Running Faster

I completed the Long beach Half Marathon about a week ago. (yay me!) My average pace per mile was about 16:45.


Next summer, I want to run the San Francisco Half Marathon. I was reading the website's infomation and learned that there is a required 13:45.


So here are my questions:


How do I train to run faster? How do I run speed drills to improve my pace?


and


Is it possible to increase your pace by 3 minutes within 9 months of consistent training?


Thanks in advance...

yes! You can improve your pace that quickly.

First, what is your running regimin? How far? Days a week? Run/walk program or just a really slow jog?

Here's the thing about "speedwork." It's very hard on your body. Even as a 2 time Ironman I have to be careful b/c for a lot of folks, esp women, speedwork leads to injury.

A lot of times you think a slow place is comfortable...but if I go too slow my body will hurt. I wonder if picking up the pace a little would help you.

My usual regimen is as follows:

Mon-Thurs: a short run (3.2 miles). I do a run/walk and my current ratio is 1:1.  Sometimes I try doing a 2:1 but my time ends up being about the same.

If I'm training for an upcoming event I do a long run on Saturday morning (7-12 miles)

Friday and Sunday is rest day.

Yesterday morning I tried doing this drill I had read about on a 1-mile stretch of park in my neighborhood. I walked for 30 seconds, jogged for 30 seconds, and then did a full-speed run for 30 seconds.  I couldn't complete the whole mile....but it was good to sweat like that again! 

I know that improving my spped is going to mean harder runs, I think I'm a little afraid to go faster. I sitll have 50 pounds to lose and I'm worried about the stress on my joints.

 

For me the answer is tempo runs. Those are timed runs where you run at a slightly more than comfortable pace. I started with 30 minute tempo runs and now I do 45-50 minutes.
When I started my "quick" pace was 5.7 mph, and now I'm up to 6.7.
They are a little rough, though. I only do them once per week.

Also short speed bursts are very helpful I've found. Someone once told me the best way to run faster is to do just that- run faster, which sounded idiotic to me at the time, but turns out it's actually true!

:wave: Monica!!!  :kiss: