How to Actually Get Faster at Running

Why Running Harder All the Time Isn’t the Answer

Want to improve your 5K or 10K time? The answer probably isn’t simply trying to run faster every time you go out.

In this week’s Consistency Club Guided Run, Adam breaks down what actually makes you a faster runner — from easy mileage and interval training to strength, fuelling, recovery and learning how to pace yourself properly.

Whether you’re chasing sub-40, sub-30, sub-25 or just want to feel stronger at your current pace, the same basic principles apply.

In this episode:

🐢 Why running slower can make you faster – Easy running builds the aerobic foundation that allows you to handle and recover from harder work.

🏃‍♂️ Stop testing and start training – Trying to PB every week is the running equivalent of attempting your one-rep max every time you enter the gym.

⏱️ How intervals work – Breaking a target pace into manageable chunks allows you to accumulate time at speeds you can’t yet sustain continuously.

🔥 Threshold running – What “comfortably hard” actually means and why it helps you sustain quicker paces for longer.

🏋️ Strength training for runners – Stronger calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes and hips can improve resilience, power and running economy.

🚗 Running economy – Two runners can have similar aerobic fitness but use different amounts of energy to maintain the same pace.

🍌 Fuel the work – If you want your body to perform during harder sessions, you need to give it the fuel to do so. Carbohydrates aren’t the enemy!

😴 Recovery creates the adaptation – Training provides the stimulus. Your body actually gets stronger and fitter when you give it the opportunity to recover afterwards.

💨 Not every run should be hard – A good training week balances harder sessions with genuinely easy running rather than turning every run into a race.

🎯 Pacing can make you faster immediately – Sometimes fitness isn’t the problem. That ridiculously fast first kilometre is 😂

📈 Why PBs become harder to earn – Beginner improvements can happen quickly, but the fitter you become, the harder those extra seconds are to find.

🔎 Look beyond your PB – Faster easy paces at the same effort, lower heart rate, better recovery and completing stronger sessions can all show you’re improving before a race time does.

The biggest message

Getting faster isn’t about seeing how hard you can run every time you put your trainers on.

It’s about giving each run a purpose.

Easy days build the engine.

Hard sessions teach it to go faster.

Strength makes the body more resilient.

Food provides the fuel.

Recovery allows the adaptations to happen.

And consistency ties everything together.

Do those things for long enough and eventually all that invisible work has a chance to show itself on the clock.

Key takeaway:

If you want to run faster, you don’t need to run every run faster. You need to get better at knowing when to run fast — and when not to.