I’m so frustrated. I want to grab you by the shoulders and shake you. Running faster is easy.
YOU ARE FASTER THAN YOU THINK!
Like Billy Mills once said, ‘God has given me the ability. The rest is up to me. Believe, Believe, Believe. ‘ I need you to believe.
You want to make this more complicated than it is; to believe you need months of running splits at 80% max heart rate; that eating certain food will aid oxygen metabolization; that your training has to be perfect.
Maybe this attention to detail will key a PR if you’re in the Nike project.
Otherwise SHUT UP! Running faster is easy. It’s simple. You can watch Coach Mackenzie Burgoyne detail it in THIS great video.
The recipe, in sum: 2 hard runs per week. 1 long run. Lots of easy miles.
- Hard run 1: Intervals with short rest done at 80-90% effort.
- Hard run 2: Tempo run at 70-80% effort.
- Long run: 25-3% of your week’s mileage at a comfortable pace.
But first YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE.
Believe in yourself.
That it’s that simple.
Want to get faster still? Run with people who are faster than you. If you are the fastest person in your running group and are intent on improving, find a new group.
Stop thinking it’s the shoes, or the recovery intervals, or the race day conditions.
Stop thinking that past performances predict today’s. I’ve seen people chop minutes off a PR in a single race.
MINUTES.
Someone with less talent than you has ignored all the little details and come out on top.
GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND INTO YOUR HEART.