Help with speed in running please!

[wingedMonkey]

I am almost about to go through my black belt prequalification testing for tae kwon do and one of the requirements is to be able to run a mile under 9 minutes and 20 seconds. I ran an 8th of a mile in about 9 minuts and 6 seconds meaning my mile is probably at 11 or 12 minutes. Is there any way to get me to go faster through the mile? I'm running a mile every other day of the week and this is after working out in martial arts.

[bushido_man96]

Run with a watch on, and do intervals. Run for 5 minutes, or something like that, and then kick it up a notch or two, and hold that pace for 1 minute, and then go back to your 5 minute pace.

You can adjust the times here; I don't know didley about running, so the times may not be right, but you get the idea. Also, make sure to run the entire mile. As you get to where you can hold the faster pace longer, increase the time you spend on the faster pace. Eventually, the faster pace will be your new normal pace, and you can set an even higher interval.

Here is a thread that you may find helpful: http://www.karateforums.com/the-running-thread-vt29274.html

[AikiGuy]

Yeah, the interval method is a good one. Just for the sake of variety, here's another option. Pick a day you don't have MA class (or any other exercise activity) and run 2 miles (or as close as you can get). You may slow down toward the end but that's ok. If you only run for a mile each time, your body is trained to give out after 1 mile so you always will. But if you push a bit longer once in a while, your body will try to keep up by increasing your endurance level so it takes longer for you to become exhausted. That means the last portion of your mile (when you are probably very tired) will not be so strenuous and you will maintain a quicker ending pace.

[Menjo]

One method is to hypertrain your body but to keep it short, you could try sprinting up stairs, hill sprints...ect.

Not because this will develop speed but your muscles will have less difficulty dealing with each pound pressing down on them. That way, your breathing and heart also have a better time.

Just training for running by doing that specific exercise may be good for long term results, however if you want maximum results within minimum time, overtrain all the muscles involved and give the ones you need a rest well before the race.

Instead of one well trained muscle(which takes a long time), you have a team of muscles indirectly directing all the energy to your main muscle group.

Basicly, what you lack in technique and experiance, you can make up in sheer energy and conditioning or body connection. It would take a week max to be ready to use this type of method. The downfall is that by the end of the race youll probably feel totally exausted.

2 days rest for the main group, 1 day rest for the others starting on the first day for the main group.

What do I have to support this?

1.) Its well known fast twitch muscles are the deciding factor to how fast an athlete builds results. develop fast twitch muscles in your less specific goaled muscles and built up muscle there is just like how knee muscles can support a weak knee joint. These small muscles are much more sensitive to overtraining and thus faster results.

2.)Without support, your body will feel the stress of the situation, suddently, your training time will be doubled and youll feel 30 pounds heavier. You can minimize it with fast twitch mucles fibers, that support it through the difficult times.

[DWx]

Maybe its just a matter of knowing what speed to go at throughout the whole 9 minutes?

Based on running for 9 minutes solid running (cutting the 20 seconds out because its easier maths and for some leeway ) you should be averaging 6.6 ish miles per hour. (I think). Perhaps get someone on a bike or something to accompany you and set the pace. When running alone its hard to tell what you're doing and having someone else there will make sure you keep up.

Training to a higher intensity will make it a breeze to go back down a level fo your testing so its a good idea to make your goal harder than you have to do.

[wingedMonkey]

Wow! Thanx guys, these are all awesome ideas i never thought of myself for some reason, i'll try all of this.

[ninjanurse]

Another suggestion is that you do what distance runners do-add speed runs into your weekly routine. Basically you run a quick pace for 1/4 mile, then your normal pace for 1/4 mile, repeating until you have run 2 miles. Of course there are many variations of this but even the simplest will get you results.

You can also do 20 minute interval runs every time you run which really helps. Basically you increase and/or decrease your pace each minute of the run as follows:

2 minutes at level 5 (a level is your perception of effort on a 1-10 scale)

1 minute level 6

1 minute level 7

1 minute level 8

1 minute level 9

1 minute level 6

1 minute level 7

1 minute level 8

1 minute level 9

1 minute level 6

1 minute level 7

1 minute level 8

1 minute level 9

1 minute level 6

1 minute level 7

1 minute level 8

1 minute level 9

1 minute level 10

1 minute level 5

You will find that each week you will be covering more ground than the previous week in the same 20 minutes thus increasing your overall pace and decreasing your time in the mile. The beauty of this is that it only takes 20 minutes per day...of course you can add longer easier paced runs throughout the week if you like. When I train for 5k's I do the 20 minute interval run and then finish with an easy long run once a week.

[TigerDude]

Competitive runners put in a lot of miles. Increasing your mileage base will help your one mile time. However, you have to ensure you are also doing speed work to avoid slowing down.

[wingedMonkey]

Yea, I tried the sprinting faster thing and it worked I actually finished the mile in about a minute less, so it was just my body getting used to going that slow speed. I believe next I'll take the advice of the distance people, I will be running 2 and a half miles one day of the week which will probably be fridays. Since I run a mile on mondays and wednesdays, and tuesdays and thursdays are rest, Friday is the only day i don't take tkd practice so i should be alright by then to do distance.

[Fish]

I'm a (former) distance runner.

Do 2 things:

1. Increase the distance you run on your longest weekly run gradually until you can run between at least 3 or up to 5 miles. This will build up your endurance. (I personally think 5 miles is quite enough for martial arts).

2. Once a week, do an interval training session: run say 200 to 400 metres as fast as you can, then jog for say 400 to 800 metres as a recovery, and then repeat up to 8 times. This trains your body to go faster than it is used to.

A heart rate monitor is very useful for this sort of work, because you can monitor your work rate more accurately.