#stephancaputa

Intense! I love box jumps. What are HR push ups?

HR = hand release

shrinkingmomma replied to your link:Introduction

I guess Hansons worked out for you. :)

fatman2fitman replied to your link:Introduction

You make a good advertisement for the Hanson method.

Yes, it's worked out very well. Maybe I should contact them or something. It was internet rumors when I started. Since they wrote the book, it's picked up a lot of steam.

malloryrunsthis replied to your link:Introduction

Happy blog-eversary! So…do you still prefer the half marathon?

The 5K will always be my first love. And now that I've rediscovered some of that speed from my youth, it's probably still #1. If I wasn't trying to PR my marathon time, I'd definitely drop down to half-marathons. So much easier to train for.

stephancaputa replied to your link:Introduction

You’re incredibly motivating, Chris!

Thanks! I answered a similar question from thebostonbeard a few months ago, but I’ll rephrase here again.

The key to getting faster is obviously practice. Your natural pace may improve with increasing mileage and experience, but you’ll get more bang for the buck if you integrate intervals on the track and longer tempo runs into your training. My high school coach used to preach “muscle memory". He meant teaching your body what it feels like to run fast so that you can do it more easily at race time.

Like anything, you need to start small. Figure out the pace you think you can reasonably run at an upcoming race and start doing it at shorter distances. You can use websites like the McMillan Pace Calculator to figure that out based on more recent races.

Since you’re asking about marathons, I’d suggest starting with 6x800m or 3x1600m workouts on a track or known stretch of road. I’d recommend doing these at your equivalent 5K pace instead of marathon pace since they’re shorter. Do a one-mile warmup, then alternate running your target pace with a jog/walk. I usually jog half the interval distance, but you could also walk or stand for the same amount of time (ie run a 4 minute 800, then rest for 4 minutes). There are different ways you can rest, but in general don’t let your muscles relax too much in between. Your heart rate should still feel slightly elevated when you start the next interval.

You can alternate those track workouts with pace runs. Do at least a one-mile warmup jog, then ramp up to your marathon pace and hold it as precisely as you can for a certain distance or time period. You could start at four miles or 30 minutes and work up from there. My Hansons training plan has me doing 10-mile pace runs near the end.

Bring a watch with you so you can checkpoint your speed at each mile and try to adjust accordingly. Sometimes the best way to do these is to run hard enough to feel like you’re working, but not so hard that you’re out of breath. Many people use a “talk test" to make sure they’re not going too fast — if you can speak 1 or 2 sentences while you’re running fast, you’re alright.

So those are two types of workouts to help you increase your speed. There are also other things you can do related to strength training and core work that will make your muscles stronger. Having a strong arm swing can help drive your legs and carry some of the load when you need to run fast. I do crossfit workouts once a week for that, but you can also sprinkle those exercises throughout the week if you don’t want to sacrifice a whole day to this type of training.