Improve your running speed and distance by training properly.
Running at high speeds for long distances requires adequate training. The key to achieving your targeted speed and mileage is a training plan that develops endurance, strength and speed. By maintaining a consistent running routine with sufficient rest and recovery days, achieving your running goals is within easy reach.
Instructions
1. Increase distance gradually. Tackling more mileage improves endurance and strength. Add one long run to your weekly routine and increase distance by 1/4 mile each week. This gradual process allows you to build stamina and to run stronger while lowering the risk of injury. Begin by warming up and stretching for 10 minutes, then run 1/4 mile more than your recent longest run. Make progress by extending your long runs up to your desired distance while maintaining or improving your running pace. Rest the day before your long run and do an easy, short run the day after.
2. Improve speed by doing speed runs once a week. Warm up by jogging for 10 minutes then run for a quarter-mile lap slightly faster than your usual pace. Walk a half lap, then run another quarter-mile lap at the same speed as the first lap. Keep your pace times consistent and make progress by adding one lap each week up to six laps. Complete a one-mile time trial to track your speed progress. Continue your progress by building up to 10 laps then check your speed by doing another one-mile time trial. Use a running watch to keep track of your speed and distance.
3. Add hills to your running routine. The resistance of hill runs improves your stride length and quadriceps muscles. Find a steep hill at a distance of 50 to 75 meters and train on it once every two weeks. Alternate uphill runs by first going up in your normal pace and then by running up faster with an exaggerated vertical motion. Repeat six uphill runs per workout and gradually work your way to doing 10 runs. After each uphill run, jog slowly downhill to get back to the bottom.
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