Teen Forums - Teen Chat, Teen Help, Teen Advice & Support

There isn't an easy way to increase your speed because speed comes with patience and lots of training. However, I cannot express my deepest concern more importantly - everyone should complete both warm-ups and warm-downs before and after races and training. I usually expect people to start with basic stretches, and to hold the stretch in that position for at least 15 seconds. Further to this, you should start with a very low running pace for about 400-800m before your 'official' training or race begins. Same goes with warm-downs, however you should continue to run after your training, but as a low pace then move onto stretches. Please take note the order these are put in.

In order to run, you must have fuel in your tank like every car would need. Sure, you can run without food in your belly but that isn't recommended during endurance runs, races or generally for speed training. However, you may have heard that it's better to run first thing in the morning before food. Please take note, this is for people who want to loose weight. If you're here to increase your speed, then ideally you should eat before a run. Now, this food talk marks the importance of proper nutrition and eating regularly. If you're passionate about becoming a professional, or just want to win your school cross country, you need to pay high attention to this and the amount you eat. This may sound crazy, but many nutritionists recommend eating 5-6 small meals a day with your lunch being the biggest meal. An example of a small breakfast for an athlete would be weetbix, with skimmed milk and one (1) banana. It is also recommend that people don't eat carbs after 12:00-midday. This might not sound very healthy before a race, but I have noticed that my speed increases a couple seconds off a kilometer when I drink a cup of coffee before a race. And no, this isn't considered cheating or illegal during most events. In fact, I believe most professionals do it.

Now, to regular training - you must watch your strides so that you know how to conserve energy. My following suggestion is when on flat surface, you must run until the point you feel comfortable, but you are pushing yourself a little. Once you reach a downhill, this is where many athletes conserve energy, by running at the same speed as you where on flat surface. If you go faster, your not conserving energy in your system. Going up hills can be a little daunting to people, so take it slow - no rush. All experienced athletes go slower on hills, so keep that in mind.

During training, you must have interval days (usually once or twice a week), these are considered the central part to speed training. An example, and something I have followed in the past, I will write out below:

Tuesdays - 90 on and then 90 off 3 times / 60 on and off 3 times / 30 on and off 3 times / 15 on and off 3 times - This all equals 29min 30 of interval training

Thursdays - 4min on, 4 off, 3 on , 3 off , 2on , 2off, 1 on, 1off, 1on , 2off, 2on , 3off, 3on , 4off , 4on for 39 min 30 sec total.

The secret to this training is that the recovery is a running recovery, I have rapidly improved my recovery pace down.

Each week, adjust the pace alerts on the garmin and make sure you keep lowering the recovery pace to keep nudging yourself into improvement. There has only ever been one session out of all them where i have not made an improvement. However, that's the training I use during my 21km Half Marathon races, so unless you're running distances like that, you might want to start off lower.

interesting, ill ahve to give some of this a try

i'll check this out ltr when i have more time bc im a collegiate caliber runner ... R u a runner or did u find this sumwhere or are u wanting to coach?

In order to run, you must have fuel in your tank like every car would need. Sure, you can run without food in your belly but that isn't recommended during endurance runs, races or generally for speed training. However, you may have heard that it's better to run first thing in the morning before food. Please take note, this is for people who want to lose weight. If you're here to increase your speed, then ideally you should eat before a run. Now, this food talk marks the importance of proper nutrition and eating regularly. If you're passionate about becoming a professional, or just want to win your school cross country, you need to pay high attention to this and the amount you eat. This may sound crazy, but many nutritionists recommend eating 5-6 small meals a day with your lunch being the biggest meal. An example of a small breakfast for an athlete would be weetbix, with skimmed milk and one banana. It is also recommend that people don't eat carbohydrates after 12:00-midday if you're trying to lose weight. This might not sound very healthy before a race, but I have noticed that my speed increases a couple seconds off a kilometer when I drink a cup of coffee before a race.

Regular training - you must watch your strides so that you know how to conserve energy. My following suggestion is when you run on a flat surface, you must run until the point you feel comfortable, but you are still pushing yourself a little. Many athletes conserve energy when running downhill by allowing gravity to take them down the hill rather than putting forth much effort from their own body. Going up hills can be a little daunting to people, so take it slow - no rush. All experienced athletes go slower on hills, so keep that in mind. Your strides should be shorter but give your arms a pumping motion.

To improve speed, you must have interval training days (usually once or twice a week), these are considered the central part to speed training. Interval training is best described as short bursts of intense effort followed by short periods of rest or light effort to recover. An example, and something I have followed in the past, I will write out below:

Tuesdays - 90seconds on and then 90 off x 3 times / 60 on and off 3 times / 30 on and off 3 times / 15 on and off 3 times - This all equals 29min 30 of interval training.

Thursdays - 4min on, 4 off, 3 on , 3 off , 2on , 2off, 1 on, 1off, 1on , 2off, 2on , 3off, 3on , 4off , 4on for 39 min 30 sec total.

Each week, adjust the pace alerts on the garmin and make sure you keep lowering the recovery time to keep nudging yourself into improvement. There has only ever been one session out of all them where I have not made an improvement. However, that's the training I use during my 21km Half Marathon races, so unless you're running distances like that, you might want to start off lower.

I am an athlete. Have been running since the age of twelve. I run endurance races with the biggest ones been Half Marathons (21kilometers and 13.1miles). I am now training up for the full marathon (42kilometers and 26 miles). After a long hard run I tend to come home really happy - it's like a drug to me (because of the endorphins).