[Vegas69]

Interesting, I have been reading "The Competitive Runner's Handbook" recently. I'm 100 pages into 600 and have changed up my running as of last week. I've been running almost a year now and really have been doing the same thing over and over.

As of last week, I've decided to add speed training and slowly increase my distance. This book claims you want to establish a "BASE" pace that is roughly 1:45 off your desired race pace. That's roughly 9:15 for me. This is the pace you run to build your aerobic capacity at race distance or preferrably longer unless you are running long distance like a half to marathon. It slowly increases your aerobic ability which is how efficiently your body supplies oxegyn to your muscles. It also trains your slow twitch muscle fibers and ultimately how fast you get into anaroebic.

Speaking of aneroebic. That's exactly what the speed training works on improving. On my first speed run last week, I ran two .5 miles of the 3.xx at 7.5-8 mph and then backed it way down until I recovered and ran at close to base pace until my next speed run. These speed runs increase your aneroebic capacity which equate into how long you can perform while your muscles aren't obtaining enough oxegyn. That's where the pain and will come into play. They are called speed runs for a reason, they help train your high twitch fibers in your muscles and improve your speed. Ultimately, when you race or run faster than your base pace, you get into some degree of aneroebic. It reflects in how long you can run at higher speeds and endure the pain.

He claims that you don't want to run at race pace/distance or close to it very often as it will wear you out and make you prone to injury. Basically, save it for race day and very few times inbetween. Right now my plan is to slowly work up to 5-6 miles aerobically with speed runs every week and run another 5k to see how fast I can go. I'm shooting for 7:30 pace.