Well, then… Time to talk about getting faster at running!
Sorry for no pictures in this post – I am an accountant and beginning of the year always leaves me short on time.
I love running! It was the first sport I got into as an adult and have been doing it for ages. Unfortunately, I also happen to be relatively slow. My main advantage throughout my life came from being able to outlast people around me. But when you run with other adults who actually do their work before the race, that’s not much of an edge, is it?
Over time, I haven’t picked up too much pace, which led me to believe I am doing something wrong. Fortunately, I have my goddess of all things fitness (my coach Diana) and the internet to advise. So here are some things I have learned over time:
Lose weight
Common answer with what I saw in my cycling research. It’s simple: if you have less weight to carry with you, you get less tired and you can go faster. Now if losing weight was that easy… But it is one answer.
Eat better
I am listing it separately from losing weight on purpose. It’s all about fueling your runs better. When you are trying to lose weight, you may be focusing on cutting things out of your diet. Well, some times you may need to eat more to have something to burn during a run. In general though, to perform at top levels, you need all of your body’s needs to be met.
Sleep and recovery
Speaking of meeting your body’s needs: get some sleep. And every now and then, take a day off to allow your body to recover. There are plenty of studies out there that will tell you how much damage sleep deprivation does to your body. So stop that! Get a good night’s sleep. Recovery is another important aspect. Your body needs time to repair damage to the tissue you caused in training and to build muscle. It’s more important with running than other sports, such as biking and swimming, since it is high-impact and causes way more wear and tear.
Wear lighter gear
Ok, so this one I have mixed feelings on. Articles I have been reading keep talking about wearing lighter shoes and even leaving your phone behind when you go for a run in a safe area. I would argue that while you train, you shouldn’t skimp on weight you are carrying. I think my coach agrees – as shown by her making me wear the 20 lbs vest on my long runs. I think that the question is if you want to run faster right now or during the race. If you don’t care what your pace is on any given day, wear the heavy stuff. You will be amazed how much easier running is on the race day!
Weight lifting and core exercises
Stronger core leads to better posture. Need I say more? In general, stronger muscle leads to better performance in sports. It also reduces the risk of injuries.
Stretch
There is a dispute out there whether stretching help prevent injuries in runners or not, but one thing seems to be a recurring theme: it will make you faster. Better flexibility will help with improving your stride.
Cross training
Switching up your routine has a few benefits, not the least of which is getting to do something different. Spending a lot of time on running may get boring after a time, making it harder to work on your goals. I remember reading many years ago an interview with Shaun White where they asked him what it’s like to be a two-sport athlete. He said that it’s actually awesome because by the time snowboarding season is over, he misses skateboarding and it ready to put all his effort into it. I think it’s applicable to running as well, maybe even more relevant. Running is a lot of just looking at your own feet. Every now and again, changing the scenery may be healthy.
Good running form
How many things have I already listed before we got to actual running? But there is a deep truth to it I discovered only after working with a coach: running well is about a lot more than just hitting the pavement. So without further ado, here is what should you do when actually running to get faster.
Start by making sure your running form is right. I know what many will say: I have been running since I was a toddler! I know how to do it! Well, not so much… If you put your feet down too far in front of yourself, you are increasing a chance of injuring yourself. Maybe you slouch? That decreases the amount of air you can get into your lungs. How about swinging your arms wildly? That’s just wasted energy! So yeah, make sure your running form is as efficient as can be and doesn’t lead to injuries.
Run more
That may be easier said than done… But the fact is: if you can keep running without stopping, it will help you get across the finish line faster. And in general, just repeating the task of running will allow you to run faster. Caution: this is a living, breathing definition of law of diminishing returns. Each extra mile will give you increasingly less and less benefit with every added mile. But it’s definitely a good place to look for gains in your running.
Run on trails
I have mentioned this peace of advice before, as it was given to me by Meb himself. It’s simple and sort of revolves around the same principle as wearing lighter stuff: running on trails is harder than on a road. If you run in harder conditions while in training, you will get stronger faster and it will make the race feel easier. As a side note: same goes if you train while pushing a stroller with your kid in it. Or training in a weighted vest. Or pretty much anything else that makes the run harder (bad weather anybody?).
Hills
Ugh… How I hate those… And I don’t really have good ones around me to train on. But here is the basic idea: repeat running up a hill and then walking down it is your recovery. When you get to the bottom, turn around and run back up. Those hills will make your legs stronger, improve your efficiency and economy. Also, if you are like me and sign up for a hilly marathon (accident, I swear!), your legs will need to be able to survive it. A bit of caution though: watch our for your knees on downhills. Yes, running downhill is hard on the knees. Don’t injure yourself!
Tempo runs
My favorites! That’s when you run fast – about 25-30 seconds below your 5k pace – and work on anaerobic threshold. Your body is meant to be clearing lactate acid at the same pace as it’s creating it. The trick is to increase what speed this happens at and teach your body to maintain this level of effort for as long as possible. I enjoy them mostly because they give me a great sense of accomplishment – it feels like training well done.
Speed work – fartlek and intervals
Fartlek is when you vary your speed while running. I probably should have paid more attention to this type of training before my IM70.3, where I got stuck at a very specific pace and couldn’t speed up at the finish line… Anyway… For these training sessions, you shouldn’t be having any flat-out sprints, since you are not supposed to stop. That’s intervals – you run flat out for pre-determined amount of time/ distance and then stop and recover. After a good interval, you should be gasping for breath. It can be uncomfortable (to say the least), but if you signed up for a half-marathon or a marathon, what did you expect? To be carried by angels? Some parts of training will suck. And it will be hard. But you signed up for it, didn’t you?
So many ways to get faster! Hopefully, you can incorporate at least some of them into your training. Now is a great time to think about them, before the season starts. We want a strong start to the season, so go practice those intervals on a treadmill or get used to running dressed in a million things because it’s so cold outside! One way or another, go get it done!
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