[pope81018]

How long have you been running?

I am an avid cross country and track runner at my high school, and I have four good years of experience with distance running. A lot of what I have to say will depend on how long you have been training for running. This will be a long post.

You are right that you won't drop time over night. During the fall I race a 5K (3.1 miles) at least once a week. Our team starts training for our first meet in September all the way back in June. We start with distance runs, pure, good distance runs. You're in the upper 14 minute range on the 2 mile, so your distance runs should be around 1 and 1/2 to 2 minutes slower per mile...or right about 9 minute/mile, for 40-50 minutes. This is a pace that you can maintain for a long period of time, yet it will build endurance in the legs cardio. Those types of runs should be done for a month or two, to build your base. One distance run each week should exceed 65 minutes. This is because after about 60 minutes, your slow-twitch muscles will have been worked, and your legs will start to use fast-twitch muscles, which are important for speed/strength. It will happen like someone turned a switch, and it will feel weird.

Once you have your base, there are several workouts to fine-tune your run. Tempo runs, pace workouts, speed workouts, and lifting will all help.

Tempo runs- This is a run which you pick a pace and maintain it for 20 minutes. I can't give you a pace because I don't want to assume your 5k time, but you could start with running 30-40 seconds slower per mile than your best 2 mile time. Ex: I was running a 17:30 5k in September, so I was running 6 minute/mile pace for tempo runs, or 90 seconds per lap on a track. You want to maintain the same pace as long as possible- no faster, no slower. This will help build your lactic threshold, which will help you run faster and hurt less. We usually do one of these per week, and they have helped me more than any other workout.

Pace miles- This is a workout where you run your race pace - and eventually faster -- for a mile. Running upper 14s, that means you should try and run 3x ~7:15 per mile, with a full recovery jog/walk between each mile. This will again build the lactic threshold, and help get your legs get into the groove of the pace.

Speed workouts- This will be especially important for a 2 mile run. Two kinds I would recommend: 8x 1/4 mile (or 400 meters, 1 track lap) at your fastest 2 mile pace, and 17-20x 200 meter sprints, at fastest 2 mile pace. These will build strength in your legs, and will greatly improve your turnover rate.

Lifting- Wall sits, toe-raises, ab workouts, and shoulder exercises. Something that helped me achieve my 16:03 5k yesterday is a shoulder exercise I learned from a Jamaican olympic marathon runner.
Hold your arms straight out to your sides (wingspan) with your palms facing the sky. Make a medium-sized circle forward, and hold for 2 counts, x25. Then reverse the circles x25, holding for 2 seconds between each circle. After you get accustomed to this, increase the amount of time between each circle, and increase the rep count. This will get rid of that arm fatigue that everyone feels in the last part of a hard run.

Stretching before and after is KEY. Stretching before a run should never be static, meaning never hold the stretch for more than 5 seconds, and always move after you stretch. Static stretching causes micro-tears in the muscles, which as you said, will weaken the muscle. Static stretching is very good for post-run, but not before. "Active stretching" is what you want.

Continuously racing 2 miles to get a better time will not get you anywhere. Train, train, train!

That is a lot of info, and I could keep going, but that should give you something to try out. If you want more specifics, please PM me, I love to talk about running.