So you have been running for some time now and have a couple of races under your belt and now you feel it might be the perfect time to start working on your speed. If you start including longer distances into your weekly training schedule or try to do fast paced intervals more often, you will be entering a risky territory. The chances of injury will increase so the best way to prevent it is to add some variety to your training.
There is no need to start running insane distances every weekend in order to improve your speed and endurance. As a matter of fact, the only thing you should do is focus on cross-training and create a solid weekly training plan that will be challenging but not too hard. If you stick to it and follow your schedule religiously before your next race, you will surprise yourself with how much you improved.
Cross-training is the foundation
Even though running is an excellent exercise on itself, runners simply need more range of activities. Adding biking or swimming to your weekly schedule might seem strange to you but these are extremely important to runners. Why? Well, they are aerobic exercises that will activate a large number of muscles in your body, but they also decrease the risk of injury.
Both biking and swimming are not as hard on your knees and joints and you will strengthen your entire body in a safer environment. When it comes to biking, I personally love road cycling and avoid going on trails and mountain bike rides. My biking skills are pretty basic so I feel safer on a road. If you never tried trail biking, I recommend that you stick to the road as well. Keep your cadence somewhere around 80-90 rotations per minute and choose a familiar route that will be fairly challenging to you.
If you are unable to get out on the open road or don't have enough free time, stationary bike is the way to go. They do not take too much space and you will be able to use it whenever you feel like it. Stationary bikes do not make a lot of noise so don't worry if you live in an apartment building. It is important to mention that spinning is all the rage right now so check the local gyms to see if they offer spinning classes.
Swimming is perfect for runners who really do have sensitive knees and they are unable to increase their distances significantly every week. It is very low-impact and you will work on your upper body as well. If you want to focus solely on your legs, you can try pool running. Grab a flotation device and head out to the deep end of the pool. Keep your body straight and pay close attention to your posture because it is easy to get carried away when you are in water. Mimic the motion of running, focusing on the resistance of the water.
Bodyweight exercises
Contrary to the popular belief, runners should do strength training. There is no need to involve weights right away so choose a set of bodyweight exercises you will do after every run. These should include squats, lunges, pull-ups, push-ups, and so on. Lunges and squats are particularly good for your stability and they will strengthen your knees as well. Do two or three sets of these exercises, keeping your reps low at the beginning. Increase them as you get stronger.
Posture is everything when it comes to the bodyweight exercises so make sure your knees are not going over your feet when you do squats and lunges. Don't crane your upper body and always keep your core engaged. Strong core will protect your lower back (which is one of the trouble areas for many runners) so include a plank in your routine as well.
Being consistent is the key and these moves will do wonders for your strength if you do it regularly. You will decrease the possibility of injury and see your endurance improve as well. So modify your weekly training schedule and include a variety of activities that will both keep you motivated and engaged. Building endurance do take time so don't expect to see a huge difference after just one week. Don't forget to gradually increase your running mileage because you simply cannot rely on cross training only. Cross and strength training will give you a boost for sure, but running should remain your primary activity.