Do you want to increase your speed?  Sure, we all do.  But how do you do it if you are already running for distance?  Well, first of all, speed is relative to the amount of effort you put in; however, there are some ways you can increase your speed without taking anything away from your distance work-outs.

Tempo Runs are a great way to work on speed and still get the distance you need.  Try running distances less than the race distance you are training for at your race pace.  When doing this you are increasing your body’s knowledge of what it is like to run at that fast pace and how to execute that task.  Don’t worry if you feel exhausted after running a shorter distance than your race at race pace.  It’s not race day yet and there are other factors during a race that contribute to you running a faster time that can not be replicated very easily like the other runners, spectators, and water stations.

You can also increase your speed by incorporating hill work outs in your training.  When running uphills you have to use your leg muscles and upper body more than normal running which translates into faster running when you are on a flat surface.  Plus you’ll appreciate flat surfaces more.  You never know how good you had it until it’s is gone.

Changing your running mechanics can help as well.  In order to run faster than you normally do you need to increase your stride.  The longer your stride, the farther you go, the faster you run overall.  Make sense?  Of course, it’s logic.  In order to increase your stride start by making sure you stretch before every run.  The looser and more flexible your muscles are, the longer your stride.  Also try pushing off of your toes more.  It will increase your forward momentum along with your stride length.  However, do not increase your stride so you look like a gazelle or some other African inhabitant.  At some point, altering your stride and running style will give you diminishing returns.  Kind of like your current equity portfolio.  Sorry.  That wasn’t funny.

Lastly and most importantly, you want to increase your upper body strength.  Long distance runners often overlook this and it shows when they take their shirt off.  But if you look at any sprinter when they take their shirts off you can  see that larger upper body muscles increase speed.  Now stop staring.  Some areas you want to focus on are you chest, biceps, triceps, lower back, and shoulders.  Use less weight with more repetition rather than a couple of sets of heavy weights.  You don’t want to add too much bulk and weight to your body that you end up not using when running but still have to carry.  You just want efficient body mass that will help you push your upper body forward to help along your lower body.  Do not work out your legs if you are running a training plan.  This will only cause them to fatigue.  Just go run; better, faster, work  harder, get stronger.  I heard you’d do anything for a Klondike.

If you follow this advice you will run faster than you did before.  100% guaranteed or I will refund the price you paid to read this blog, including all opportunity costs; which I estimate to be rather low because you would have been on twitter otherwise.  While you’re there start following Seriousrunning…if you’re you can keep up.  Snap!