![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
How to run faster
Several of the members of this community are relative beginners at running, and some have commented to me that they are concerned with how slow they are, or that they would like to be faster. As it happens, I used to be a fairly slow runner; now I'm a fairly fast runner, at least for my age group. For "Three Weeks for Dreamwidth" I will share some tips, based on conventional wisdom among experienced runners and borne out by my own experiences, on how to become a faster runner.
1. Run more. Practice at something makes you better at it. It might seem a little dubious to apply this rule to something that's not clearly technique-based (compared to e.g. rock climbing or a foreign language) but it works. The more you run, the more you develop running economy, and aerobic endurance, and muscular strength. And endurance really is the key: you can probably run pretty fast if you run all-out for one minute - the trick is to hold that speed for e.g. an entire 5K.
How much is "more"? When I used to run 12 miles per week, I thought 20 mpw was a lot. But 20 is barely enough to get good at running. A beginning runner targeting 5Ks might want to run 20-30mpw; a competitive 5K runner is probably running 40-60mpw, and a competitive marathoner as much as 60-90mpw! The amount of running you do should be balanced with your goals and your life. Do what works for you.
There are various formulas for safely increasing your mpw. I have personally found that it is easier for me to run shorter runs and more days per week than long runs only a few times a week. If you're doing a significantly longer run once a week, the distance of that run shouldn't be more than 1/3 your total mileage.
2. Run slowly. Yeah, I know: "But I'm already running so slowly!" But are you running at an easy pace? Are you able to carry on a conversation (brief sentences) while you run? Or do you feel at the edge of being out of breath all the time?
Running most of the time at an easy pace (as opposed to as fast as you feel you can cover that distance) is better for several reasons. First, it develops endurance, training your metabolism to efficiently supplement stored muscle glycogen (which you don't have a lot of) with stored fat (which you do have a lot of). Second, it gives you time on your feet - muscular fatigue is more a function of how long you are out there than how many miles you cover. Particularly for the longer races, it's more important to have some training runs of the duration you plan to be out there, rather than the distance covered by the race. And finally, it's easier to maintain higher mileage (see #1) without injury if those miles are slow and easy.
If you are running all your runs as fast as you can and you still feel slow, it might be psychologically tough to slow down even more. But if you slow your runs to a genuinely easy pace, eventually that pace will become faster for the same amount of effort. (Here is an article by Coach John Hadd about this kind of training.)
3. Vary your pace. Most of your running should be at easy pace - but not all of it. Formal speedwork is probably not useful (and is more likely to lead to injury) if you're running under 30mpw, but that doesn't mean that all of your runs need to be easy. If you are running 3-4 times a week, one run every week could be faster; if you are running 5-7 times a week you could do two faster workouts each week. If you're running only twice a week, see #1 first. :-)
The simplest thing to do is to run some of your shorter runs a little faster. After a warm-up of 10-20 minutes at your easy pace, speed up to a pace you can hold for the entire distance of your shorter run. Or, if you are alternating running and walking for your longer runs, run continuously for the shorter ones. This kind of running leads into what is called a tempo or LT (lactate threshold) run.
Another thing you can do is the occasional fartlek (speedplay). This is just running little sprints in the middle of a run as you feel like it - between light posts, for example, or every time a car goes by, or just at your whim. During the winter I did what I called "bare pavement fartlek" - I would jog slowly across snowpacked sections of the mostly-plowed paved trail, and then sprint across the dry sections.
Finally, a good way to develop more leg strength and power (if you're not weightlifting, or even if you are) is to do hill sprints. (This page is probably slanted more toward higher volume, more experienced runners; for most beginning runners I would suggest starting with 1 or 2 6-second sprints, and only doing it once a week regardless.)
4. Lose weight. All other things being equal, a given muscle mass can propel a lighter weight faster than it can a heavier weight. If you have excess fat, you will get faster as you shed it. For long-distance running (by which I mean everything other than track sprinting; a 5K is, technically, "long distance") muscle unfortunately does not carry its entire weight (so to speak), so optimal running weight is actually quite a bit under normal healthy weight. But again, balance is important, and if you are not a world-class elite runner (or likely to become one soon) it's better to be fit and healthy rather than skinny.
