I have an extremely hard time with running. I want to run 3 km in under 13:00 minutes and sprint 300 meters in under 50 seconds. My record for the 3 km run is 12:55 and I sprint with a 52 second record. My current workout plan is:
Sunday - 300m x 6
Tuesday - 5km jog easy pace
Wednesday - 25 minutes Fartlek
Friday - 3km as fast as possible
First question, is this a good plan? Secondly, I'm extremely sore between workouts and literally suffer through pain every workout. Should I suffer through the pain or stop? Thanks in advance.

wouldnt do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.
if you want to run 3k sub 13 min
i would suggest running 3k every other day, or every other 2 days, and record time and strive to improve.

if you're struggling to improve time, try running a harder course (worse time obviously) for a week or two, and go back to an easier course and see how you do.

id just say practice your 3k, and your 300m.
nothing more to it.

Run sprints in intervals, thats it.

i became a fast runner via hard work and probably some genetic help, and my top advice is not to hurt yourself every time because it will ultimately discourage you. your body will tell your mind to stop pain, and this can be de-motivating.

i don't know if you lift or not, but, interestingly enough, strength training and cutting your running days down to maybe 3d/wk may help. you don't really want to do too much high impact training because while cardio benefits continue to rise for the first 3 days, after that it's diminishing returns and actually an increase to injury potential. you can read up and find plenty of sources on that. strength training can help you get the base you need for running fast, too. if possible, work on fast twitch recruitment and power, but you want a decent strength base before you get into either plyos or powerlifting moves. plyos are way harder on tissue than one expect just by looking at them. agility training is to be considered, too.

starting out, just challenge yourself without causing pain. if it's week 1, OK, DOMS is to be expected. maybe into week 2 if you're pushing it. but after that, if you're still in pain, you really need to change your approach.

i've been in sports since i was 3 years old, and i've been a fast runner since early-mid grade school, when i started training sprints on my own (for personal reasons: my running form was awkward due to a hip tilt). there are plenty of ways to get fast but none of them should involve increasing your potential for injury. start with lower doses and work your way back up to the distances, intensity and time you want to achieve

Specificity

I always went with the "no pain no gain mentality"

say more, he's probably not a mind reader



effort over time enables you to work harder after you've acclimatized to what you're doing. no pain, no gain comes later and it really should be "no hard work, no progress over time", but that's not as sexy a cue.



ty some do, some don't. i often try to give a full response to something to prevent misunderstanding and to help a little more. in health and fitness, and nutrition as well, there's a lot of bad information (misinformation, disinformation) out there. the point is to find out what works, what helps, and to expand what you know.

This post was edited by RewtheBrave on Sep 28 2016 04:05pm

Should stick around rew. People really appreciate your thorough responses.

specificity principle

If you strength train and want to have some carry over to sprinting; do barbell hip thrusts. They've been shown to really help. Squats help a bit too but not as much, they're great for vertical jump.


To get a better time on the 3k, try running 4k. If you can increase your time in a 4k, you should be able to run 3k faster.