5 Ways to Improve Your Running This Spring

Set doable and realistic goals.

Take some time to assess your current fitness, experience, and the weekly and daily time blocks you have available. Also, be honest with yourself about where your motivation sits; it’s easy to convince yourself at the New Year (or on Sunday night, or the first day of the month) that you are pumped for a 100K race, but take a step back to visualize how you really feel about that commitment. How will you feel a couple of months down the road? It’s easier to upgrade that goal later than to battle each day feeling overwhelmed.

Use a training plan.

Believe me, I’ve spent many, many seasons just winging it, running by feel day to day. This can be fine sometimes, but if you are anxious for noticeable improvement, it’s important to have scheduled, intentional workouts. A coach can help design a program that fits your unique life while providing both accountability and objective feedback. However, a well-designed pre-formulated plan might be just enough for many athletes to follow on their own. The bottom line is to be sure you are following a course that suits your goal, your current fitness, and your lifestyle, with specific stimulus, adequate rest, and enough fun to keep you motivated!

Run hills.

No matter what type of events you like to run, various hill intervals will significantly enhance performance. Even for flat road races, incorporating hills into your training will build power, efficiency, and aerobic fitness, while improving turnover and form. Just a hilly long run can be beneficial, but you’ll get the most impact from some controlled, short sessions. Mix it up with steep 15-30 sec power intervals, or 3-6 min repeats at 6-8% grade.

Focus on consistency.

Make a pact with yourself that, barring illness or injury, you will get it done each day you have scheduled. Maybe you’ll have to cut it short, but work something in to keep the habit going. 20 minutes of running or strength work still has beneficial physiological and psychological effects. And don’t forget consistent rest! Trust in the planned off days to rebuild and adapt.

Pay attention to the other things.

There is plenty of messaging out there about the importance of quality fueling and sleep, which is a whole discussion of its own. After quality calories and rest, mobility and stability are key components of maintaining a healthy system. Take time for active mobility or yoga sessions, foam rolling, or massage. Learn a few key strength movements to build basic hip, lower leg, and core stability. Gentle movement and myofascial release may also help regulate your nervous system, reducing overall stress and allowing your body to switch into recovery mode. If supplementation interests you, find a couple of high-quality, well-proven products to take regularly and monitor their effects. And again, find the fun in your training! Meet with a group, hunt down new routes, or take some run-cations to keep motivated.