I feel the need for speed!

Hey folks, I'm a lurker on this board with a post here and there.  I'm wondering if anyone has some suggestions for decreasing my run times.  I'm an Army Veteran and even when I was *much* younger and running 6 miles a day, I was slow.  Right now I'm running 4 miles in 40 min.  I think this stinks considering I run/work out 6 days a week but I definitely think I can push myself harder.

Any suggestions on how I can decrease my time?  I'm not a high-tech runner--I don't  have any gadgets for pacing myself but a friend was telling me about a Garmin that she has that clocks her MPHs so she can make sure she is never under 6mph.  Has anyone used one of these?  Do you like them?

TIA

as the old adage goes, if you want to run faster you have to run faster.  that usually means performing outside of your comfort zone for shorter periods of time eventually resuting in bringing you base pace down.  in other words, up tempo or speed intervals.  garmin's are great, i'm on my third one, they are a good tool and will provide you with a lot of data.  it isn't necessary but worthwhile if you have the money (they are on the expensive side).  i do most of my intervals on the treadmill, it is well suited as you can control your pace/speed/time very precisely.   as with anything, ease your way into it.  if you jump into high intensity intervals (HIIT) too soon or too fast too soon, you could increase your risk of injury.  best of luck!

Thank you for your valuable insight!  I know I need to push myself harder--and I should probably do so on the treadmill so I can keep track of it better as opposed to running outdoors on the road--which I love and prefer.  Its time to up this game.  I'm tired of being a turtle!!! 

I do most of my runs on the treadmill and do a number of different types throughout the week.

1 run I do is a negative split run 3-4 miles.  I start at a comfortable pace and then at either the 1 mile point I will increase my speed .3 miles an hour.  When I began this my base pace was 5.1 now my base is 5.9.

I also try to do what bill calls a interval pyramid.  I run .4 miles then ease off for .1 then increase .2 past my previous speed.  At the halfway point I then work the speeds down in the same intervals so I finish at the same speed I started.

I have only been working these into my runs for about 2 months and have already increased my top speeds and duration I can maintain a faster pace.  I went from a max of a 10min mile to around an 8min mile.  Now I just need to increase the distance of my 8minute mile

Great suggestions Paul!  Your progress is very impressive!  I've always been so leery of running on a treadmill.  I know that my fear is getting the best of me when it comes to pushing myself harder.  Distance is not the problem, speed is.  I've gotta get moving! 

I'm an Army veteran too, and my surgery date was a few days before your. I love my garmin, I have a 305 since I mostly do triathlons. Over the past 3 months I have been doing sprint intervals in my short distance runs, and it has improved my speed. In a 6 mile run I will thrown in about 14 sprints over the course of the run. I'm not sure of the exact science, but it has made all my run splits faster in my triathlons.

Wow Jillian!  That's awesome!  I am so glad I posted my question on this board--valuable info!  --and thank you for serving our country!

 As an alternative to a Garmin, I've been using the Runkeeper app on my iPhone.  I love it.  I have it set to give me my pace and splits evey three (3) minutes.  It's a great training aid and I've steadily increased my pace over the past two months.

Good luck and Run On!

Aww shucks!  I don't have an iPhone--yet!  I'm thinking of getting one next month when my upgrade becomes available!

Thanks so much for the FYI!!  Appreciate it!!