Proven Techniques to Help You Run Faster and Longer

Running is a popular and accessible form of exercise that allows us to achieve our fitness goals. Whether you seek to boost your endurance, speed, or overall health, understanding the science behind running can take your performance to the next level. This article presents various scientifically-backed techniques that can help you improve your running.

Build Your Endurance Through Interval Training

When you get started as a runner, you can just go out for a run at a steady pace, and that’s it. Repeat this a couple of times per week and you will make progress. But when you’ve been running for a while, you have to start to modulate your training if you want to keep making progress. That means; change things up! Do some runs at an easy pace, while some other runs are done at a faster pace. We call these faster runs; workouts. There are many different types of workouts, such as tempo runs, hill sprints, fartleks and interval training.

Interval training is a tried-and-tested method to improve stamina, speed and high end endurance. It involves alternating fast running and easy running, or fast running and walking. Interval training is an effective training method for runners of all levels. Here’s how to implement it:

1. Warm-Up: Start with a 10 to 20-minute warm-up at an easy pace – read more about the warm-up below.

2. Intervals: Run at a faster pace for anything between 30 seconds and 3 minutes, then return to a slow jog or walk for 30 to 90 seconds. If your focus is on distances from 10K and longer, keep the recovery relatively short. Run the intervals roughly at your 3-10K race pace, depending on the length of the intervals you’re doing.

3. Repeat: Repeat this several times, until you have covered a total of 20 to 40 minutes (fast and slow intervals combined), depending on your experience level.

4. Cool Down: Finish with a cool-down.

   
   

Elite runners have been doing interval sessions for decades, since it’s a great way to cover a lot of mileage at a higher pace, without exhausting yourself.

The Importance of Warm-Up and Cool Down

Easy runs can typically be done straight from your doorstep. But once you decide to challenge yourself and push a little harder by doing workouts, doing a good warm-up is essential. A dynamic warm-up prepares your muscles and mind for the upcoming session. A standard warm-up exercise includes:

• 10 to 20 minutes of easy running: Don’t do any stretches before warming up your body. Always start with some easy running, to elevate your heart rate and make your body warm. Your muscles and tendons will love this.

• 5 to 10 minutes of dynamic stretches: Before a workout, dynamic stretches (not static stretches) are key. Stretch all major muscles, like the quads, hamstrings and glutes

• 5 to 15 minutes of running drills: Running drills such as high knees and straight legs help to activate your muscles and prepare them for running at a faster speed. They also contribute in improving your running form. If you are not used to drills, ask a running coach to guide you, because there is no point in doing them in a wrong way.

• 3 to 5 strides: finish each warm-up with a few strides. During strides, you teach your body to run fast in a relaxed way. Focus on maintaining proper running form, while running at 80 – 95% of your max speed.

  
  

At Kenya Camp, we do a coached warm-up before each workout, including the above stretches and drills. Join us to learn how the Kenyans get ready for their workouts!

After your workout, it’s good to do a small cool-down. The cool-down doesn’t have to last as long as the warm-up though. Running easy for 5 to 10 minutes is often enough, potentially followed by some relaxed stretches.

Note that the effect of doing a warm-up and cool-down are not just physical. The mental part is at least as important. The warm-up helps you get mentally ready for action. The cool-down helps you to calm down and ‘enter recovery mode’

Modulate your Runs

Once you get started with workouts – such as the interval sessions that we described above – you want to make sure your easy runs are not messing with the workouts. This happens all too often with amateur runners: the easy runs are done too fast, causing the runner to be tired on workout days. In the end, there is hardly any difference in speed between an easy day and a hard day. This is something we can learn from elites.

Keep the following in mind:

• Know what leads to progress: progress comes mostly from 2 mechanisms; the amount of mileage we run, and the workouts that we do. The old question whether we need quality or quantity is not valid. We know that we need both.

• Accumulate mileage in easy runs: use your easy runs to work on the quantity part of training. It’s impossible to make enough mileage if you do all your runs at a moderate to fast pace. Run easy so that you can run long, avoid injuries and overtraining, and save energy for the harder workouts.

• Push your limits in workouts: once or twice a week, include a harder workout. During these workouts, you run (part of the session) at a higher heart rate. You put a lot of effort in these workouts, so you can’t do them too often.

• Easy runs: Aim for an RPE/effort of 1-3 on a scale to 10. You should be able to talk during the easy runs.

• Workouts: Aim for an RPE of 7-8, and very occasionally 9. An RPE of 7-8 means that you push yourself. The training is tough, but after the session (sometimes a few hours later) you feel fine.

If you feel like most of your runs are done at a moderate effort, or an RPE of 4-6, you’re not getting the maximum benefits of your training. It’s not a bad thing to do a moderate run occasionally. It’s fine. But the bulk of your training should consist of easy runs (RPE 1-3) and workouts (RPE 7-8).

In other words: run easy when you have to, and run hard when you can!

Strength train to get more robust

Most of us didn’t have an active childhood like the Kenyans. We didn’t have to carry bottles with 20 litres of water from the river to our house. We didn’t have to carry huge piles of fire wood on our back. We didn’t have to run to school, bare foot and over hills.

So when we start to run, especially if we are over 40 years, our body is not strong enough to handle the training load. People say: running leads to injuries. But that’s only because we are not strong enough. So if you are serious about running, you should also be serious about strength training.

