New runner needing advice!

I have been running 3x a week since the first week of December and up to running a full 5k without stopping to walk.  The thing is, I run slow at 4.5 mph.  If I go any faster than that, I can't keep up and get overwhelmed and exhausted.  I also don't feel like I have a good stride, short legs I guess! Can anyone please tell me how to improve the distance of my stride (did I word that right?) and how to get faster at running without feeling like I'm dying in the process?  I'm running in the Fort Worth Cowtown 5k February 23 and don't want to get passed by the people who walk!  That would be really embarrassing!  Last question...my RNY surgery was August 6, 2007 and today I weighed 212 pounds.  I've lost 121 pounds from my highest weight.  Do you think I'm doing ok with the running considering my what my current weight is?  Thanks in advance for your help! Julie

Good for you for working so hard! That's quite the accomplishment to be up to a 5K in such a short time! I was the same way when it came to speed - I started at 4.5 and thought I would never go faster. But I've added interval training/sprints at the suggestion of a friend who is a trainer and it has done wonders for my speed and endurance. I could barely run a 5k at 4.6 mph before I started this a month and a half ago and now I am up to 4 miles at 5 mph, and it's easy. I'm hoping to be at 6mph by the time I run a 10K in May. This is how it works - I start with about 5 minutes of fast walking (about 4.0 mph). Then run at my slowest speed for 2 minutes (for you, probably 4.5). Then I walk for about 1-2 minutes at 4.0mph (it all depends on how quickly I can get my heart rate down to a level where my breathing is not labored anymore). Then I increase my speed by about .3 or .4 and do that for another 2 minutes. I then go back to my walking, then back to running, et****il my last sprint is at 6.0mph. Then I go back down doing the same thing in the .3/.4 increments. This workout has made a HUGE difference in how I feel and how long I can last. When I first started this I could barely last a minute at 6.0mph - now it's pretty easy and I've added two sprints at 6.3 and 6.6, no problem. I just keep upping my challenge level and tweaking what I do so that I keep improving - it's just a matter of listening to my body and not pushing it to much. If you have never done interval training, it will wipe you out the first few times, it's exhausting. But it is worth the challenge and it honestly helps me from getting bored with my workouts. I am never bored when I do these intervals! Hope this helps - feel free to contact me if you are interested in doing this and have questions.  

You may be slow but you are still faster than walkers, except for maybe some of those speed walkers.   1.  You will get faster as you keep working at it and build strength and endurance.  You have already progress amazingly fast.  Be aptient or you could injure yoursekf and that will slow down your training. 2.  Whe you are ready,...I really benefitted from HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training).  It didn't make sense to me but it helped me get faster and go farther without walking than I was progressing just jogging distance everyday.  It includes running sprints and doing stairs which works/builds a different muscle type.  It also covers anaerobic versus distance running aerobic workouts and the way your body deals with lactic acid buildup which makes you feel fatigued. 3.  I suggest trying to consciously take longer strides during your jog or for parts of your jog.  Yuo can take longer slower strides and keep the same pace.  Then work at speeding upi you longer stride.  The stride itself will increase youe spped once it becaomes more natural, you cover more ground per stride, and eventuallly your time improves and thatimproves your distance since you are covering it faster. 4.  Also look into FARTLEK training that incorporates changing your pace or alternating you pace during your jog to speed up and slow down without walking.  It builds strength and trains youe body to accommodate going faster over time. It is a mental thing for me to teach my body mechanics different from whatit wants to do.  It like paying attention to minimize upper body movement and making your overall body mechanics moree smooth for distance running (how we hold our hands (fists versus open), arm motion, twisting versus facing forward and erect, head up or bouncing, etc. etc.  Some personal perfeence and wahts comfortable, some scientifically proven more efficient if developed properly. It just depends on how serious you are about the details versus just having a good time.  I really strive to enjoy but am getting more into the mechanics becasue I do want to get faster and go farther also.  Best of luck.  Hope any of this helps without getting too deep into the weeds.

Hi Julie! Congratulations!  You've come a long way!!!  You're doing a great job and honestly, I think you're doing wonderful so far! You've gotten some really good advice already.  I started out running at 5.0 and now can run at 6.5 mph.  I just very slowly add .2 mph to my running speed on the treadmill ... so like I started at 5.0 and then I would try 5.2 for 1/4 of a mile.  Then the next time I ran I would see if I could make it 1/2 a mile, so on and so forth.  Then I would be comfortable running at 5.2 so I would bump it up to 5.4 for 1/4 of a mile.  This took me months to get up to 6.5 though.  But gradually your legs will get accustomed to the faster speed.  It's amazing that your body can do more than your mind thinks it can.  So just try it even if you can only make it for a minute, that is progress!  You will gradually be able to do more and more. Anyway, it's good to see another runner on the boards!!!  You will LOVE your race and be addicted before you know it!  Let us know how it goes! Deanna

Hi Julie, I really don't have anything much to add, but I did want to commend you for running.  It is one of the hardest things to get going on, but so worth the effort. What I did was get a training plan that worked the speed training in as a separate workout.  I just fininshed a marathon on Sunday, and part of the training plan was 2 relatively easy days, one speed day, and one long run per week.  When you work on the speed, the easy and longer runs become easier to do faster.  I also worked up my speed little by little.  When I started training for my marathon I was doing good to run at 5.5, but by the end I was doing my easy runs at about 6.3. It's not something that happens quickly, but you will see noticeable improvements week by week. Linn

Hi Julie, This is the 1st time I have posted on this forum, and I am still pre-op, but I, too, want to commend you on your running progress.  Interval traning is the way to go, as others have said.  My BF and I used the Galloway program for traning for a marathon (for him) and a half marathon (for me).  I'm sure there are other really great programs out there also.   What I mainly wanted to comment to you on was your question about running weighing 212.  I personally think you're doing great!  I ran a half marathon several years ago weighing around 230 (and I wish that's all I weighed now).  It was really hard on my body, but it was a great moment when I finished it.  Before you know it, you'll have graduated from a 5K to a 10K or half marathon and will be weighing even less, and feeling even better!  I know running another half marathon is one of my goals after WLS. All my best to you!