Here are 2 different acitivities you may not have tried, which show you how to run faster.
Why Running Is Splendid
Running is one of the healthiest pastimes. Ever. Fresh air, sunlight, vitamin D, dopamine, increased fitness, and more. And it’s super functional and useful. When the zombies/aliens come, running will come in handy. You won’t have to beat them at tricep curls. You’ll have to outrun them.
Running’s also cheap; you only need a pair of shoes to get started. Parkrun is free around the world.
For context, I do several challenging cardio sports and currently run a 5k in 21:58 and standard triathlon in 3:30:19. Not super fast, not slow though. More importantly, I trained for just 1 month before the triathlon, so know how to get maximum results in minimum time. Here’s how to run faster…
How to Run Faster
There are 2 specific aspects of running that can be intentionally improved. They are relied upon to run fast and run far. The things we can improve are 1) cardiovascular capacity and 2) breathing.
What are they? Cardiovascular capacity is the ability of your entire cardiovascular system to deliver oxygen to the muscles and for the muscles to use this oxygen to make energy for work. Breathing is breathing.
What to do to improve?
1. Swimming
The first thing that improves both cardio capacity and breathing is swimming. Swimming is a unique sport in that nothing else can make you better at swimming, but swimming will make you better at everything else.
Once you start swimming, even if you’re an athlete, the strangest phenomenon occurs – you top out at around 100 metres. Even if you can run marathons, you will feel like death is beckoning and have to stop swimming after 2-3 lengths of a pool. And it’ll stay that difficult for the first few sessions. However, after persisting for 5+ sessions, and willing yourself to push past 500m with regular rests, it suddenly gets easier. So easy that you can swim 1km+ without stopping within just a few months.
And then after learning this new life skill, one day you’ll go for a run, and surprise yourself with how much more efficient you are. I speak from experience as someone who self-taught freestyle swimming within a month for an Olympic triathlon.
Tip: to get started with swimming, start in a local pool, then move to an open water swimming lake (with a lifeguard). Search YouTube for freestyle swimming tips.
2. Mindfulness
The second activity that targets your breathing is meditation/mindfulness. Regularly sitting down for a 10-minute mindfulness session makes you get in touch with your breathing more closely. The ability to inhale slowly, hold, and exhale comes in handy when running, because to run healthily at a consistent pace you need to breathe intentionally. For example, inhale every 3 steps, exhale every 3 steps.
This kind of intentional breathing every couple of steps is similar to taking deep inhales/exhales when meditating, and also when taking in oxygen between swim strokes (to avoid drowning).
Other Tips to Run Faster
Still wondering how to run faster? Here are 2 shorter-term fixes to reduce fatigue on race day. Sleep more than 8 hours so that fatigue is not a factor, and so your mind will know that fatigue is not a factor (there will be no element of placebo, or your mind thinking you’re tired).
Second, caffeine. Like sugar, alcohol, and drugs, caffeine is a Central Nervous System (CNS) Stimulant that has the ability to enhance concentration, increase metabolism, and boost mood. If someone drinks caffeine on a daily basis, they will develop a tolerance just as they would to other drugs or alcohol (Addiction Center). Then, they will need more of the substance to get the same feeling, then seek novelty, and so on. Sounds familiar, right?
In this aspect, caffeine can be considered like a drug. A drug is a tool. Tools are to be used intentionally for specific purposes. Much like paracetamol is taken to relieve minor pain, sugar temporarily boosts energy, and alcohol lowers social inhibitions. Caffeine is used to fend off feelings of fatigue for 2-3 hours. Perfect for 5-15k runs, Tough Mudders, etc.