Can You Run Faster by Training Slower?
Training slow has been seen as a sign of weakness or laziness. However, if you want to run (or bike, or swim) faster, a smart approach is to slow down and train “slowly by slowly.”
Brock Armstrong
Listen
Can You Run Faster by Training Slower?
In the article “How To Start Running” you learned how to get started and you gathered some important tips on how to be efficient and strong. Then the article “How to Run Faster” offered you six quick and dirty tips to run faster for longer without getting tired.
Those six tips were:
1. Lose Weight (body fat)
Think about carrying a bag of potatoes up a flight of stairs. Compared with simply carrying your body weight, the consequences of lifting one, five, or 10 extra pounds with each step can have you instantly huffing and puffing. You can find out more about that in the article “Can Losing Weight Make You Run Faster?”
2. Increase Your Cadence
Specifically, a cadence around 90 steps per minute has been found to be ideal.
The fastest runners in the world have a few defining characteristics, and one is that they take more steps per minute than the rest of us. In running terms, that means they have a higher cadence. Specifically, a cadence around 90 steps per minute has been found to be ideal.
3. Use A Treadmill
Including tempo runs, where you set the treadmill to a slightly faster speed than you are comfortable with, can train the nerves and muscles in your legs to move faster. Since there are no stop lights and street crossings on a treadmill, this can also help you focus on the proper running form that I discussed in the article “Does Your Footfall Really Matter?”
4. Run Hills
Running up a hill is a lot like putting some extra weight on the barbell.
The beauty of running up hills is that they allow you to achieve high intensities without the same amount of joint impact and pounding that you would experience while running on flat terrain. Running up a hill is a lot like putting some extra weight on the barbell, it will make you stronger faster. You can learn more about hill training in the article “The Ups and Downs of Hill Training.”
5. Use Plyometrics
The benefit of plyometrics is that they teach the muscles of your legs and feet to quickly absorb your body weight and then rebound from the ground. As a result, you minimize your ground contact time and maximize the distance you travel with each step. Even if you improve by just milliseconds per step, over thousands of steps, that can be a substantial speed boost.
Remember that when it comes to consistency, even a short 15-20 minute jaunt is better than nothing at all.
6. Be Consistent
Running every 48-72 hours keeps your muscles prepared for the specific movements of your running gait. Remember that when it comes to consistency, even a short 15-20 minute jaunt is better than nothing at all.
Today, I would like to add a Quick & Dirty Tip #7: Slow down to get fast!
Slowly by Slowly
The runners who train with the legendary coach Patrick Sang have a term for their run training, “Slowly by Slowly.” Sang is one of the most notable run coaches on the planet, and he told Ed Caesar, a writer from Wired Magazine, about this philosophy. He said that if you thought about only one workout at a time, you were missing the point. The idea of a training program is to improve every aspect of a runner, holistically. One single good training day is worth little on its own, but a good week, or even better, a good month is really worth something. And that is how “slowly by slowly” the athlete builds his or her fitness.
“Slowly by slowly” is something I have a tough time getting across to the runners I coach. People usually come to me expecting and perhaps hoping that I will kick their butt into shape. I can often see a bit of relief in their eyes when I tell them that we are going to spend a few weeks preparing their body for running before we even start the run portion of their run training, but I can also see some disappointment in their eyes. We westerners are not good at this little thing called patience. We just want to dive in and exhaust our willpower in as short amount of time as possible and then bask in the results. That is not how “slowly by slowly” works.
If we are not hurting, panting and covered in sweat, how can it be effective?
The other issue we westerners have is that we want all of our workouts to leave us exhausted. If we are not hurting, panting, and covered in sweat, how can it be effective? Well, again, this is where the Kenyans, particularly those in Patrick Sang’s group, outdo us. They are extremely dedicated to being the absolute best runners they can be but they know that busting a gut, day after day, is not the way to do that.
And that leads me to the other aspect of the “slowly by slowly” philosophy I want to highlight today: the actual speed at which the runners train is all over the map. And that includes running surprisingly slowly the majority of the time.
Slow Down
In a study titled How do endurance runners actually train? Relationship with competition performance, researchers found that total training time spent at low intensities might be associated with improved performance during highly intense endurance events. Now that seems contradictory, doesn’t it? The event is high intensity but the training is low? How does that work?
Well, we know that a runner’s heart rate usually follows a linear relationship to their running intensity (your heart beats faster the faster you run), so these particular researchers took eight well-trained, sub-elite endurance runners and had them perform a maximal cardiorespiratory exercise test before beginning a 6-month training block. Their heart rate was then continuously recorded using telemetry during each and every training session over the 6-month macrocycle, which was designed to achieve peak performance in the national cross-country championships. By monitoring them so closely, they were able to quantify the total time that the runners spent in three intensity zones.
