Pace/Speed

Help...

I started running a few months ago and have been mountain biking for about 18 months. I have recently done my first XC duathlon, 10 mile run - 16 mile ride. I can ride all day, commute 22 miles 3 days a week and get a 16 XC mile ride in on Sundays. I have added some runs to my week. Typically a 6 mile XC run before/after my bike ride on a Sunday (depending on schedule), a 5 or 8 mile run in the week and just swapped a small run for a 5 mile interval session in the week also (only done 2 so far). Years ago I used to teach aerobics/gym/personal training - I believe I am sufficiently rested and back off a little if I feel I that I have over done it. I eat well.

Trouble is that I have dropped my initial pace from 12 min miles to between 9.5 and 10 but are struggling to shift it any further. Very often I feel I have put in a good time but it's around my usual pace. I have altered my running style which has saved my knees and ankles and made a small improvement. Interval training is the work of the devil but the 2nd weeks time is 4 minutes faster than the first but still not much better than my run time for the same circuit. I know it's still early days but is there any tips/tricks that may help to improve my pace?

My goal is 7.5 min miles for 5 miles but so far I just seem to be an endurance animal rather than speed freak.

Stick with it Craig. It'll take a few more weeks until you start to reap the benefits of the interval sessions.

I didn't really see any significant improvement in my 10k time for a couple of moths after I started taking my running seriously again last year until I started doing speedwork sessions (up to then I'd just been building up my mileage).

However, I've dropped 5 minutes off my 10k time this year while spending most of my time training for endurance events like half and full marathons but incorporating an interval/speed session once/week.

Hope this helps.

Hi Craig,
At this stage I think you're best off just building steady miles. You're using different muscles when running to biking, and they need to go through the same adaptations to improve efficiency. My recommendation would be to get up to 3 runs per week. Training pace doesn't matter - it will improve in time - just go for time on feet. Your target seems reasonable but I think you'll probably get there sooner than you think.
JEJ

Cheers guys. I guess I just need to hang in there. I have started to book in some events to give the incentive to work at the target. Hopefully when I have been running a year I should see a good improvement.