I've been doing the Couch to 5K program for a while now, and I'm currently at the last week of it. I can run for 30 minutes now, but at a much, much slower pace than the average novice runner at my age and sex (as I've seen when I looked it up, at least).
So what now? The program says that I should be able to run 5k now, but I can't run it in 30 minutes, not even 40 at this pace. How do I increase my speed?
Thank you so much for the responses in advance.
EDIT: I feel like I might've been misunderstood. I can now run for 30 minutes straight, but way less than 5K in that time. The issue is that if I were to run 5K, I would be able to run it a lot slower than 40, let alone 30 minutes, at my current pace.
2 things to try, a day where you practice runing at higher speeds, like intervals or sprints. Also try doing a "long run" once a week where you do 1.8 to 2x your usual running distance, but at a much lower intensity.
This helps raise your fundamental aerobic capacity so that your usual 5k pace is using a lower percentage of your capacity (which allows you to increase the pace a little).
Besides those things just keep going and stay consistent. Just being consistent in running is a win, and improvement is going to come.