Those of you who started with Get up to Five will notice that our focus in Club10K has moved on from just completing the sessions to introducing intensity and a bit of speed work. The coaches are now starting to teach you about how to improve your speed.
 

When it comes to improving your speed through your movement as a runner the 2 key physical areas which are important to focus on are stride length and stride rate:
 

• Stride length is the distance your legs will go on each foot fall. Different distances require different stride lengths, for example a sprinter stride length is longer than a marathon runner, but ultimately we should all be aiming to increase the distances of our stride length over time.

• Stride rate is the number of steps you take, this is often measured per minute. If you look at good runners across all distances the stride rate tends to be around 180 footfalls per minute, for them the difference in speed comes from their stride length.
   

Take note of your turnover. We are aiming for the blue rhythm in this image. Shorter steps and higher turnover.

 

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Different runners need to focus on improving different areas. If you feel you have a short stride length you can aim to lift your feet higher as they kick back behind you and then bring your knees up more as you bring the knee forward (remember to always maintain your posture and to try to land your feet under your hips).
 

Watch the video below of Mirinda Carfrae who is the fastest female Ironman runner in the world. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Task:

If you are trying to improve your stride rate, time yourself for 1 minute and count how many steps you take. If you are well below 180 spend some time practicing improving your footfall by by 5-10%. For example if you are taking 150 steps per minute aim to improve this by 5-15 steps. 
 

While improving stride length and stride rate are great ways to help get faster we don't want to create too much change too quickly. If you create massive change in your movement quickly you hugely increase your risk of injury. Instead of focusing on this all the time, aim to focus on it for around 2-3mins a couple times in your easier sessions each week. This small change in awareness will create the adjustments you need in a safe way. 
 

While this advice is important make sure you talk to a coach about where you need to improve. We want to make sure you focus on the correct adjustments based on your movement.