Running 101: How Fast Can I Get Faster?

One of the most common issues I see among runners is the pace of their progress. In particular, most people either expect too much OR they expect way too little. An overzealous runner will often fall into overtraining and suffer injuries. An under-ambitious runner can work their tails off and get nowhere because they do not believe in themselves.

How fast can a runner expect to get faster?

If all conditions are absolutely perfect, then you can get faster quicker than most runners think. If you never miss any workouts, the weather is always perfect, you run your workouts in the right pace zones, you get a proper amount of rest, and you never get injured, then you could expect to improve as much as a VDOT point every 4 to 6 weeks. If you are on the slower end of the spectrum, this could mean as much as a 15 second drop in your time for a 1 mile race and 49 seconds off of your 5K time. If your mile time is already under 6 minutes, however, your progress will be more like 5 second in the mile and 20 seconds in the 5K.

If you are not living in a perfect world, however, then you should be expecting your progress to be slower. Life happens. Things throw you off schedule. You run too fast or too slow. 3 days of thunderstorms prevent you from running on the track. We all face these things. Give yourself a break.

Can I ever make quicker progress than that?

It is possible to progress quicker than this, but only if you are moving from inconsistent running into serious, systematic, and consistent training. You often see much bigger progress. Once you have been on such a program for a while, your improvement will gradually slow to this predictable pace.

I am not making any progress. What can I do to start improving again?

I have a few strategies for the times when you plateau, not making progress.

Run more consistently. This is the no-brainer solution for those who have not planned and stuck to a customized training program. If you aim for nothing, you are very like to achieve it.
Rest. Although this may seem like it would be counterproductive, you might be amazed by the results. If you push your body too hard for too long, it just can’t heal quickly enough from your workouts. Make sure you have at least one day when you do no running AND do not work your legs at all. Also, ease up. Run shorter and slower. You might even take 3 to 7 days off of running completely.
Change the routine. If you do the same workouts in a predictable pattern, your body may have adjusted to them already. If your body stops responding, then you must change the type of workouts you do. Add hills. Do fartleks. Crush some speedwork at much shorter distances for a few weeks. Different than you have been doing.
Speed up. You may be running too slowly to be making progress. Do a time trial, 1 mile or 5K, to find out how fast you are right now. Adjust your training paces accordingly. See http://wiserunning.com/2013/06/20/running-faster-adjusting-your-training-schedule-and-paces/ for more info.

Whatever you do, use your head and listen to your body. Following these two approaches, you should make safe and relatively fast progress.

Train smart, eat well, and enjoy the run.

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