How to Increase Speed and Build Endurance?

Hi Dom,
I am 97 kgs and 40 years old and started running a year ago. I finished my first 10k in 92 minutes.

Since then, I have kept running three times a week for about 7 kms per day. I did another race, pushed hard and could achieve 10k in 82 minutes.

Can you give me tips on how to increase speed and build endurance?

– Ruchir, India.

Answer by Dom: Hi Ruchir,

Well done on those first races — and knocking 10 minutes off your 10k is a result worth acknowledging. I'll break my response down as follows:

1. Increase your mileage and further develop your base
2. Add some strides to help develop leg speed
3. After your base is developed, add some faster workouts

See below for further detail.

Increase Your Mileage and Further Develop Your Base

Running seven kilometres three times per week is a great start — and doing so consistently is no mean feat. To increase your speed and build your endurance, I'd recommend you increase your mileage. Add another day of running, make your runs longer, or both. Elite 10k runners do weekly long runs of 15–20 miles (25–32 kilometres), with many midweek runs that exceed the 10k distance.

We don't all have to train like elites, but we can learn from them. A 10k is a mostly aerobic run. Success at the 10k depends on your endurance. Make it your goal to build up to a weekly long run that well exceeds the 10k distance. Suppose you regularly do a 20k long run — imagine how much easier that 10k race would feel. That's the power of base building.

Also check out:

Increasing Mileage Safely

Building Your Base

Add Some Strides to Help Develop Leg Speed

Strides are short, faster efforts tacked onto the end of a run — and they are one of my favourite tools. You start slowly, stay relaxed, and build your speed gradually until you hit close to maximum pace, hold it briefly, then ease back down to a relaxed jog or walk. Take a sensible break in between — 90 seconds of gentle jogging works well — then go again. Each stride lasts roughly 15–30 seconds (about 80–100 metres) from first step to last.

I usually do them in the last 1–2k of an easy run. The goal is to improve running form and efficiency by making you focus on quick, light foot turnover. Strides teach your legs to move faster. They are also a great way to finish a workout — leaving you energised rather than drained.

Also check out:

Running Strides

After Your Base Is Developed, Add Some Faster Workouts

First, build your mileage and strengthen your easy running base. Then — and only then — add faster runs to the mix. A good entry point into speedwork is fartleks. A fartlek is an unstructured speed workout — you do an easy run, but pick up the pace several times throughout for a set amount of time or distance.

Sounds vague? You can add structure by using landmarks. Run easy, then surge from one lamppost to the next. Or pick up the pace to the next parked car. Keep it playful — the trick is simply to run faster than your easy pace, recover, and repeat. My fartlek page describes the concept further and includes a range of more structured workout ideas.

I'd also recommend my Running Workouts page, which covers a range of different sessions you can experiment with as your fitness grows.

Hope these tips help you run a faster 10k, Ruchir. Good luck with it.

Kind regards,
Dom

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