Speed & Milage Advice For Beginners ~

Kirsten

Kirsten

Barefooters
Apr 27, 2011
23
0
0
#1
I would love to get some advice on speed. I'm still beginning (in my 2nd month of barefoot running) am up to comfortably doing 1.5 miles without any issues and feeling totally awesome!!

I've been mostly working off of Ken Bob's book and have focused lots on form and having fun :)

My question is ~ does speed come naturally or is there a point in barefoot running that one should focus more on it? My intuitive sense is that as the muscles strength and the form becomes natural then the speed comes naturally. But just wanted to hear from you all on it.

Oh and milage I'm thinking is kind of the same just go with what feels right and don't push it. Right?
 
#2
I'm still waiting for the

I'm still waiting for the speed to come. But I was not a runner before, I've been running for only 1 year.

So i'll be looking at other people responses to your question.



Distance definatly comes naturally once the form improves. I'm at over 10 miles barefoot and I don't see anything preventing me from running longer distances.
 
#3
For me, speed came naturally

For me, speed came naturally the more years I ran barefoot. 3.5 years now. When I started I was averaging 10 m/m. Now I average 7:35 -7:45 m/m up to about 76 degress, and now with this mid 80s temps I'm still acclimating, so I'm at about 8 m/m

What worked for me t increase speed was I have increased my stride slightly behind me. Never increase stride ahead, only behind.
 
#4
I took off 15 minutes on my

I took off 15 minutes on my half marathon time after my first 10 months of running barefoot. I ran my fastest 5K race ever this past Saturday, a 9:20 pace. Yeah me! I think they stronger you get, the faster you can run. I think the more conditioned your skin gets, the faster you can run. I think the longer you do this, the faster you can run. I think you have to want to run fast too though. My problem is I have no sense of urgency.

If you feel you are ready to start incoporating speed training, then by all means...
 
#5
For me the speed just came

For me the speed just came naturally. On tempo runs i was keeping it at 7-730 and killing my cardio so I had to slow down. Also if your doing intervals/sprints then its easy for you to push off and get wiked blisters so be careful of that.
 
#6
if speed is your target then

if speed is your target then you might want to do some interval training and hill training. Go to the local track and do 440 repeats but be very aware of your stride and avoid hard pushing off else you will get blisters. It takes time to build good speed but I can tell you that the best way is to run fast. I was a sprinter in high school and speed is built on intervals and hills.

These sprints will train your body to run faster. do intervals only once or at most twice a week then do fartleks 1 day a week. Rest of your runs should be normal paced for you and by doing these 2-3 speed trainings, you will see an increase in speed.

Me, slow and steady wins the race, I once thought I wanted to run an 8 minute Marathon, now I'd be completely overjoyed to finish 12 minute 50 miler.
 
#8
Pay attention to your body is

Pay attention to your body is the #1 rule (by my standards...) I tried doing speed early on and my feet were having nothing of it. And plenty of people get foot sprains going too fast too soon.

On the good news side, I've been working on tempo runs and fartleks lately and, at almost my 1 year mark of running barefoot, my feet are willing to take up the pace without feeling tired or sore afterwards.
 
#9
I'm not fast by any stretch,

I'm not fast by any stretch, but I can tell you what's made me get faster...form and time. I think if you can get to 180 steps/min, your cardio is there from putting in the miles, you have good running posture, you're getting your feet up quick after the 1-2-3 "landing" and you're relaxed, you'll get faster without trying.

“Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one—you get those three, and you’ll be fast.” -Caballo Blanco

This is what I'm doing to get faster, anyway...

-Jonny
 
#10
You will slowly speed up as

You will slowly speed up as long as you are consistent in your training.
 
#11
Speed should be your last

Speed should be your last concern. It'll happen. Work on the form and the speed will come.

One of these days you'll run a race and you'll surprise yourself. For me it was the San Antonio full last year, the first race I ever ran in my kilt and lunas. I was pacing a friend and we got seperated early on and so I decided to just have fun with it. I stopped to take lots of pictures, and even stopped for a cold Guinness (I think every race should have a group of people with cold beers in an ice chest!!!). Even with all of this I shaved 15 minutes off my PR and was completely flabbergasted.



And for the record, I gave up on regimented training. Training only got me injured. Running for the joy of it keeps me interested and I find that I am willing to run more often as well as further distances.
 
#12
Barefoot TJ wrote: I ran my

Barefoot TJ said:
I ran my fastest 5K race ever this past Saturday, a 9:20 pace.
Click to expand...



TJ, you no longer are allowed to refer to yourself as a turtle!

For females in your age group I'll bet you were at least in the 66'th percentile of finishers.
 
#13
I placed 6 out of 26 women in

I placed 6 out of 26 women in my age group. It was a smaller race this year compared to last year. We had over 1,000 last year; this year we had less than 300.

I ran two 10K distances the next two days (just a run, not a race) and ran 12:12 both days. I just have no sense of urgency when I run. That's where the turtle in me comes out. I just get out there and run. I stop, pick up bugs crossing the path and carry them to the side of the road, pick up trash and carry it to the next trash can, talk to people who stop me to ask questions, splash my feet in the lake, just whatever. When I'm in a race, I tend to run a little faster, not sure why, probably because of the atmosphere and movement of other people. This time, I had no goals or anything when I set out to run that 5K. I asked myself, "Do you feel good this morning?" I did, so I started running at a 9 mm, told myself to keep the pace, it was only a little 5K after all, I should be able to carry that pace over 3 miles, gave it a good try, and kept looking down at my Garmin every mile or so and seeing 9 mm and thinking this thing must be broken. (I only wear my Garmin in races and on paths I'm unfamiliar with the distance.) It was pretty cool.
 
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