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Although I competed in both baseball and soccer at the varsity level throughout my high school career and into college, I would let all of my training go to waste in the offseasons. As a result, I continued to be one of the slowest athletes on every team I played for. A few years went by and my weight fluctuated from my high school weight of 190 lbs, which is good for a 6'4" frame, to 237 lbs. At the beginning of 2007 I made a promise to myself to get back in shape and exceed the limits I had known during my athletic career. After jogging for a few months and noticing minimal results I decided to do more research. I discovered speed work, which has not only produced larger gains, but has improved my confidence and self-image. Below are proven methods written about in Runners World on numerous occasions that have helped others not only run faster sprints, but faster long distance events as well.

Training Partner

Although running is a solitary sport, having the right partner can improve your performance. Having a friend run with you on a regular basis can provide added motivation, especially if that friend is faster than you are. This not only trains you to push your body to keep up with a faster pace, but it increases your overall speed and endurance.

Interval Training and Sprints

All training books that you will find have one thing in common, the belief that repeated slow training runs will produce slow race times. Even if you're not interested in competing in cross country races you need to consider speeding up your runs in order to increase your results and to keep it interesting so that you don't become bored. There are a few ways to incorporate intervals and sprints into your normal workouts and a sample workout is below.

1 Warm up. Jog a mile at a pace that is 2 minutes slower than your race, or normal, pace.
2 Interval One. Sprint a predetermined distance beginning with 30-40 yards if you're just starting out, as hard as you can. Repeat three times, walking for one minute between each sprint.
3 Rest. Jog 2-3 minutes at a comfortable pace.
4 Interval Two. Sprint half of your first distance as hard as you can. Repeat five times, walking for one minute between each sprint.
5 Rest. Finish your workout with another mile jog at a pace that is 2 minutes slower than your race, or normal pace.

Hill Training

There are two ways to attack hills. Running down the hill faster than your normal pace will train your body to operate at a higher pace, which will benefit you not only on downhill portions of your run, but on other inclines as well. Running up the hill will not only provide a higher level of aerobic action, but will build your endurance. Including at least one downhill and one uphill into your normal runs will exponentially improve your performance.

Weight Training

Weather you're a sprinter or a long-distance runner, weight training will increase the strength in your muscles thus improving not only your endurance, but your speed. Including 1 to 2 days per week of light weightlifting into your normal routine can quickly produce results.

While not all runners have the same body composition or ability, everyone has the possibility to improve their speed.

Learn more about this author, Clint Rogers.
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