Improving fitness ?

PB said:

What is better for running fitness ?

I don't seem to be making much progress in my 5K times.

Is it the consistency /frequency ? Is long run base training at slower
speeds better ? Or, sprints for faster miles and 1.5 mile times to increase
lung capacity overall etc... ?

Thanks

All of the above. But I'm guessing you probably need a larger base
before you do speed work. This means run lots at various durations and
aerobic intensities.

You might want to post some of your training - mileage/duration per week
(or whatever you use for microcycle), similar info for long runs,
frequency of runs, types of runs (easy, hills, fartlek, long, etc), what
does a training week look like, etc.

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people"
-Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

I agree with Dot. I experience everything coming together at more or
less the same time. Just when my long runs are getting easy my speed
increases.

Long runs should help you maintain overall running fitness. As you run
long runs your muscles gain in blood capacity through the creation of
more cappillaries. But I understand the effect only starts to occur
after 75 minutes of running. Sprints are great but you'll end up
getting good at running sprints if that is all you do.

the best thing you can do is to set a goal race and train toward that
race using a combination of long runs and speed workouts. And don't
forget to avoid injuring yourself.

Andy

PB said:

What is better for running fitness ?

I don't seem to be making much progress in my 5K times.

Is it the consistency /frequency ? Is long run base training at slower
speeds better ? Or, sprints for faster miles and 1.5 mile times to increase
lung capacity overall etc... ?

More or less all of the above -- mileage, long runs, and speed work. These
need to be integrated into a complete training program.

It might do some good to read a bit about speed work, so you understand the
physiology of it, and how to do effective speed workouts. I'd recommend Bob
Glover's book (competitive runners guide) and Jack Daniels (Daniels' running
formula).

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

Its best to have runs specific to what you are trying to accomplish.
So I'de recommend as your hardest run of the week to run 5 km
as fast as you can (in a race or not). Then maybe rest the following
day.
Since 5 km is more speed than endurance, you might consider another
traiing day called intervals - basically a set of sprints.

PB said:

What is better for running fitness ?

I don't seem to be making much progress in my 5K times.

Is it the consistency /frequency ? Is long run base training at slower
speeds better ? Or, sprints for faster miles and 1.5 mile times to increase
lung capacity overall etc... ?

Thanks

If you are starting from an unfit condition as I did, distance and
consistency will take your speed up until you hit a wall where you
have to fit in speed work, intervals or such to make further progress.
At least that was my case.

Frank

In article <[email hidden]>,

PB said:

What is better for running fitness ?

I don't seem to be making much progress in my 5K times.

Is it the consistency /frequency ? Is long run base training at slower
speeds better ? Or, sprints for faster miles and 1.5 mile times to increase
lung capacity overall etc... ?

Hard to say without knowing what you're doing. If you're
already running 100 miles per week, then base mileage probably
isn't your problem. If it's 5 miles per week, it could be.

Race times are a different issue than fitness. You can be in
very good general fitness -- pass the aerobic test, good
strength, flexibility, core strength, excellent cholesterol
figures, ... -- and not be in good shape to race a good 5k
time. Racing is more specific about what you are fit _at_.
(Conversely, just because you can run a good 5k time does not
mean that you have good general fitness.)

5k, as mentioned, is a short race (at least to a distance
guy it is), so you want _relatively_ more higher speed stuff
than if you were working on marathoning. But you're still
looking at 80% of your miles being base training, conversational,
miles even in those 100 mile weeks.

If you haven't already built to a base of, say, 25 miles
per week with long runs of 8-10, then you'll drop a lot of time
from your 5k by working almost strictly on your base miles.
And you'll probably continue to do so for the first 2-4 years
of this increased (if it is) mileage base.

For variety, entertainment, staving off boredom, ... it's
not a bad thing -- after you have a running base -- to do
some of your running faster. But you probably have a
while before you need to get fanatic about details on
exactly how fast, long, recovery time and mode, ... Fartlek
is good here -- speed play. Take what will be an easy
4 mile run (in your 25 mile week, 4 miles is a short/easy
day) and, once in the week, do a fartlek. Crank up the
speed for a while (50-200 yards, say), then slow jog,
then regular jog, and then crank it up again. Fun variety,
between trees/mailboxes/blocks/...

--
Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

"Donovan Rebbechi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It might do some good to read a bit about speed work, so you
understand the
physiology of it, and how to do effective speed workouts. I'd
recommend Bob
Glover's book (competitive runners guide) and Jack Daniels (Daniels'
running
formula).

FWIW and since you run with Glover, tell him his book has always been a
favorite of mine. I crawl back in the pages from time to time and still
find the data pertinent and well written.

-DF

PB said:

What is better for running fitness ?

I don't seem to be making much progress in my 5K times.

Is it the consistency /frequency ? Is long run base training at slower
speeds better ? Or, sprints for faster miles and 1.5 mile times to increase
lung capacity overall etc... ?

Thanks

I'd have to guess that for fitness the more time you spend in the
aerobic zone the better. For better times though, you'll have to do
some speedwork be it on the track or in the street. I think the
fastest way to get faster is to do intervals at a pace near your target
pace. As far as the term "running fitness" I don't really understand
what you're talking about.

Eric R