4 ways running is best for weight loss

[shipo]

Hey Gang,

I just stumbled across this article published a few weeks ago in Runner's World:

• http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/4-ways-running-is-best-for-weight-loss

Speaking strictly for myself, I was able to lose about 70 pounds in about 6 months back in 2013 by running lots and lots of miles and *NOT* cutting back on my eating (in fact, I significantly increased what I ate).  Of course there is the classic disclaimer, "Your mileage may vary..."  🙂

[FitBeforeFifty]

To back up the approach @shipo described with another perspective:

If you look at the way most endurance training plans are structured, you'll see the majority of runs are at what is referred to as an "easy" pace. While it makes common sense that to run fast you have to train fast that isn't the case. The best way to run your fastest 5K is to work your way up running an "slow" paced 15k.

The problem with most beginning runners is they only have one speed and that speed is usually too fast.

You can increase speed over time without ever running anything other than easy runs. As your running fitness improves, your "easy" pace will naturally increase. When I first starting running back in 2011 I mostly ran 12:00 miles. At my peak condition when training for a Marathon in 2013, my easy pace was about 8:30.  For me, there is about a 2:00 difference between my easy pace and my 5K race pace. In otherwords, if my target 5K pace is 7:00, I could run all of my runs at 9:00 or even slower as long as my top end distance is a lot longer than 5K  .... I used 15k just as an example, I'm not sure what the right ratio is to use that "rule."

If you look a training calculators that calculate training paces, you can see that is the case. One of the ones I like to use is the McMillan calculator:

https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/

One note about this calculator ... you can't just enter your goal 5K time and start running training runs at the prescribed paces. You have to enter your CURRENT best 5K time.

As you become more advanced, you can start to include speed work (intervals and tempo runs) but as @shipo has said, you need to make sure you have properly built up your muscular base before trying speed work. Even with advanced training plans that include speed work, it's generally only 1 day a week with the rest of the runs easy paced or slower.

[Envelope]

I am still in the early stages of restarting jogging, so I have quite a ways to go.  Looking back 4 or 5 years ago my pace was 13.75.  That was my pace on 5Ks and that was my pace when I completed a 1/2 marathon, and I did not walk at all.  I could never do training programs with groups of people, because I was so slow.  I know I am currently slower than that.  Which is why I thought I should work on increasing my speed.  @FitBeforeFifty - I am fairly confident my pace is not too fast.  😉  

Once I go back to school, I am a teacher, I know I will not have more than 45 min. in the morning to work out, which is why I was thinking of redoing my c25K program with my very slow jogging as my "walking" and picking up the pace as my "running".  

Another reason I was thinking of redoing the program that way was because the interval type of working out is VERY works efficiently with my body to keep me losing weight.  

@shipo and @FitBeforeFifty -Thank you for the advise you have already given!  With the additional info I have included, do you still advise that I not redo my c25k program?  

[shipo]

@Envelope, I really like your adaptation of the C25K program (i.e. jogging for walk segments and running for jog segments); I think a lot of post-beginner level runners could benefit from doing just that.

Regarding your pace, Rule #1 (in my rule book anyway): regardless of one's pace relative to others, you should be able to run for at least an hour non-stop prior to trying to run faster.  If your pace is in the 13:45-14:00 minute per mile range, then so be it; you'll be running something over 4 miles in an hour of non-stop running at that pace.  Once you are able to do so, then try running just the last quarter of a mile even faster; then the last half mile, then three-quarters, and then the full last mile.  Before you know it, you'll be running six miles in an hour.  🙂

[FitBeforeFifty]

Generally speaking, you don't just increase speed ... you improve your running fitness and your speed improves accordingly. Going back to my comment regarding my "easy" pace. I went from a 12:00 easy pace to a 8:30 easy pace naturally. I didn't just decide to run faster one day, I just continued to run at the same effort level and noticed the pace improving. My pace increased naturally as my running volume increased from 9 miles per week eventually to 50 miles per week over many months.

