increase speed on long runs

[Brian]

I need some suggestions.....
I have been doing alot of hill and interval training on the tread mill and have increased my 10K time from 46 mins. to 42 mins. I cannot seem to break 8 min. miles on runs 10 to 15 miles and on runs from 15 to 20 miles I cannot break 9 min. miles. I have kept a base of 40 to 50 miles per week for about 3 years, but I think I need to change my weekly routine and I could use some suggestions. I'm thinking I need to increase my weekly mileage, and concentrate on that instead of speed, but I'm not sure.
Any suggestions.....Brian

[Superfly]

I started to notice a big change after I started hitting at least 60 miles every week on a consistent basis. It happened with about one month of the consistent mileage. Also part of that mileage was a longer run of at least 12 miles on Saturday every week.

[adam]

Try doing your long run with a workout plan written on your hand. Sometimes when I feel like I  have been stuck in a pace for too many miles this helps out. So while your out on mile 8 of 13 you can look down at your hand and see that on mile 8 you need to run 3x30s fast, mile 10 you need to do 2x1 minute pick ups, etc. It will help keep your mind focused on the run.

[Jon Allen]

Here is my idea.  One thing I would suggest is to do an increasing pace on your long run.  For example, if you are doing 15 miles, do the first 5 at a very easy pace (i.e. 10 min miles or so- slow enough that it isn't hard).  Then pick up the pace some for the next 5 miles- 8:30-9 min pace.  Then go even faster for the last 5- 8:30/mile or faster if you can.  Even if you have to do the last 5 on a significant downhill, run fast.  It will help teach your legs to run fast when you are tired and should ultimately help you to do your whole runs faster.

[Kory Wheatley]

Running an significant amount of miles in your long run faster will help.  You could run your first five miles at your easy long run pace to warm-up than treat the next five  miles out of your 15 miles as a tempo run, then drop your pace down to your marathon pace (if known) for about another 3 miles and end with a two mile cool-down.  This may be a tough workout, but it helps.

[Sasha Pachev]

I noticed that you just ran 6 miles at 7:30 pace and called it easy. It was on a treadmill, so there is a possibility of improper calibration, etc. However, assuming the treadmill pace is accurate, two things do not go with it: You race a 10 K at only 6:50 pace, and you find 8:00 difficult to sustain over 10 miles. For a comparison - I call anything faster than 6:40 uncomfortably brisk, and anything faster than 6:00 just plain hard for any distance, even as short as 6 miles. My 10 K race pace right now would be around 5:15, and my 10 mile race pace is probably around 5:25. Why the difference?

Note that I am not focusing on our difference in speed, but rather on our difference between what we can sustain in a race and what we call easy.

I notice a similar difference between myself and high school runners. A high school runner would probably laugh when I tell him I do not want to run faster than 6:40 on an easy run. But at the same time the same high schooler races a half-marathon at about 30 seconds per mile slower than me or more even though he is at least equally matched against me, if not beating me, in an all-out mile. I believe the difference both in the pace perception and the ability to sustain the pace  is connected to the amount of sustained weekly mileage. The more mileage you run, the lazier you become, but at the same time, your ability to sustain your speed improves.

So for practical purposes, you want to become so lazy that your easy pace for any distance is at least a minute per mile slower than what you can race 10 miles in. I would recommend starting with no less than 8 miles a day 6 days a week. Keep the pace slow. No faster than 8:00. If after 2 weeks of doing that you are still feisty and find that you have to hold yourself back at the end of your runs, make it 9, then 10. I would guess after about 3 months of 10 miles a day 6 days a week your perception of the pace will change, and at the same time you will find that you can race 10 miles at 6:30 pace.

[Sean Sundwall]

I would recommend adding short bursts into a few of your runs each week. Even if they are only 100 meters in length. Ideally, you would run one or two of the miles 30-45 sseconds faster than the rest. Some of it is teaching your body to run fast.

Do you do any speed training?

[Brian]

....Sean...in answer to your question....I have been doing speed training on the treadmill primarily....these are new machines and calibrated properly so I know the times are quiet accurate. I do repeats once a week of 10 times 800 meters @ 6.95 minute mile...once a week I've been doing  repeats of 5 times 1600 meters @ 6.95 minute mile and once a week I do 6 mile tempo run @ 6.95 minute mile.....I've been able to decrease my 10k time from 46 minutes to 42 minutes in about 1.5 years.....the problem I'm having is that I cannot sustain that pase for more than 10k...I slow down considerably on long runs....it sounds as though I need to increase my weekly mileage.  Thanks for the reply Sean.

[Sean Sundwall]

OK...then mileage is what you need to add at this point. And I would recommend spending as much of that time OFF of the treadmill and outside as possible. I admit I hate treadmills, but hatred aside, I feel like part of the mental aspect of running, espceially in races, is getting experience in the settings you will race in which is outside not on a treadmill. See what you can do about getting outside AND adding mileage.