[Aequitas & Veritas]

Originally Posted by Scalded Dog

Here's a tip for those wishing to improve their times: I was told this years ago, by an old guy who was a very accomplished runner. I've tried it, and it seems to be pretty sound and solid.

Often, runners reach a plateau... or, as you get up to my ripe old age of 46, you fall into a regular pace, and every mile takes a little longer, as the years go by. But, to stop the decline, or to get off of the plateau, the trick is to throw some sprints into a long run. Every now and then, during your run, give it all that you can for 50, 100, even 200 yards. Kick it back down to your comfortable shuffle after the burst if you must, but in the next couple of minutes, do it again. It will not only improve the time for THAT day's run, but will lead towards long- term improvement.

Totally agree on this! I haven't been running that long but something I can suggest for an easy way to measure sprints. On main roads (sidewalks next to road) I will use the light posts as markers and sprint to the next one and do that every other one when I decide to throw some sprints into my run to change it up