These are the top 3 ways to improve your running performance:

1. Increase running volume and include one "long" run per week
2. Lose weight
3. Incorporate speed work (intervals, tempo runs, progression runs [progession runs are similar to what @shipo describes where the pace increases during the run])

The tried and true way to improve your running fitness is by increasing volume (time on your feet). This of course has limitations and there will eventually be a plateau but it is the #1 way people get faster. 

#3 is what I would consider a somewhat advanced method and I agree with @shipo you probably want to hold off on that until you've established a solid base.

You have to increase volume correctly, however, or you will likely get injured. The correct way to increase volume is slowly and using periodization (build and recover phases). The general rule of thumb in running is never increase your mileage per week by more than 10%. It's not a hard and fast rule based on science, it's just a simple to remember rule that tends to be useful and easy to remember.

I could write a book on periodization (and some have) but a simple example is something like:

Week 1: Build: CurrentVolume + 10%

Week 2: Build: LastWeeksVolume + 10%

Week 3: Build: LastWeeksVolume + 10%

Week 4: Recover: 50% of LastWeeksVolume 

...

You can start increasing your volume by introducing one "long" run each week. This long run will eventually get you to where @shipo is shooting for -- a 1 hour or longer run at an easy/slow pace.

You can think of volume as miles or just number of minutes run each week -- most people use miles.

There are a lot of nuances in running theory and I can't explain them all in a single post. The best bet for success is to find a local mentor or join a running club. You could just follow a stock training plan for something like a 10k that would incorporate all of the things @shipo and I are trying to explain.

[bcalvanese]

@shipo , @FitBeforeFifty ,

You guys are making me realize how pathetically out of shape I am...:(

I just today started 2 minutes jog / 2 minutes walk for 3 miles, and when I say jog I mean ssslllooowww.

But it is motivating me a lot and my first goal with this is to be able to ssslllooowww jog for an hour.

And it is getting easier because I could only run for about 15 to 30 seconds at first, and I do notice my legs are getting noticably stronger already.

Thank you both for the knowledge you both share with us all.

[shipo]

@bcalvanese, speaking strictly for myself, I know from whence you speak; in other words, been there, done that, got the freakin' tee-shirt.  When I first figured out how to run again after my second broken leg, the order of the day was no more than a quarter of a mile of, as you wrote it, ssslllooowww jogging.  It won't happen over night, but if you stay with it and ever so gradually increase your mileage/time, your body will develop to the point where 50+ miles in a week is, if not easy, at least doable.  🙂

[FitBeforeFifty]

@bcalvanese, you might be judging your fitness level a little too crtically.

When I started my current fitness and weight loss journey in June of 2011, I was overweight and out of shape ... but not new to running. I had jogged off and on for most of my adult life. When I was in shape in my 30s, I would regularly run 3 miles 3 times per week. So, I wasn't starting from zero. While I may have lost my endurance, I still had the "muscle memory" so it wasn't like starting from scratch.

The other thing I should mention is genetics. I'm small and have always been athletic. Yes I worked hard but genetics are kind of a crap shoot -- I can't take credit for that. Slow for me is a 12:00 mile. I know other runners that have increased running volume, trained really hard and a 12:00 pace is a struggle for them on anything longer than a mile or two.

One of the things I was thinking about today during my run this morning was my break through distances and how I felt. For years I had run 3 - 4 miles at a time. It was a big f***ng deal for me the first time I ran 7 miles. It hurt during the run and I was sore for a couple of days. The first time I ran 10 miles I iced my knees for an hour or so and was sore for a couple of days. Each of those break through distances was like a glass ceiling. It seemed insurmountable at the time but now all of those distances are comfortable for me ... I can run them with no pain and no soreness afterwards. When I ran them the first time it seemed like climbing mount Everest. Now I take them for granted. 

I guess my point with that long winded response was people like @shipo and myself can sometimes take for granted how hard it is to break through those glass ceilings: running the first mile, running the first 5k, the first 10k etc... @shipo is probably better than I am at understanding the struggles of new runners because of his coaching. I sometimes have a hard time relating and have to remind myself of what it felt like when I was just starting.