Zone 1: Light intensity. This zone had an average heart rate below 140 beats per minute or 60 percent of the runner’s VO2 max.
Zone 2: Moderate intensity. This zone had an average heart rate between 140 and 171 bpm or 60 to 85 percent of VO2 max.
Zone 3: High intensity. With an average heart rate above 171 bpm or over 85 percent of their VO2 max.
During the training block, the fastest runners performed 71 percent of their training in Zone 1, only 21 percent of their time in Zone 2, and a paltry eight percent in Zone 3.
The runners who had shuffled the most training time in the low-intensity zone fared the best in the big race.
So as you can see, and as I indicated earlier, the runners who had shuffled the most training time in the low-intensity zone fared the best in the big race.
The reason why low-intensity running yields such great dividends is that it improves what we call Maximal Aerobic Fitness, Maximum Aerobic Function (or just MAF). Meaning that it has a more significant impact on heart and lung function while also putting in the necessary stressors on the legs, feet, and hips. So, yes, spending time enjoying a leisurely run is not only a nice way to spend some time but it can have a direct and positive impact on your race time. As long as it is countered with some of the hard stuff!
Going back to Patrick Sang and the “slowly by slowly” philosophy, “Every session is a building block,” Sang said. They work hard but not every day.
Go Fast, Occasionally
Remember in the study, the fastest runners spent 71 percent of their training in Zone 1 but they also spent eight percent giving it their all! And when I say giving it their all, I mean it! Running at 85 percent of your VO2 Max is uncomfortable, to say the least. And this is the other piece of the puzzle. Yes, you need to spend time going slow but when it is time to go hard, you have to be ready to go hard! And this is a mistake that many of us runners make. We don’t go slow enough on slow days but we also don’t go fast enough on fast days. We tend to just fiddle around in the middle somewhere.
Elite coach, author, and researcher, Dr. Phil Maffetone, says that building a solid aerobic base fitness is accomplished by training exclusively aerobic (or Zone 1) for three to six months depending on the runner’s history. Dr. Maffetone also says that during this period, anaerobic workouts should be avoided because it can actually impair the aerobic system. Therefore, each workout during base training should be 100% aerobic.
After a solid base is built, that is when I like to start introducing some of those fast and hard Zone 3 training sessions. Here are three of my favorites:
Hard Strides
After a good warm-up, run one minute at your maximum sustainable pace (as fast as you can sustain without pooping out before the minute is up) and then jog easy for four minutes. Repeat this six to eight times. Then cool-down appropriately.
30 by 30s
Warm-up with an easy 10-20 minute jog. Then run 30 seconds at your maximum pace followed by 30 seconds at a very, very easy pace. Repeat this 30 seconds hard and 30 seconds easy 20 times. Cool down with 10 minutes easy jogging, slowing to a walk and hit the foam roller and the showers.
7 and 3s
Warm-up for 5-10 minutes with an easy jog. Then do the following four times through: run hard for seven minutes (as fast as you can sustain for the entire interval without slowing down), then recover with a light jog (or fast walk) for three minutes. Cool-down for 5-10 minutes with an easy jog and walk. Then foam roll and stretch out.
Smart, Not Lazy
To echo what Dr. Maffetone says on his website, training slow has often been seen and considered as a sign of weakness or, worse yet, laziness. However, as we have learned today, if you want to run (or bike, or swim) faster, a smarter approach is to slow down and go “slowly by slowly.” but also remember that when it is time to go hard, you must truly make it count.
You will still encounter people who think that anaerobic training (or speed work) is the only way to build speed, but by developing a strong and solid aerobic system you will indeed get faster and you will also avoid the wear and tear (that can potentially lead to sickness and injury) that often accompanies anaerobic training, especially when it is introduced too much, too soon.
And finally, remember, in the words of Patrick Sang, “work hard, not every day.”
For more info, tips, and to join the conversation, head over to Facebook.com/GetFitGuy or twitter.com/getfitguy. Also don’t forget to subscribe to the Get-Fit Guy podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play or via RSSopens XML file .
About the Author
Brock Armstrong was the host of the Get-Fit Guy podcast between 2017 and 2021. He is a certified AFLCA Group Fitness Leader with a designation in Portable Equipment, NCCP and CAC Triathlon Coach, and a TnT certified run coach. He is also on the board of advisors for the Primal Health Coach Institute and a guest faculty member of the Human Potential Institute.