Whether you're new to running
or you've been running for years, you're probably just like me
and most other runners in that you'd like to run faster.
There isn't a super secret speed workout that'll make you faster overnight.
But what does work is tried and tested, and every single runner can do it.
Maybe you want to run a faster mile,
set a new 5K personal best, or
improve your marathon time;
whatever your goal,
there are three main systems that need to be trained
for you to start running faster and improving your speed.
These are... 1: Your energy systems (how your body produces the energy to run).
Number 2: Your neuromuscular system
(how your brain tells your muscles to work as you run),
and Number 3: Your biomechanics (effectively your running form).
Let's go through these one by one, starting with energy systems.
This is where newer runners make the mistake of thinking
they need to run every run as fast as they can to get faster.
In fact, that's what will get you injured, and the opposite is actually true.
It's actually your level of aerobic fitness that dictates how fast
of a running pace.
You can maintain for anything beyond approximately 90 seconds of running.
Your anaerobic energy system can produce energy for shorter,
more intense bouts of exercise.
But for anything beyond 90 seconds, your aerobic energy system
is the key determining factor in how fast you can continue to run.
That's why fast 800 meter reps are so horrible, by the way,
it's just beyond what your anaerobic system can sustain.
So how do you train aerobic fitness?
Well, it mainly requires lots of easy paced aerobic running,
slow, conversational effort runs.
In fact, if you're getting out of breath on these runs, you're going too fast.
Improving your aerobic fitness with these low intensity runs
is all about training volume and frequency. To run faster
you need to dedicate a 16 to 20 week block of aerobic training, where you run
between 80 and 100% of your weekly mileage in your aerobic training zone.
During this training block, aim to gradually increase your weekly mileage,
and if it makes sense to do so, perhaps add another run into your training week.
If you're running using a heart rate monitor, you'll notice that as the weeks
go by, you're gradually start to run at a faster pace for the same heart rate.
That's when you know that your aerobic training is working
eventually with time, patience and lots of easy miles.
You'll be running easy at a pace that would have previously
been completely unsustainable.
Now, don't get me wrong.
There is, of course, an important place for tempo work, interval workouts
and other types of speed training in your program.
But these are best saved for a phase when you're preparing for a specific race.
Once you've already taken the time to build your aerobic base,
that kind of speed work is the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.
Then there's the neuromuscular system.
This is an important part of the puzzle that's often overlooked when runners
solely focus on building their aerobic fitness
with lots of much needed, long, slow running.
You know, there's some truth to the saying that long, slow runs
make long, slow runners.
As I mentioned a moment ago, you really do
need to put in the miles with lots of easy paced
aerobic running to build your aerobic engine.
But if you don't also tune your engine with some faster running,
you're building yourself a workhorse, not a racing car.
I've met too many runners who've built a good level of aerobic fitness,
but then struggled to run well at
Faster paces, simply due to a lack of practice
running at those faster paces. Physiologically
It's great to develop aerobic endurance, but you also need to train
the neuromuscular system, the link between the brain and the muscles
to develop a leg speed and coordination to run efficiently at faster paces.
That's where running regular sets of strides
in your weekly training schedule becomes really helpful.
You could even incorporate some low level plyometrics into your training,
like jumping rope.
You don't need to smash your body with lots of speed workouts, in fact,
to avoid injury
it's important that you ease
right off the speed work while you're in your
aerobic base building phase.
Doing regular sets of strides and short bouts of jumping rope each week
will help you train your body for neuromuscular demands
of running faster without putting too much extra stress on your system,
while you're also building your mileage with all the aerobic running.
If you're wondering, strides are simply short acceleration runs of
50-80 meters from a jogging pace up to 400 meter interval pace,
with a focus on accentuating good form.
So focus on running tall, relaxing your shoulders, actively using your arms,
holding your hips high, driving your knees and picking your feet up.
I like to incorporate 4 to 6 sets of strides after a warm-up
or the end of an easy run a couple of times per week.
The third factor in improving your running speed is your biomechanics
(your running technique)
Now, we're all slightly different, and there's no one size fits all
perfect running style.
But there are a few aspects of technique for all runners need to work on
if they want to run faster.
The two factors that determine your running pace are your stride length,
(the distance overground you cover with its stride) and your running cadence
(how many strides you make per minute).
So if you want to run faster, you need to both
increase your stride length and your cadence.
The easiest way to increase your stride length is to focus on lifting
both your heel and your knee just a little bit higher
than you would do normally as you run at a given pace.
The higher carriage of the knee and the foot allow you to cover
more ground with each stride. Where people struggle with this.
Is that they don't also increase their cadence,
and they really overly emphasize this gentle lift of the knee of a foot.
So you start bounding along with huge, slow strides.
Completely unsustainable.
Looking more like a triple jumper. That's not what I want to see.
Instead, you should also focus on gently increasing your cadence to make slightly
quicker strides as you pick your feet up a little bit more than you're used to
and drive your knees up and forwards to lengthen your stride.
It'll feel weird at first, but it will help you
lengthen your stride and help you run faster.
One of the best ways to practice this increased knee drive are the higher
carriage of the foot is to incorporate hill reps into your training.
Again, you don't need to do too many each week,
and you can add them onto an existing run in your schedule. Finishing a short,
easy pace mid-week run with 6 to 8 x 20 second reps up a moderate hill
at around about 5K race pace with lots of recovery in between,
those reps, will help
you reinforce this new movement pattern and improve your running technique,
making your biomechanics more efficient and helping you to run faster
with a smoother form. When it comes to running technique,
there are few other simple things you can do to improve your running style
and run faster,
and I've broken each one of them down in this video linked on screen right now.
So click on that video and I'll see you over in the next one.