[shipo]

@FitBeforeFifty, I had to laugh when you talked about your "break through" run; I actually remember the date of mine; Thursday 02-Jul-2009.  That year both my wife and I had been without work for many months due to being "downsized" during the economic meltdown, and, strangely enough, we were having money issues. That evening all of the frustrations boiled over and we had a pretty nasty row.  I got in my car and headed to my favorite rail trail and started running, and when I finally convinced myself to turn around, I had no idea where I was.  When I got back to our neighborhood I found my wife out walking in the rain; she got into the car and we had a very good talk.  🙂

It wasn't until I got on my bike a few months later and rode the trail that I discovered I'd run 12 miles that day; prior to that run I think the furthest I'd gone since I'd started running again was something like 5 miles.  Break through run indeed.  🙂

[briannacarter]

I was a sprinter and hurdler in high school, but that was 16 years and two children ago. Needless to say, I have always hated running anything longer than 400 meters (truth be told, I hated the 400!). However, I am working to get in 3 miles a week under 12 minutes each. Over the next few months, I'm hoping to increase that to 5 miles a week to be clocked at below 10 minutes. I have yet to have the during-the-run euphoria, but afterwards I feel amazing. Here's to buiding endurance!

[bcalvanese]

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@shipo wrote:

@bcalvanese, speaking strictly for myself, I know from whence you speak; in other words, been there, done that, got the freakin' tee-shirt.  When I first figured out how to run again after my second broken leg, the order of the day was no more than a quarter of a mile of, as you wrote it, ssslllooowww jogging.  It won't happen over night, but if you stay with it and ever so gradually increase your mileage/time, your body will develop to the point where 50+ miles in a week is, if not easy, at least doable.  🙂

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I am getting 30 to 50 miles per week power walking and recently joggin/power walking, so yes, i can see it as a definate possability.

Thanks,

[bcalvanese]

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@FitBeforeFifty wrote:

@bcalvanese, you might be judging your fitness level a little too crtically.

When I started my current fitness and weight loss journey in June of 2011, I was overweight and out of shape ... but not new to running. I had jogged off and on for most of my adult life. When I was in shape in my 30s, I would regularly run 3 miles 3 times per week. So, I wasn't starting from zero. While I may have lost my endurance, I still had the "muscle memory" so it wasn't like starting from scratch.

The other thing I should mention is genetics. I'm small and have always been athletic. Yes I worked hard but genetics are kind of a crap shoot -- I can't take credit for that. Slow for me is a 12:00 mile. I know other runners that have increased running volume, trained really hard and a 12:00 pace is a struggle for them on anything longer than a mile or two.

One of the things I was thinking about today during my run this morning was my break through distances and how I felt. For years I had run 3 - 4 miles at a time. It was a big f***ng deal for me the first time I ran 7 miles. It hurt during the run and I was sore for a couple of days. The first time I ran 10 miles I iced my knees for an hour or so and was sore for a couple of days. Each of those break through distances was like a glass ceiling. It seemed insurmountable at the time but now all of those distances are comfortable for me ... I can run them with no pain and no soreness afterwards. When I ran them the first time it seemed like climbing mount Everest. Now I take them for granted. 

I guess my point with that long winded response was people like @shipo and myself can sometimes take for granted how hard it is to break through those glass ceilings: running the first mile, running the first 5k, the first 10k etc... @shipo is probably better than I am at understanding the struggles of new runners because of his coaching. I sometimes have a hard time relating and have to remind myself of what it felt like when I was just starting.

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I did run back in the 80's when I was in the army. We ran just about every morning anywhere from 4 to 6 miles (one time the commander had a wild hair up his a$$ and we ran 10 miles that morning), and I have done 2 miles in 14 minutes on my PT test.

I do power walk every day and can maintain a 4 to 4.5 mph pace for up to 10 miles, so I think my fitness level is fair right now. I also get about 30 to 50 miles per week power walking.

I have been mixing jogging in with my power walks for close to a month now. Starting with 1min jog/2 min power walk, and today I started 2 min jog/2 min power walk. I did 2 sessions of this today for a little over 3 miles per session.

Tomorrow I do my walk at Tyler State Park. This is 7.5 miles of very hilly trails, and I plan on doing the 2min jog/2 min power walk for the whole 7.5 miles.

I think you and @shipo are giving great advice here because I am getting results.

Thanks,