We are going to cover many methods here in this article that will finally put you ahead of your fellow runners! No matter what age group a runner is in right now, there is always room for improvement. You must decide here and now, if you want to be faster… you are going to have to train faster. We also want to keep injuries out of the picture. There’s no use working so hard to get faster and then… having to pay it back exposing yourself (for days!) to injury.
Whichever running distance you prefer, you will have run twice the running distance. I mean, if you’re a 5K runner, twice a 5K is six and a quarter miles. So if all you can run is four miles for your long run, you should add another quarter mile each week. By the end of the month, you should be able to run five miles without stopping.
Run a couple of easy days a week. This would be about four miles for a 5K runner. Which means that over the course of a week you will have a long run day, a pace day (7:00 per mile), and a track day. You always want to work a hard day followed by an easy day. You’ll also want to build in one or two days a week…like a non-run day.
Let’s review a typical week. Monday is a day off, no running. Tuesday is long run day. If you’re a 5K runner, six and a half miles is your long run day. Running easy is always a warm up and cool down, three quarter mile to one mile light run.
In essence, on a Tuesday feature race day it will be six and a half plus one plus one mile for a total of eight and a half miles. You warm up with your first mile at nine minute mile pace. After that first mile, pick up your pace to a seven and a half minute pace (7:30 to 7:55), for six and a half miles. then walk a mile for one minute. After that, run a slow pace mile for nine minutes to cool down.
After your run, stretch for ten to twenty minutes. Remember the purpose of the warm-up; cooling down, then stretching is to prevent it from collapsing. If you tear a muscle, you will spend many days recovering, sometimes weeks. If you miss several days of training, you will most likely ruin your chance to win your next race.
Combine your running training with plenty of rest and proper nutrition and supplements…then you’ll be on your way to a faster life! Good luck and keep running!