The Secret to Running Fast

On a cold, drizzly evening when you would rather be inside on a sofa with a cup of something hot, why do you find yourself running around the streets dodging puddles and choosing a route that is at least supposed to have streetlights? There are a couple of reasons why this might be the case – firstly because you know that running and outdoor activity makes you feel better – your circulation improves, you sleep better, and your mind is cleared. Another reason is because you have set yourself a goal – perhaps to increase your distance covered or to increase your speed over a particular distance.

In order to achieve this, you need to do different things to what you were doing before. A training plan helps to make these differences real and bring them into your training in a structured way. It’s a sure-fire road to injury to bring in too many changes at once but increasing distance, speed and strength gradually will bring the results that you’re looking for.

On paper, this all looks great, however in order to get the results you’re looking for you need to dig in and do the training. What does this mean to you?

• Consistency is key and if nothing else, make sure you regularly go running to build this as a habit.
• Get used to feeling a little bit uncomfortable. Your legs might start burning, your lungs will feel full to bursting and you will find yourself cursing your coach. But be reassured – this is all temporary and you will recover in an ever-decreasing period of time.
• Learn to listen to your body and understand what your maximum effort feels like. You won’t need to go there very often, but you will need to go close. You may feel at your least attractive with red cheeks and heavy breathing but people will be more impressed than anything else.
• Do what you can to get stronger – this can be running specifically in sprinting or hills (or even hill sprints!) or by getting to the gym to lift some weights. How will you know if it works? It is easy to get hung up on stats and data – our every movement can be monitored, measured and recorded. These are useful tools, but don’t go overboard on analysis. You will have good runs and bad runs but you’re in it for the long haul. Pick some key sessions, or benchmark runs and see how your progress changes on these sessions.
• Trust the training – coaches coach for a reason to offer advice and expertise based on experience and research. Just as a football manager can’t guarantee that their team will win every week, sometimes race day can be a disaster – there are unexpected weather conditions, you have a stressful week at work or you get locked in a portaloo – but this doesn’t mean that the training doesn’t work. Get out the next day, or next week and cover the distance. You can do it.So of course, there is no secret formula: stretch those comfort zones by training hard and those results will happen.

If you would like some help with your running journey get in touch with us.

By Tanya Boardman