jogging endurance

[limewave]

Do you vary your distance or do you always run an 8K?

When I get stuck in a rut, I find it helps to do some interval training around the track. Or hill repeats. Varying distance helps too. Sometimes I only go two miles and other times 10. I rarely run the same distance two times in a row.

[Bluetree]

Running is my weakest discipline because it's so hard on the joints. My coach recommended keeping a 90-strides-per-minute pace and maintaining it throughout a run. I use my swimmer's Sportcount (any stopwatch will do) and count out the number of times my right foot hits the ground in 30 sec intervals (and then double it). I measure my "cadence" every mile or so and know when to ease off or pick up the pace.
As I grew stronger running, I was found myself gradually getting faster, taking longer strides, lifting my knees up higher. My stride, however, always remained the same.