A Bit Faster?

[JosephTree]

I've been a good, patient, nearly saintly Barefooter since May. I can run 10 miles and only need a nap in the afternoon for recovery - no pain and no strain. 9 minutes a mile or so is an easy pace that I can keep up the whole way. I'm just starting to itch to go faster. My more sensible self is telling me to just cool it and stick to slow and steady. Run for the running and don't get cocky. The other part of me remembers FAST and wants it. Is it too early for me to start incorporating a speed component in my runs? What might that look like? Does anyone care to comment?

 

[Danjo]

If you can go faster without

If you can go faster without hurting yourself, do it. Are you doing the 180 step per minute cadence? I find that I'm automatically faster just from doing that. The other day I ran a five mile in about the same time I could do one in shoes, but I spent way more time walking to try and relax my calves, etc. and I even sat down and gave myself a short foot massage in the middle, so I must have been going at a much faster pace whenever I was in fact running.



Also, congrats on being able to do a ten mile run already, I don't think I've heard of anyone progressing that fast at barefooting, but if you aren't hurting yourself keep it up. I've been barefooting since July and I still have to walk a lot on a five mile (I haven't quite figured out how to run gently and easily at the same time, but I'm getting there.)

 

[The Ramzev]

At this pointI don't see any

At this pointI don't see any reason not add some speed workouts. Add some tempos or fartliks to a workout each week and you'll get faster. What were your shod times? After just under 1.5 years barefoot I am 2+ minutes in 5k.

 

[jschwab]

In my experience (somewhat

In my experience (somewhat limited), the safest and most effective speed workout to add first is a tempo run once a week. It's steady-state without a lot accelerating and slowing down. I do hill workouts now and they are much more physically stressful than tempo. I am working up to about 30MPW with a 12 mile long run and a midweek run of 8-9 miles with a 4 mile tempo run in the middle (with a mile warmup and an extended cooldown just cause I have to get home).

 

[Blind Boy]

Start pushing the pace if you

Start pushing the pace if you want to but don't increase pace and distance at the same time to reduce your risk of injury. Personally I think tempo runs are the best way to increase speed along with running downhill a lot if you can do it properly. Tempo runs to get the body used to working harder and the downhill running to practice leg speed.

 

[jschwab]

I just wanted to add that the

I just wanted to add that the most speed gains that I have made in training came from tempo runs - I didn't know if it was clear that I personally had good experience with dropping race times just from doing tempos.

 

[barefoottyler]

Sounds good. Just pace

Sounds good. Just pace yourself. Try decreasing your minutes per mile by 30 or 40 seconds. I know the 10% rule, which would be 54 seconds, is a known one, but if you are wanting to play it safe stick to 30 seconds.

 

[JosephTree]

I have no shod times to

I have no shod times to compare to in this millenium, nor in the last 2 decades. I'm winging it as far as that goes. I think I'm going to try a combination of techniques that will keep me running faster while I'm warm. So this morning I ran 5.2 miles at 10 minutes per going out and low 8's coming back. I was on gravel (towpath) so I paid especially close attention to my foot placement and cadence. It felt fine and didn't actually stress me enough, perhaps. I think I'm cruising to hurt myself if I push for anything dramatic, though. 53 is not anything like 23!

Maybe I'll sign up for a local 5K to have a go at a clocked run with just a little adrenalin thrown in.

Thanks to all for your thoughtful comments.

 

[jschwab]

Once you get your 5K time,

Once you get your 5K time, you can plug it into the McMillan running calculator for goal times for other distances and paces you should be hitting for different types of runs (tempos, repeats, and easy and long runs). Some people have problems with it, but I have always found it to be pretty accurate and helpful for myself. http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm