How to Run Faster – ACE Method Coaching

Tired of getting beat by faster athletes?
Football player who needs to know hot to run faster in 40 yard dash?
Distance runner who wants to improve your time in the 5K or 10K?

Whoever you may be, if you want to run faster, you’ve come to the right place. I have coached runners for over 30 years. I’m a master’s degreed sports performance specialist and a level 2 coach with USA track and field. I have coached over a thousand runners and to date have coached 20 state champions. Along the way, I developed a method that has given me and my athletes great success. Now I’m going to share my method with you so you will know how to run faster too!

How to Run Faster: ACE Method

If you’re here looking for one magic bullet or maybe a list of things to do to run faster, you may be disappointed. That approach rarely works. Why? Because it’s likely there’s something that’s not right about what you’re currently doing and adding things to that mix won’t fix the problems. The smarter approach is to first analyze what your current state to see what could be improved, make those changes, and THEN add more great things to the mix.

This is an approach I developed called the ACE Method. ACE is an acronym for the words: Analyze Correct and Empower. The first step is to analyze several factors that affect performance. The next step is to make the proper corrections. The final step is to empower you with a new plan. The athletes I coach typically see significant immediate results followed by smaller, but steady improvement after that. If you follow this approach, you’re going to see remarkable results as well! Ready to get started?

Step 1: Analyze

Here is what you need to analyze in order to run faster:

Running technique
Running training
Strength and power training
Recovery
Body composition
Diet

It’s almost a guarantee that you will find something that’s not right in this mix. Once you determine what it is, then we can make the necessary corrections. Let’s break them down.

Proper Running Technique

The first step in learning how to run faster is to analyze your running technique, AKA running form. This is a biggie because if your technique is off, you are likely running in a manner that takes more energy and will cause you to get tired sooner and slow down. Even worse, you may be moving your body in a way that is actually contrary to moving fast. There are many Common running mistakes.

Here are running form basics that apply to all runners:

Alignment: Your entire vertebral column should be aligned. This includes your head, neck and pelvis. Your head should not protrude forward or tilt back. Your spine should be upright and tall rather than arched back or curved forward and your pelvis should be rotated backward allowing your legs to lift easier.
Locked into place: Once you have achieved the aligned position, you should lock the necessary muscles in place so there is little to no movement in your core. The only parts of your body that should move when you run are your arms and legs.
Arm swing: Your arms should swing back and forth from the shoulders rather than moving across your body. Your hands should never cross center line of your body.
Foot Motion: Your feet should move in a circular or elliptical motion, rather than shuffling or reaching.
Foot strike: You should land on the mid to front half of your feet rather than on your heels.
Balance: Your feet should strike the ground just in front of your center of mass rather than in front of you causing a breaking action.

Admittedly, this list just scratches the surface. If you want to geek out on technique on how to run faster, check out proper technique for running.

Good Technique for Distance Runners

Good Technique for Sprinting

Running Training

I would have to write a book to cover all these details about running training, so I’ll give you the highlights here. You need to examine the type of training you are doing to look for anything you should add or drop. Here are the main things you should have as part of your running training: speed work and conditioning.

Speed Work

The term “speed work” often gets used interchangeably with interval training. It’s easy to confuse the two because for a distance runner they can often be done at the same time. To be accurate, they are different things. A sprinter should train by running shorter-than-race-distance repeats working specifically on speed. The focus while doing this is on the nervous system; teaching your legs to turn over at a higher rate of speed and with good technique. This type of training can take the form of ins-and-outs, over-speed training, etc. I’ll cover these forms in more detail in later articles. It is very important to give special attention to your technique during these repeats because your natural tendency will be to resort to old habits when running fast. These runs should have very long rest periods because you need to be fully recovered before starting the next one. The focus should be on leg turn-over and technique rather than conditioning. Because it is so demanding on the body, you should limit this type of training to 1-2 times per week with plenty of rest between the days.

For distance runners, you’ll get most of your speed training while doing short intervals, but it would still be beneficial to periodically do some shorter sprints for the sole purpose of working to increase your turn-over speed and coordination.

Conditioning

This type of training is where you build the strength and efficiency of your cardiovascular system and other energy systems in your body. Simply put, it’s how you improve your ability to get more oxygen out to your muscles so they can continue to work hard before fatiguing. It’s also important as a means to train your body to work through tough intensities when you are fatigued. All runners need to have conditioning as part of their routine. It helps sprinters finish the 100m well and it’s how a distance runner be able to maintain a fast pace during a 5K. Sprinters should incorporate running conditioning 2-3 times per week while distance runners will condition 5-7 days per week. This can take the form of long easy runs, tempo paced runs, interval training, etc.

Recovery

Allowing your body to rest and recover from training is just as important as the actual training. There is a common misconception that the more you train the faster you will get. While there is some truth to that, it’s just as important to rest and recover between training workouts. The improvements occur in your body when you are recovering, not while you are training. If you train hard every day and don’t build in time to let your body rest and repair, you won’t see the improvements. In fact, you’ll probably get injured, sick or have to lose training time.

You should have at least one day of rest each week. Additionally, you should alternate your more intense training days (intervals and speed work) with easier “recovery” workouts (easy conditioning).

Strength and Power Training

You may have noticed that most top level runners are muscular, not necessarily large, but muscular. It’s because the stronger you are, the faster you are. It’s that simple. They don’t lift weights the way a body builder does; they lift weights and do resistance training exercises specifically to:

have the ability to maintain proper body alignment while running
help them run with proper technique
increase strength which leads to more endurance
decrease their chances of injury
have the foundation to increase power

You must be involved in a good strength training program that is designed for speed. Get my free Strength Training For Runners Program. You should participate in this type of training 2-3 times per week.

Power training is similar to strength, but with the element of speed. For example, squatting is a demonstration of strength while jumping is a demonstration of power. Pushing hard off the ground, pumping your arms, etc. are examples of power that is necessary for running fast. The important thing to understand is that power can only come after your body has a foundation of strength. Power is developed by performing movements against a load (weights, resistance bands, medicine balls, gravity, etc.) as explosively as possible. Exercises that do this can be categorized as plyometrics, jumping, bounding drills, etc. You should do this type of training 1-2 times per week.

Body Composition

Body composition is the percentage of your body weight that comes from muscle and fat. Generally speaking, a runner wants to have a higher percentage of muscle and a lower percentage of fat. This will make you a more efficient athlete because you have less extra weight to carry around. This is always a tricky subject to broach as coach, especially with female athletes. To be clear, I’m not suggesting you lose weight and I’m definitely not telling you to skip meals to get skinny. In fact, those examples are actually counter-productive and could lead to a loss of energy, getting sick and decreasing performance. You might also lose muscle which could have long term implications to your strength and speed.

What I am saying is there is an important relationship between strength and weight. It is referred to as the strength: weight ratio. Simply put, the more you weigh, the stronger you will need to be to move your body quickly and vice versa. With this in mind, there are two things a runner can do to move faster: increase strength or lose unwanted mass (body fat). I suggest doing both, if possible. This assumes you actually have some fat to spare. It’s always a good idea to consult with a trainer, coach or medical professional who can assess body composition to determine if it’s safe for you to attempt to lose body fat.

Diet

Are you eating too much sugar?
Consuming enough calories?
Getting enough protein? Complex carbohydrates? Healthy fats?

A good diet is vital to running fast, recovering, avoiding injuries and actually improving. Your body is like an engine and like all engines; the type of fuel that you put in them affects the way they perform. A good diet is also necessary for building muscle and recovery after training. Eat as clean a diet as possible: proteins, vegetable, fruits, nuts, etc. Avoid sugar (sodas, junk food, etc.). Learn more about proper nutrition for running.

Step 2: Correct

After you have determined any errors in technique, items missing from your training, incorrect things in your diet, etc., it’s now time to make the necessary changes.

Technique improvements can be made by performing drills. There are drills that you can do for each aspect of running. You can learn more about running drills.
If your training plan has too much of something or not enough of something, make the necessary changes to balance it out.
If you haven’t been doing strength and power training, add that to the mix.
If you have been carrying too much body fat, make the necessary changes to your diet.
If your diet is not giving you the proper nutrients and fuel for performance and recovery, there’s another reason to change your diet.

Step 3: Empower

This is where you take the new learnings, implement them into your new training program and watch the improvements happen! The athletes I coach typically see immediate improvement in your speed because of technique improvements I recommend. After that, the improvements continue steady and regular as strength, power, speed and conditioning improve.

How to Run Faster: Conclusion

Coaching is my absolute passion! There is nothing more exciting for me than to help someone learn how to run faster. This is why I have started this site. I want to share the 30 years of knowledge I’ve gained with anyone that needs it. This article talked mostly about what you need to do to improve your speed. I’m sure that now you want to know how to do the things I recommended. I have a suggestion, rather than spending the time and energy scouring the internet for more information that may or may not be correct, consider letting me help you. When it comes to knowing how to run faster, I’ve already spent the time and energy, learned mistakes and settled on the best information. I’d love to coach you! Check out how.