Learning how to run faster

Want to speed up? Here's how.

Photo by Howard Bouchevereau on Unsplash

When we start running for the first time, just putting one foot in front of the other continuously for any length of time can seem like a miracle.

But sooner or later, once you get the hang of it, most of us like to find new ways of challenging ourselves — or, at least, to run as well as the people we see out there on the roads alongside us.

That’s exactly what a reader asked when she reached out to me in our Strava group earlier this week, with this message:

“How can I improve my pace and be faster? My marathon pace is around 13 to 13:30 minutes per mile and around the same for [the] half marathon. I would like to make it a bit faster, perhaps 12 to 12:30 minutes per mile.”

So, I shared with her that I’d put together a post of some tips I’ve collected and used over the years — and share it with you, too.

Now in one sense, running faster is easy; you simply run faster. We can push ourselves to do that, of course, but typically I always find that I amble back to my usual pace, without even realizing I have.

So, what to do if you want to quicken your pace so you can sustain it whenever you run? One place to start is with a speed training technique called the fartlek — yes, it’s pronounced exactly like it looks 😉 — a Swedish word that means “speed play.”

Emphasis on ‘play’

The word “play” gives you a hint — it’s a type of speed training you can do on your own or with a group, any way you want to. The point is to mix up your running with easier and harder efforts, alternating between the two.

Here’s how Runner’s World describes it:

After a warmup, you play with speed by running at faster efforts for short periods of time (to that tree, to the sign) followed by easy-effort running to recover. It’s fun in a group setting as you can alternate the leader and mix up the pace and time. And in doing so, you reap the mental benefits of being pushed by your buddies through an unpredictable workout.

If you’re running solo, you can use it as a playful way to pass the time by targeting random markers as the finish line for the hard efforts. The goal is to keep it free-flowing so you’re untethered to the watch or a plan, and to run at harder efforts but not a specific pace.

The last part is key: the fartlek is designed to help you push your body and feel the effort you’re making physically, and not to look at your watch as you’re doing it. It helps both improve your fitness and your awareness of how you feel at different levels of effort, without getting hung up on your time.

Fartleks can be done however you want do them. Find a starting place like an intersection and run at a faster speed to the next intersection; start at the bottom of a hill and sprint to the top of it — its all up to you.

It’s best to find fartlek workouts you can repeat multiple times (with easy recovery runs in between) to get the most out of them.

When you’re ready to take it to the next level

For runners interested in something more specific — such as meeting a goal time in a half marathon or marathon — there are plenty of workouts to choose from. Everything from Yasso 800s to sprint workouts to mile repeats can work.

Before diving into the details of any of those, however, it’s important to note the degree to which every runner is different. Each of us runs at our own pace — that might be a 2:30 half marathon or a 4-hour half marathon.

A lot of these plans call for you to run at different paces that their creators assume you already know, such as your 5K pace or your 10K pace or your half marathon pace. But I’d wager that many of us have no idea what our paces are at different distances; we just go out and run.

So keep that in mind as you evaluate different speed training options — some are designed with experienced runners in mind, who can tell you to the minute what their paces are for each distance.

Here are some great resources on speed workouts to try:

• Yasso 800s — Named after Bart Yasso, the longtime Chief Running Officer at Runner’s World, these were originally developed for runners training for 26.2 miles, but can be a great workout for half marathoners too.

• Sprint workouts — Start with the beginner version of these, which involve a warmup run and then an all-out sprint for 20 seconds, followed by a 30-45 second recovery jog; and then repeat that another 3-5 times.

• Mile repeats — These are similar to Yasso 800s, and a great tool if running fast seems a bit daunting. The goal of these is to run one mile at a faster pace than your 5K, followed by a recovery run, and then repeat.

• Hill sprints — These help you both improve your running form and your fitness level, and involve very short sprints up hills (usually 8 to 10 seconds).

Now, when you look at this list, I realize it’s a little intimidating. (Okay, maybe a lot intimidating!) But remember: you can take bits and pieces of any of these techniques and use only what works for you. (Which is good advice for lots of things in life, isn’t it?)

Once you try them out and get comfortable with them, don’t be afraid to improvise your own variation on the one(s) you enjoy the most.

All that said, I’d love to know: what do you find most helpful when it comes to speeding up your pace? Have you ever tried to get faster? I’d love to know, either in the comments below or by replying back.

As always, I hope you’re having a great week and getting some great runs in — keep in touch and let me know how your running/life is going.

Your friend,

— Terrell