If you want to run faster, RUN FASTER. Truly, this is the ONLY way in my experience to shave seconds (and/or) minutes off your runs or races.

There are a variety of ways to do it, but INTERVALS (1/4 mile & 1/2 mile) have helped me (and COUNTLESS other runners) take their running to the next level.

I’m not claiming heading to the track and tackling a session of lung searing intervals is easy. Far from it. But, once you start notching personal bests, intervals become a bit more palatable 😉

Beginner

-‘4’ repeats of 400M (one lap) fartlek with 50% recovery between each lap.

The idea here is to run ‘1’ lap. More specifically, you are running EASY/SLOW for 100 meters and HARD (5K race pace) for 100 meters.

After completing a lap, you will ‘recover’ for 50% of the time it took you to complete said lap. EG-Assume it took you 2:00 to run a lap, your recovery interval is 1:00.

After recovering, segue into your ‘next’ lap. Ideally, you want ‘consistency’ in your pacing. So, if you run 2:00 for your first lap, you want all subsequent laps to be between 2:00-2:05

Intermediate

-‘4’ repeats of 400M with 50% recovery between each lap.

The idea here is to run ‘1’ lap. More specifically, you are running HARD (5K race pace) for the entire lap

After completing a lap, you will ‘recover’ for 50% of the time it took you to complete said lap. EG-Assume it took you 2:00 to run a lap, your recovery interval is 1:00.

After recovering, segue into your ‘next’ lap. Ideally, you want ‘consistency’ in your pacing. So, if you run 2:00 for your first lap, you want all subsequent laps to be between 2:00-2:05

Advanced

-‘1’ repeat of 400M, ‘2-3’ repeats of 800M, and ‘1’ repeat of 400M with 50% recovery between each lap.

You are running HARD (5K race pace) for 400M (1 lap), ‘2’ repeats of 800M (2 laps), and 400M (1 lap).

After completing a lap, you will ‘recover’ for 50% of the time it took you to complete said lap. EG-Assume it took you 2:00 to run a lap, your recovery interval is 1:00. If it takes you 4:00 for ‘2’ laps, your recovery is 2:00.

After recovering, segue into your ‘next’ lap. Complete all intervals and you’re done! Ideally, you want ‘consistency’ in your pacing. So, if you run 2:00 for 400M, you want all subsequent 400M to be between 2:00-2:05. Similarly, if you run 800M in 4:00, your recovery is 2:00.

Race

-‘4-5’ repeats of 800M with 50% recovery between each lap.

You are running HARD (5K race pace) for ‘4-6’ repeats of 800M (2 laps).

After completing 800M, you will ‘recover’ for 50% of the time it took you to complete said interval. EG-If it takes you 4:00 for ‘2’ laps, your recovery is 2:00.

After recovering, segue into your ‘next’ interval. Complete all intervals and you’re done! Ideally, you want ‘consistency’ in your pacing. If you run 800M in 4:00, your recovery is 2:00.