Every human being wants to steadily improve in every goal they set for themselves. It’s the mark of being alive that you are constantly getting better and better, or at least trying to.
This applies not only to your career or financial goals but also to any personal fitness goals you might have for yourself. If you are a runner, this means trying to run faster every single time you go out on the track or a treadmill.
But how can you increase your speed without getting injured? That’s the ultimate question, isn’t it?
In this article, we will give you some tips to help you increase your speed in an outdoor run and become that speed demon you are aspiring to become.
Sleep and Eat Well
It’s always the basics that matter the most, but they are also the ones that are ignored the most. So you will want to begin here.
Are you sleeping and eating well? Getting enough sleep is crucial if you want to allow your body to recover from your runs and get stronger and faster.
Practice proper sleep hygiene by switching off all tablets and phones an hour before sleep, wearing blue light glasses when you use electronic devices at night, and ensuring that you go to sleep at the same time every night.
It might take a bit of time to build these good sleep habits, but they will pay great dividends once you are used to them.
Eating well requires you to understand your body and its needs first. Prep on the weekends to ensure you get the appropriate nutrients during the week.
This way, you can’t use the lack of time as an excuse to binge on fast foods every night. Eating poorly will cause your body to not get enough nutrients and prevent you from improving the stamina and endurance necessary to run faster.
Run With a Group to Motivate Yourself
If you are the kind of person who can motivate yourself to get better on your own, that’s great. But sometimes, having someone else around you with similar goals can push you to try even harder.
Running with a group once a week can show you how behind you are (or how far ahead) and motivate you to try harder to get faster. It can also connect you to like-minded folks who are interested in achieving the same goal as you. You can learn from each other, share tips and tricks, and help each other grow.
Get a Coach
Maybe you are doing this running thing just as a hobby. But if you are serious about it and want to truly improve, then there are no two ways about it. You have to get a coach to help you improve your speed and increase mileage.
A coach can see your weaknesses and strengths objectively and help you improve faster than you would ever on your own. They are also able to motivate and inspire you and push you beyond your limits while ensuring you stay healthy and injury-free.
Wear Lightweight UV Gear
Make sure you have the appropriate running gear for the weather you are going out in. If it’s rainy, you will want to have lightweight rain gear to protect your body from getting wet and cold. And if it’s sunny, you will want to find UV running clothes for sale and use them instead of just whatever you find in the closet.
This will ensure that you aren’t dealing with additional weight due to your clothes. Your clothes will help you by protecting you from the elements. You can focus on running and let your running gear do its thing in keeping you warm, safe, and cozy.
Don’t Forget to Cross Train
Another way you can increase your running speed is by cross-training. You shouldn’t just be running every single day to get faster, but also going for other cardiovascular exercises like spinning, swimming, and aerobic classes.
This will change things up for your muscles and mind, keep things interesting, and also challenge you in different ways.
Also, add strength training to the mix, so your muscles get stronger, which can improve your running speed as well.
Increase Your Speed Slowly and Steadily
Don’t get impatient. It’s easy to believe that you will get faster if you only push yourself a bit more. But this is a surefire way to get injured and then have to sit on the sidelines while your body recovers.
This will only waste precious training time, and it will annoy you to no end.
Better to go at it slowly and steadily and gain speed in a gradual fashion which your body can endure without too much difficulty.
Try Fartleks
Fartlek is a Swedish word which means “speed play”. Essentially, you are experimenting with increasing bursts of speed, varying them as you desire.
For example, you could sprint for as long as the chorus of your favorite song and then fall back to a normal speed, repeating this until you finish a mile.
Run Faster by Staying Strong Till the End
You’ve come so far already in your running practice. It’s not the time to lose hope or to give up yet.
You need to stay strong till the end, keeping up your strength, endurance, and flexibility to run faster.
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