How to Run Faster
Running speed is a combination of everything from weight, leg turnover (how fast your legs move), cardio conditioning and muscle. The following are 8 ways you can learn to run faster:
1 - Reduce weight. The easiest weight to lose is in your shoes, clothing etc. The tougher is your own weight. There are lots of articles on how to lose weight. interestingly, running itself is a great way.
2 - Practice. As simple as it sounds, the best way to run faster is to simply run. If you find you are running a lot and not improving then you may be overtraining and need to ease off or cross train for a while.
3 - Sprint then jog, repeat. This is referred to as wind sprints or fartlets. The time for each can vary from a hard 2 minute run and a 2 minute recovery to a 20-30 second hard and a 2 minute recovery.
4 - Use an exercycle on a a light weight setting. Not only is this good cross training, it can help with leg turnover. Petalling at a fast rate translate to running faster.
5 - Do some upper body exercise. Using your arms to drive your legs faster is a common technique. Try focusing on pumping your arms and your legs will follow.
6 - Over run. If you are training for a 10K, run 11K a few times.
7 - Do some leg exercise other than just running. Cycling is good. Eliptical trainer can also be good cross training. Two of the best leg exercises are squats and lunges. Learn how to do them properly. Leg strength has a greater impact on very short races (like 100M and very long races (like a marathon).
8 - Do some hill work. Practice running hard up a hill and coast down. Then practice flying down the hill too. On the downhill, keep steps short to avoid injury and stay in control.
And of course - run safely. Watch traffic. Do not overtrain. If injured, seek help (EG Shin splints)