Go to the gym at least once a week, but preferably twice. Do one weekly session of weight lifting. Use typical exercises for runners, such as squats, lunges, dead lifts and cleans. Do a second (or possibly third) session with body weight exercises for your core, hamstrings, glutes and so on.

These sessions will give you the strength that you need to:

1. Run faster with the same effort

2. Get more robust and be able to handle more running mileage

   
   

Nutrition: Fuel Your Performance

Nutrition plays a vital role in running performance. The fuel you provide your body can affect how long and fast you can run. Here are some nutrition tips for runners:

• Carbohydrates: Carbs are essential for endurance. Incorporate bread, pasta, rice, ugali, chapatti/roti, fruits, and vegetables into your diet. Generally speaking, carbs are the most important form of energy for runners and they should play a big role in your diet. It’s fine (maybe even smart) to do some of your easy runs before taking any breakfast, but once you want to run a little faster, you should eat some carbs before the session.

  
  

• Protein: Proteins are important for recovery. Consume lean sources such as chicken, fish, or beans. For optimal muscle recovery, take sources of protein several times a day. Generally speaking, you don’t want to eat proteins just before your run, because they can cause stomach issues.

  
  

• Hydration: Staying hydrated before, during, and after your runs is crucial. Drink 2-3 litres of water a day, and consider electrolyte drinks during or immediately after longer runs in warm weather.

  
  

• Pre-Run Meals: Eating a carbohydrate-rich snack, such as a banana, about 30 minutes before running can provide the quick energy needed during a workout. This is not so much the case if you do your run in the morning – in that case you should have enough energy in your body from supper last night. But if you are mentally and physically tired from a long and heavy day at work, it’s smart to eat something small, for optimal performance. Mental strength, which is needed during workouts, declines when we get tired and eating a (healthy) snack can help get our strength back.

By paying attention to what you eat, you can significantly enhance your running performance.

Rest like a Kenyan

Whether you aim to improve your performance, or run because it makes you happy and keeps you healthy, getting injured spoils the fun! Did you know that one of the main risk factors is a lack of sleep? Runners who sleep too little (less than 7 hours per night) are more likely to get injured than runners who sleep 7 – 9 hours per night. Some studies even suggest that runners should aim for at least 8 hours of sleep, and potentially 9 hours for teenagers.

This makes a lot of sense, because most tissue repair and recovery is done while we sleep. During sleep, we produce large amounts of growth hormone and testosterone, which help in the recovery of muscle and bone tissue, as well as red blood cell production. And they improve our mood as well.

No wonder the best runners in the world sleep a lot. Kenyans tend to sleep from 9 or 10 PM up to 6 AM, and follow that up with a day time nap of 2 hours.

So to run faster and have a long running career, realise that:

• Stress + rest leads to progress

• In the running world that means: training needs to be followed by adequate recovery

• Training without adequate recovery leads to injuries, over training and lack of progress

• The number one recovery tool is sleep

• Sleep can’t be replaced by massage or recovery tools

That’s not to say that there is no place at all for other recovery tools. Many elite runners, including most Kenyans, like to get frequent massages. Although there is no hard evidence that massages improve recovery, they may have some positive effect on our general well being.

On the other hand, science tells us that taking an ice bath or cryotherapy is likely to harm our performance. The mechanism that explains that, is that an ice bath reduces the inflammation in our muscles. That sounds good, but the inflammation in the muscle cells is needed, because it’s what makes our body to improve.

It’s actually what we are looking for when we are training; we damage ourselves a bit. That damage leads to hormones and biological markers being released, to repair the damage and make us stronger. If we take away the inflammation, we take away the training effect. So unless you have a race in a few days and need some urgent recovery, don’t choose for an ice bath, but choose for sleep as your recovery tool (in combination with eating well).

Mental Strategies for Better Running

Running isn't just physical; it’s a mental game too. Developing mental resilience can improve your running experience and performance. Here are some strategies to consider:

• Train to improve yourself, not to prove yourself: training is about applying the right stimulus, or the right form of ‘stress’. Sometimes this means doing a long run, sometimes a faster endurance workout or a strength session. And sometimes you just have to run really easy. If you start to focus on proving – either to others or to yourself- that you are a strong runner, you may end up making the wrong kind of choices in training. You’re likely to run fast when your body needs easy. And you’re likely to run more than your body can handle. Keep in mind that consistency is always the most important.

  
  

• Use self-talk: We all talk to ourselves when we run. Typically, this doesn’t help us. But when we do this self-talk in a structural, planned way, it can boost our performance. Think of phrases such as ‘you can do this’ or ‘you know how to handle the pain’ or ‘get ready for the sprint’. Using structural self-talk during a hard workout or race, keeps us in control and helps to avoid negative thinking.

  
  

• Visualization: Visualization is used by most elite athletes to improve performance. Picture yourself running. Imagine how tough it is, but how you’re able to handle that. Imagine how you run away from others, or how you’re able to have a good race, despite running all by yourself.

  
  

Improving your mental toughness can be just as valuable as physical training.

Incorporating these proven techniques into your running routine can help you dramatically improve your performance. If you want to experience all of this first hand, consider visiting Kenya Camp. We have in-debt seminars about mental tools and how to improve, that go much deeper than we can capture in a blog. During our daily training sessions, we let you go through warm-up routines, strength training and interval sessions. And while our chefs provide you with a tasty and healthy runners diet, our accommodation provides the optimal rest you need to perform.

Embrace the journey of running, understand your body, and most importantly, enjoy the process of becoming a faster and stronger runner.