What are some good ways to work on decreasing my run time?

Question

im training for marine corps recruit training, and so of course that involves running. and lots of it!

right now im running about four to five times a week. i've gotten my mile time down to about 7:00 (which is pretty good considering where i was a couple months ago, haha).

im trying to work on getting it down to 6:00, and then work on running the three miles in 18:00. i've got about three months to get as close as possible, and im sure ill get even faster during boot camp.

i'm up to about 5.5 miles in terms of endurance runs i do every week, i'm trying to increase the distance by at least 1/4 mile and hopefully will build it up to ten eventually.

buuuuuut....other than long endurance runs, what are some good run variations/training regimens that i could do to decrease my running times while increasing endurance?

thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Getting down to 7 is good.  

I would suggest checking this site out => http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/training1...

It gives you a good understanding of how to run faster and the training that you need to do.  

Look at this page => http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/training4... and check out the sprint workouts that you need to do get more speed.

Some of my favorite trainings to run faster and stronger are hill repeats.  This will depend on your fitness level.  I pick hills in my area that are steepest and run up and down.  The goal is not to go all out but to keep a steady pace.  Run down to cool down then go up again.

If the hill is too steep or high, you can run half way or a 3/4 of it.  You can start with running 3 times and work your way up to 5 times etc.

If you really want to have challenging workout.  Make sure you run the last hill faster than the first set.  :)

Answer 2

no more mileage. You can try to run more x per week, but you dont need any ten mile runs for what you're tyring to accomplish

you need some cruises

and you need some 02 workouts.

Your cruise run should be a 3 mile run in 24-25 minutes. as even as possible...but stick to that time

Your 02s should be 4 800s in  3:30 with equal rest

Answer 3

Strength training and speed training would be good for you, I'd say for the next 3 weeks or so, do weightlifting and core exercises along with endurance.  Then start to shift from endurance to 1/2 endurance and 1/2 speed over the course of 2 months.  The last 1-2 weeks you should shift to almost all speed and taper off (increase intensity, increase rest period between sprints, decrease mileage by 50-60%).  

For strength training you should do weightlifting, and for core I'd recommend getting a fitness ball and looking up exercises on youtube for it.  

Speed workouts should involve long intervals at first, and mixed in with mostly endurance, like this schedule

Week 3 - Monday 4x1 mile at 8:00 pace

Tuesday 5 miles

Wednesday 2 miles and core exercises

Thursday 6 miles

Friday 6x800 m at 3:15 pace

Saturday 3 miles and weight training

Sunday off or 1 mile jog + stretching

Then as you go take out the weight training and then the core and add more speed work and smaller distances, run 400 meter intervals the last 6 weeks instead of mile or 800ms.