Hi, nice newsletter by the way, I was wondering if you could help me. I have never been a runner but have decided on joining the British Army. I need to be able to run 1.5 miles in under 11 minutes for assesment. I am currenly doing it in 13.30. Are there any tips that would help me gain on that time. I am running around 2 miles four times a week, but just can't seem to get any faster. A reply would be much appreciated.
Tony
Answer by Dominique:
Hi Tony, Thanks for your running question. Shaving off two minutes is quite a bit, but nothing is impossible. Running two miles four times per week is a good start. I am not sure how long you have been doing this. But if you have been doing it for a longer time, then your body has probably gotten quite used to this routine, meaning that your performance will not improve much anymore.
Therefore, what I recommend you do is to increase your mileage. Why? Well, just imagine you'd be able to run five miles. How easy would a 1.5 mile run be then? When increasing your mileage you increase the risk of injury, so make sure you do it safely. Also see my page about increasing mileage safely.
Given your limited running experience to date I think that you'd benefit most from only increasing your mileage, not increasing your pace (in your training runs). So, I'd keep on running at an easy pace for most of your runs, but possibly add one tempo session per week as well.
Some other articles which may be of interest to you are:
100 Day Marathon Plan from Marius Bakken
presents a welcome fresh training approach to marathon running that has proven to be very effective. It's the best marathon training program available today.
Marius has competed in the Olympics and has trained with world-class
athletes from Italy and Kenya. He has learnt from these runners and has made those training
methods applicable to marathon training programs for normal people like
ourselves.
This marathon plan prepares you well for a marathon by first focusing
on 5k and 10k training. Only when you are ready
Marius moves on to marathon training.
Want to get ready for a marathon within 100 days?
Then you need to give the 100 Day Marathon Plan a try.
Fat Loss 4 Idiots is based on a simple idea:
if you keep on doing what you are doing, you can not expect to be having a different outcome.
When you want to lose weight, and you find that only running is not enough, then try out Fat Loss 4 Idiots. It will provide you with a new way of thinking about food and could just be that little help you need to shed the pounds and start living the life you want.
