A Running Mom

Photo Credit: www.blavish.com

1. You could try these training chutes

2. Try striding for 2-3 each time you run

3. Consider covering double the distance at least once a week and then watch the seconds fall away

4. Run with someone whose pace is a touch faster than yours

5. Create a playlist that keeps you motivated to run faster

Each of these techniques can offer you the opportunity to drop time. The best way to see which one suits you is to give each a try. You may find that by simply trying a couple of these techniques will help you identify a faster running pace that you can sustain for longer than you originally thought, and that your secret to your personal best race time is just opening up your stride a little bit… nothing too dramatic!

Can’t wait to hear how you get yourself running faster!

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

If you are anything like me, you are getting tired of all of the hype around the various workouts out there. From “boot camps” to “high intensity mega tapes” to a multitude of dvds recently offered, men and women can be tempted to spend mega bucks on ways to make working out more effective and interesting. Well, here’s my few thoughts for free. Here’s my top 5 Speed Workouts that will make YOU stronger, focussed and challenged. Try this:

5. INTERVALS During your next run, identify a target about 100 yards away.  This target could be a tree, lampost, bench or if you’re really abmitious, another runner. Run as fast as your legs can carry you to this target and then resume your comfortable pace. Do this once per mile of a “comfortable pace” run. WHY? It builds strength, endurance and challenges how you regard your pace. Plus, it’s fun, especially if you dust another runner.

4. BUILD THAT MUSCLE After three runs each week, do 3 sets of 8 of each of these: push-ups, dips, lunges. Try to incorporate them into the setting of your run, immediately upon finishing your run. WHY? Challenging muscles when their fatigued can quickly build strength. That’s why we do sets until muscle failure. Plus you’ll feel like Rocky.

3. CUT DISTANCE/ADD SPEED For one run each week, lessen your distance by half and run that distance in a :30-:45 less per mile than your comfortable pace. If you usually run four miles at 9:30, run two miles at 8:30-9:00. Don’t fret if you don’t successfully achieve this goal your first time. But keep trying. WHY? Each time you try will make you faster the next time you go out.

2. RUN WITH SOMEONE FASTER THAN YOU Not every run, but once in a while, find someone to run with whose pace is faster than yours. It can be annoying, yes, but as you guessed, it can make you stronger and faster. You may even make a new friend, or an old friendship stronger.

1. FINISH EVERY RUN LIKE AN EIGHT YEAR OLD No matter how far you’re running, select a point at the end of your run when you will just let it fly like you did when you were a kid and run as fast as you can, even if your form begins to break down. WHY? It’ll make you stronger and faster. And you know what? It’s fun.

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

I used to think it was impossible for me to drop time. I’m just not a fast runner. I’m not even a pace runner. I’m one of those dopes who thinks she’s flying while still plodding along at the same pace she was going 3 miles before.

But, I was wrong. I owe this epiphany to my friend, Patrice, who challenged me to run a little faster during a “better than nothing” workout in my home with our little babies crawling around our feet. She used weights while I ran on my treadmill. In-between sets she looked up at me, tilted her head to the side with a surprised look on her face, and she said, “You know, I think you can go faster.”  

I couldn’t believe my ears.  I already felt like I was pushing myself. But as pride dictated, I pushed harder. I ran faster. But not faster enough for Patrice.

She commented again, same surprised look on her face, “I think you can go faster. You look like you’re jogging.” Jogging?  C’mon!

So you know I tried to run faster yet again. And this fun continued until I reached a dizzying — for me — 6:30 pace.  I thought my feet were going to fly back behind me.  Finally, Patrice said, “Now you look like you’re running.”

I’ll never forget that day nor that moment.  

I couldn’t keep that pace for long.  I felt breathless. But it taught me something. I could run really fast. At least for a little while. I could!

And that’s how I started running intervals as part of my regular workouts. And then, I started achieving personal best times. I loved it. And I still do. Thank you Patrice!

Why don’t you take a chance and run a little faster next time you go out. Don’t pass out. But challenge yourself. Perhaps you’ll get stronger. You will feel better. And maybe you’ll finish your next run just a little… faster!

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca