5 miles with 1.5 at tempo pace

Thursday: Off

Friday: Easy 4.25 miles

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Easy 3 miles

Total: 13.75 miles

And here's your basic math equation:

   Increased mileage
+ Runs with a purpose
+ Strides
+ Basic Strength Training
       A Faster 5k!!!!

Questions? Hit me.

HIIT Me Baby One More Time: A Guide to High Intensity Interval Training for Normal People

Over at Kennebec Valley Coaching (yes, it's a real place, with real people, and a real office...not just a facebook page), people are asking lots of questions about HIIT--High Intensity Interval Training.

Googling HIIT can be two parts confusing and one part frustrating, since it'll usually bring you to a whole mess of bodybuilding websites. Now I don't know about you, but when I see picture of a bodybuilder it usually makes me cock my head to the left and go, "What am I looking at???? I don't think I even have one of those."

Trust me, you don't have one either.

Today, I'm happy to announce that there's no need to look any further because Run Muffin is hooking you up with A Guide to High Intensity Interval Training for Normal People. Like me. And you.

Here we go.

1) HIIT is good for helping you become a faster runner, increasing your anaerobic capacity, boosting your metabolism, and burning fat. Win, win, win, win.

2) HIIT is a quick, but highly effective workout that can be done inside on a treadmill or bike, or outside on a sidewalk or bike--you can even jump rope your HIIT workouts.  But, since I'm quite literally incapable of jumping rope, we'll focus on the running side of this thing.

3) Warm up for 5-10 minutes at an easy pace.

4) Once you've finished your warm-up, you'll start your intervals. 6 intervals for 30 seconds each is a good place to start.

5) For 30 seconds, run like there's a clown chasing you with a knife...or a hungry bear chasing you while you're wearing a bacon hat...or you're about to be run down by an out of control circus train. In other words, YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING AS FAST AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN WITHOUT EXPLODING INTO A MILLION PIECES.

But remember, you need to be able to do it 5 more times.

6) When you finish your interval, rest for 60 seconds with a super easy jog or a walk.

7) Repeat this charade until you've done 6, and cool down for 5-10 minutes with a light jog or a walk.

8) Go eat something protein-ish within 30 minutes.

As HIIT gets easier for you, you can intensify the workout in a couple different way. You can:

1) Run your repeats faster.

2) Run up to 12 intervals in a workout.

3) Increase your intervals up to 1 minute.

4) Put a little bit of incline on your treadmill.

Once you want to push your intervals past a minute, you're looking at a whole different type of workout and you're moving away from the HIIT game, which is fiiiiine. In my world, as long as you're not sitting in a hole, you're amazing.

Just a few more HIIT rules to remember:

1) Take your recovery as slowly as you want. If you need to crawl, you're pushing too hard. But walking is totally fine.

2) Your recovery should always be twice as long as your work interval.

3) If your treadmill goes up to 10mph, and it's not intense enough, up the incline to .1.

Questions? Concerns? Compliments? (just kidding)

Now go get your run on...or your jump rope I guess?