If you have questions, please ask! If you have become faster, please share your secrets! And if I screwed up somewhere, let me know.
1. Run more. Practice at something makes you better at it. It might seem a little dubious to apply this rule to something that's not clearly technique-based (compared to e.g. rock climbing or a foreign language) but it works. The more you run, the more you develop running economy, and aerobic endurance, and muscular strength. And endurance really is the key: you can probably run pretty fast if you run all-out for one minute - the trick is to hold that speed for e.g. an entire 5K.
How much is "more"? When I used to run 12 miles per week, I thought 20 mpw was a lot. But 20 is barely enough to get good at running. A beginning runner targeting 5Ks might want to run 20-30mpw; a competitive 5K runner is probably running 40-60mpw, and a competitive marathoner as much as 60-90mpw! The amount of running you do should be balanced with your goals and your life. Do what works for you.
There are various formulas for safely increasing your mpw. I have personally found that it is easier for me to run shorter runs and more days per week than long runs only a few times a week. If you're doing a significantly longer run once a week, the distance of that run shouldn't be more than 1/3 your total mileage.
2. Run slowly. Yeah, I know: "But I'm already running so slowly!" But are you running at an easy pace? Are you able to carry on a conversation (brief sentences) while you run? Or do you feel at the edge of being out of breath all the time?
Running most of the time at an easy pace (as opposed to as fast as you feel you can cover that distance) is better for several reasons. First, it develops endurance, training your metabolism to efficiently supplement stored muscle glycogen (which you don't have a lot of) with stored fat (which you do have a lot of). Second, it gives you time on your feet - muscular fatigue is more a function of how long you are out there than how many miles you cover. Particularly for the longer races, it's more important to have some training runs of the duration you plan to be out there, rather than the distance covered by the race. And finally, it's easier to maintain higher mileage (see #1) without injury if those miles are slow and easy.
If you are running all your runs as fast as you can and you still feel slow, it might be psychologically tough to slow down even more. But if you slow your runs to a genuinely easy pace, eventually that pace will become faster for the same amount of effort. (Here is an article by Coach John Hadd about this kind of training.)
3. Vary your pace. Most of your running should be at easy pace - but not all of it. Formal speedwork is probably not useful (and is more likely to lead to injury) if you're running under 30mpw, but that doesn't mean that all of your runs need to be easy. If you are running 3-4 times a week, one run every week could be faster; if you are running 5-7 times a week you could do two faster workouts each week. If you're running only twice a week, see #1 first. :-)
The simplest thing to do is to run some of your shorter runs a little faster. After a warm-up of 10-20 minutes at your easy pace, speed up to a pace you can hold for the entire distance of your shorter run. Or, if you are alternating running and walking for your longer runs, run continuously for the shorter ones. This kind of running leads into what is called a tempo or LT (lactate threshold) run.
Another thing you can do is the occasional fartlek (speedplay). This is just running little sprints in the middle of a run as you feel like it - between light posts, for example, or every time a car goes by, or just at your whim. During the winter I did what I called "bare pavement fartlek" - I would jog slowly across snowpacked sections of the mostly-plowed paved trail, and then sprint across the dry sections.
Finally, a good way to develop more leg strength and power (if you're not weightlifting, or even if you are) is to do hill sprints. (This page is probably slanted more toward higher volume, more experienced runners; for most beginning runners I would suggest starting with 1 or 2 6-second sprints, and only doing it once a week regardless.)
4. Lose weight. All other things being equal, a given muscle mass can propel a lighter weight faster than it can a heavier weight. If you have excess fat, you will get faster as you shed it. For long-distance running (by which I mean everything other than track sprinting; a 5K is, technically, "long distance") muscle unfortunately does not carry its entire weight (so to speak), so optimal running weight is actually quite a bit under normal healthy weight. But again, balance is important, and if you are not a world-class elite runner (or likely to become one soon) it's better to be fit and healthy rather than skinny.
If you have questions, please ask! If you have become faster, please share your secrets! And if I screwed up somewhere, let me know.
no subject