Want to get faster?
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Transcript of Want to get faster?
[1]
WANT TO GET FASTER?
BY JOHN DAVIS
Runners love to read secret methods about how to run faster. We search for an easy way to set new PRs like the Greeks sought for Atlan=s. So what’s the key-‐ for running, not finding Atlan=s? Super-‐light minimalist shoes? A special super-‐vitamin? Maybe a magical workout or killer hill that reduces our 5K PR with every lap? Well, I’ve collected some data, put it together with eight years of running experience, and given my two cents.
Here’s my story.
AKer five years of hard training, I hit a plateau, as I’m sure most runners experience at some point. In all of 2010 I cut off only a few seconds from my 5K PR. At the Downtown Melbourne 5K in 2011, I ran sixteen minutes and 54 seconds, which was only two seconds beRer than my previous 16:56 set in January 2010. For another year I couldn't break 16:54. Then at the 2012 Downtown Melbourne race, I hit a breakthrough of 16:47.
Here’s the 5K streak that I've been on for the last five months:
That’s a lot of fives: Five 5K PRs in five months. And based on recent workouts, I can run faster. I’ve never had a streak of five PRs in my eight years of running -‐ not even when I began this sport running a 5K in the 25s. I did not taper for any of the PR races and the temperatures have been mostly hot.
So the magic ques=on: what have I been doing differently?
The simple answer: one word -‐ Mileage.
16:54-‐ 4/2/2011, Downtown Melbourne
16:47-‐ 3/31/2012, Downtown Melbourne16:43-‐ 5/12/2012, Run for the Gecko Hawaiian Luau (hot)16:39-‐ 6/9/2012, Brevard County Showdown Championship (hot, humid!)16:24-‐ 7/4/2012, Firecracker (literally the hoRest day of the year so far!)16:15-‐ 8/11/2012, I Run for Pizza Football Kickoff (how many turns again? Oh yeah, and hot!)
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Why are you surprised? For some reason, this appears to spark controversy in the running community. I think people want to hear that there is an easier way, a faster shoe, or a secret workout. Nope. It’s pure hard work and =me. And I honestly don’t think this is applicable to only me.
Olympians at almost every distance from 800m to the marathon run very high mileage -‐ typically more than 100 miles per week. When I read their comments, they say it gets easier when their mileage increases. Why would it be different for regular runners like us? It’s not. That doesn't mean I just go out and run miles. Every run I do has a purpose and a goal pace. I s=ck to that. I also ramped up slowly over an eight-‐year period. Dras=cally increasing mileage over a short period of =me will get you injured -‐ guaranteed.
In 2011, my average weekly mileage was in the 50s. I was consistent, but the numbers were low. Star=ng in February 2012, I decided to do long runs with my running buddy, Shane Streufert, who was marathon training. Suddenly
my weekly mileage bumped up in the 60s.
Then I started a "Mileage Challenge" with the Brevard Heat, the high school cross-‐country team that I coach. I set a goal of 900 miles over a 13 -‐week pe r i od , wh i ch averaged to about 70 miles per week. I no=ced my workouts were gekng faster,
but here's the weird thing (you’ll love this part) -‐ the fast =mes felt SO EASY! My workouts were faster then ever, and it felt like I wasn’t trying as hard to hit my goal =mes. I decided to increase mileage again. For the last 13 weeks, my weekly average has been 79 miles, and my =mes keep coming down both in workouts and on race day.
West Melbourne’s John Davis nailed his fiKh 5K PR in as many months at the I Run for Pizza “Footbal l K i c koff ” 5K i n Viera on Aug. 11.
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OK, I love graphs, so here is one with my Mileage and 5K =mes lined up together. Thanks to my Garmin GPS and Athlinks, this is six years (and about 13,000 miles) worth of data since 2007. The blue points are weekly mileage, and the red is an averaging trend line.
The below graph shows my 5K race =mes over the same =me period.
Downtown Melbourne 5K 2011
West Melbourne’s John Davis nails his 5th
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I like the end of the above graph best. But look at the trends. Over the years, my improvements typically come aKer or during a period of consistently high mileage -‐ especially this last summer.
For some reason there seems to be opposi=on to the high mileage philosophy. The logical argument to this data I’ve collected is that it is a sample size of one person. Solid argument.
However, the coach who has directed my training over the years is Coach Doug Butler, who also coaches cross-‐country and track at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy. Coach Butler’s athletes have been following this high-‐mileage philosophy for about 12 years.
How has that worked out for them? They’ve earned 15 State Championship Titles (yes, that’s fiKeen!) plus an addi=onal dozen Runners Up. That’s not just a few kids –
that’s a dominance that has lasted for 12 years over hundreds of high school athletes. Big enough sample size for the doubters?
OK, so here’s the boRom line: if your goal is to become a faster runner, the most effec=ve way to accomplish that is to put the “smart” mi leage in. Run your workouts and easy runs at the right pace, and run the mileage that your body can handle. The result? I bet you get faster. Try it.
The Holy Trinity posse shows off their bling rings aKer winning the 2012 State Championships. From leK to right are Alex Hoffman, Cole Oliver, Marques Burgman, Emon Nasajpour, Alex Butler, Daniel Moore, Alex Brown, Daniel Welch and Tristan KaRenberg. Kneeling is Coach Doug Butler.