How to Run a Faster 10K

Once you’re regularly running distances of 10 kilometers or more, congratulations: you have officially left the “amateur” category, surpassing the vast majority of casual runners. But if you’re not satisfied with that, if you still want to test yourself and see how much faster or farther you can run, there’s still work to be done. RELATED: How to Run a Faster 5K Thankfully, human beings have been running for a very long time, resulting in lots of data-backed training approaches that can help you run a swifter race. Here are four simple approaches to dropping your 10K time. How to Run a Faster 10K To be sure, there are many different approaches to improving your race times, but if you’re relatively new to running or just want some guidance, here are four easy-to-follow tips for shaving minutes off your 10K time. Increase Your Run Distance at Least Once Per Week The easiest way to make a 10K less challenging on your heart, lungs and legs is to start running 15K on a semi-regular basis. Just as weight lifters manipulate reps, weight and tempo to gradually improve their strength, runners have a handful of training variables they can tweak to build up their stamina or improve their speed. If you’re regularly running 10Ks, there’s already a good chance that your run frequency is maxed out, so it’s time to manipulate the distance variable. Take your normal distance and, for one run a week, multiply it by 1.5. That added distance will force adaptations that will translate to better times when you go back to racing at shorter distances, in much the same way that training with a weighted vest will make training without a weighted vest feel easy. Train at Your Threshold Pace More Often Professional runners speak of a concept called “threshold pace,” which officially refers to your lactate threshold, the point at which the concentration of lactate acid in your blood begins to rise dramatically, indicating a high-intensity effort, but is more colloquially used to refer to your best running pace for a 60-minute run. Skip the blood tests and measure your own 60-minute best (or take a race time, if you already have one), and use this pace as a new training benchmark. (For reference, you should be able to speak at this speed but not hold a conversation comfortably.) Next, spend roughly 20% of your running time in any given week at this threshold pace. As you become more and more comfortable at this new pace, your body will adapt to the new demands you’re placing on it, making it easier to sustain this pace for longer and longer. Ramp Up Your Recovery Protocols Running is physically taxing on the body, so it stands to reason that the more you run, the greater the toll on your bones, muscles, joints and cardiovascular system. Once you’re regularly running for ten or more kilometers in a single session, you’re imposing some serious stress on your body, and that requires enhanced recovery techniques. What, exactly, you choose to do can be highly personal, but should probably include stretching, foam rolling, time spent in a sauna and/or cold plunge, and even booking a semi-regular professional massage. And for similar reasons, you should be taking the warm-up and cooldown periods pre- and post-run more seriously as well. If you’re accustomed to rolling out of bed in the morning, slipping on your running shoes and heading out the door at speed, it’s time to re-think your approach. Incorporate Cross Training For some reason, casual and beginner runners seem to hate hearing this, but it’s extremely important so we’re going to say it anyway: the path to becoming a better runner goes through a weight room. No, you don’t need to become a bodybuilder or bench your bodyweight, but neither can you afford to neglect the importance of strengthening your muscles, joints and tendons, and compound movements like the barbell squat and deadlift, not to mention lunges and Olympic lifts, do a fantastic job at preparing your body for the challenges of fast-paced running. Speed is a function of power, and the more power you can generate with your muscles, the more speed you’ll be able to generate, which is exactly why Olympic-level sprinters have the physiques of Greek gods. You Might Also Dig: Best Running ShoesHow to Teach Yourself Not to Hate RunningWhat Proper Running Form Looks Like