Just about every runner dreams about running faster at some point. I know I certainly do—I’ve spent years of my life chasing down PRs (literally). But, it’s very important to get faster the smart way, or you’re likely to get injured, like I did when I first started running. Getting faster the smart way will help get you to the start and finish of your race strong and healthy, making the odds of you having a great race and getting your PR (personal record) much greater. Today I want to share my top three tips for getting faster, in the hopes that they’ll help you get that PR you’re dreaming of.
#1 – You must do speed work.
You’ll never run faster in races if you don’t train yourself to run faster. Speed work helps increase your maximum speed, helps your body get better at delivering oxygen to your running muscles, and it helps you run more efficiently. If you want to get faster, start to incorporate weekly speed work into your training plan, although your plan may incorporate speed work already.
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What kind of speed work is best really depends on what kind of race you’re training for (shorter or longer distance), where you’re at with your training (are you a beginner just starting with speed work, or have you been doing it for years?), and also what kind of speed work your body responds to best. There’s some trial and error to things, which is why hiring a running coach can be a great idea—your coach can evaluate how you’ve been performing on your runs and prescribe workouts that work well for your body. This is also why keeping a training log is a great idea; you can look back and see what’s worked well for you in the past, and tweak your training plan from there.
#2 – You must strength train.
Even if you nail each and every one of your speed workouts, if you get injured while training for your race, you’ll really reduce your chances of getting that PR you’re dreaming of. Strength training is a wonderful way to help reduce your risk of getting injured. By strengthening the muscles that stabilize your joints, you’ll help your body run with proper form, which reduces injury risk tremendously. Be sure that you’re strengthening your core, hip stabilizers, and feet and ankles, which all can have a huge impact on injury risk.
Here are a few great strength training routines for runners:
5 Kettlebell Exercises for Runners (from Laura at This Runner’s Recipes)
5 Exercises to Strengthen Your Knee (from Christine at Love Life Surf)
DVRT Strength Workout for Runners (from Annmarie at Fit Foodie Mama)
8 Essential Strength Exercises for Runners (from Debbie at Coach Debbie Runs)
Hip Stability Exercises to Prevent ITBS & Runner’s Knee (from Amanda at Run to the Finish)
Core Strengthening Yoga Poses (by yours truly)
#3 – You must do each run at the right pace.
If you want to get faster, that means you should do every run at a faster pace, right? If your plan says that you should be doing your long runs somewhere between a 10:00 and 11:00 minute mile, running at a 9:30 pace is even better, right? Wrong. Each run in a well-written training plan has a purpose, and running too fast on your easy and long runs is a great way to get injured.
I’ve fallen into this hole before. When I first started training seriously, I was so obsessed with getting faster that I thought I was making progress by pushing myself to run faster during my long runs. I wound up with a bad case of Runner’s Knee, and my doctor told me to stick to the dreaded elliptical for a few weeks while it healed. Lesson learned.
There’s a reason why easy runs and long runs should be run at an easy pace, a pace slow enough where you could speak in complete sentences to someone running with you. This slow pace is enough to stimulate your muscles to adapt to the stress of running, to make more mitochondria, the power plants of the cell, to get better at delivering blood to your muscles, and to give your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones time to adapt to the stress of running. If you run most of your miles faster than this easy pace, it puts too much stress on those muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones, which dramatically increases your risk of getting injured. If you’re constantly tempted to run faster than you should, consider running with a heart rate monitor, which can help you stay in the right effort zone.
Best of luck to you as you train to get faster! Train smart and you’ll get there!
Great stuff!
Three things from my experience:
1) Barbell squats with real weight have made a huge difference in my running. My quads and glutes are able to handle so much more of the load now, and it’s shaved a bunch of time off my pace.
2) Hills are speedwork in disguise!
3) I really struggle with pacing. Part of that is because I’m improving and have a hard time judging what’s hard these days. And part of it is my mechanics — I find that trying to slow down too much simply messes me up.
Getting faster this year is my primary focus. So far, I’m doing all of these things but I also have a coach this year so she’s making me do these things!
My goal is to really focus on those three things – especially strength training!
I can do speedwork and easy runs, but I really struggle with strength training.
The last time I took some time off of running I came back and had cut 45 seconds off my mile! I credit it to all the HIIT classes I was taking. I wonder what it would be now if I went back?
Thanks for sharing my link and great tips! Every time I want to skip a strength workout I remind myself how it will help me get faster.
YES to all of these! Especially the speed work. Once I added in speed work to my training it was amazing the speed I gained. Definitely not the easiest of workouts, but the most rewarding in the long run.
You hit the nail on the head with this post! Of course, speed work is my favorite. I struggle with slowing down for my long runs. It will continue to be a work in progress.
I completely agree with all of these! Speed work has been huge for me. I used to find it such a pain but I started seeing results quickly. I also find intervals have the bonus of helping me learn to run slower 🙂
#3: Thus why I am doing all of these posts on pacing! I think pacing (regardless of how you go about it) is so important. It can make or break your training and speedy goals!
Great tips – all things I am working on.
Love these tips! I would love to run faster…just as soon as I’m no longer injured 🙁 I’m going to use those strength training tips one I’m feeling better!
Really helpful, Thanks! I’ve added in speedwork and strength training but still need to figure out the whole right pace thing! I think I’m going to have to try a heart rate monitor at some point.