Need To Improve My Running

[kelly]

I've been running a lot since the begining of this year. At first I was running like 4-6 miles at a slow easy pace. In spring I was on my school's tennis team where we ran a lot, and we would run any where from 2-6 miles, and we ran at a fast pace, as fast as we could for about intervals of a 1/2-1 miles and then we would stop for a minute and then run again. Over the summer I have been running 1-2 miles w/ hills as fast as I can. The problem is though I really haven't gotten any faster and the running hasn't gotten any easier! Im frustrated because I haven't seen any improvement. Could my diet which is pretty healthy have anything to do with it or are their any excercises/stretches that would help?

[Faraz421]

Yes, it could be diet, and it could also be training. If your running for some sort of athletic improvement, ofcourse you should run what fits your goal. Soccer players work on over all conditioning and sprints for fast paced games, cross country obviously endurance and distance. But, you should also vary your training. You'll make the most gains in your aerobic capacity by performing 'easy' or 'long runs' and a sub maximal pace for an extended period of time. With this, the training increases the time you run, not the intensity. Incorporate that, some tempo runs (specic paces with breaks), interval training (shorter/intenser intervals), and you should be golden...

And yes, make sure your eating enough to maintain or gain, and not lose muscle/ diminish athletic returns. best of luck.

[gobbla]

your times shouldn't be dramaticly improving 10seconds is a huge gain and a 100% effort vs a 95% effort feels very very simular.

IMO you're too stagnent in your training. sprintx2-recoveryx2-longx1.