Endurance Training Archives - Fast Running Club

There are a few ways you can make yourself run longer. However, in this post, we will focus on how you can run for longer with more intensity and at a faster pace.

You likely want to run longer so you can run a faster time and break through any running distance plateaus.

How can you run longer?

Apply the following to start running longer.

Tempo/Pacing runs

This is where you will run a certain distance and the only objective is to keep on doing the running motion. You can do it fast or slow, but you are not allowed to stop or walk until you have finished the distance.

This will train your body to keep the running motion and the physical demands that your body needs to go through in order to run that distance.

Since you will be running at a tempo, your stride length will be shorter and you will actually do more steps compared to if you were running at a faster pace.

This will build up the timing endurance for you to run at a faster pace.

Interval running

This will allow your body to improve your speed endurance and the length of your distance runs.

You will need to set a distance goal. (For example, 5km)

You will run at a pace of 70-90% of your maximum for a distance of either 250m or 500m.

You can then either take a short break (e.g. 60 seconds) and then start the next running phase.

Or you can jog for 250m before starting the next running phase.

Repeat this sequence until you complete the distance.

Keep a time tracker (like an Apple watch) on you to track the pace at which you are running. Ideally, you want to increase the pace of your run between the different intervals.

Incorporate plyometrics training

Do skipping, bounding and hopping 2-3 times a week. This will help you get more explosive and it will help to improve your stride length.

This will allow you to run with fewer strides, but you will cover more distance and thus be able to run longer.

Incorporate leg weight training

Focus on doing explosive weight training such as the Bulgarian split squat, squats, and deadlifts.

The power that you will generate from these exercises will allow you to run faster and longer due to increasing your stride length.

Train over longer distances than your ideal full pace distance.

If you want to run a quick 5km, train at a high intensity over 10km. Make sure the distance is longer so that when you are ready to run the shorter distance, you can really attack it and break any personal records.

Improve your mental focus.

If you want to run a long distance, set it as a mental goal and give yourself no other option other than to complete that goal.

If you set 10km. Complete 10km. If it is 20km, run 20km.

There is no option to quit.

Improve your running technique.

You want to run as efficiently as possible. The less energy you waste, the more energy you can put into having a faster and longer run.

You want to focus on projecting your power forward in a straight line and running with efficient running mechanics.

Let us know how you are progressing with your running distance in the comments below.

This answer isn’t going to be the one most people want to hear, but it is the answer that will give you the results that you are after. If you want to run faster and longer without getting tired, you will have to train and condition your body to do so. This means performing cardiovascular exercises that are aimed to break your body’s plateau and limits. In other words, you need to train harder than you have before to get your body used to a new level of fitness and speed.

In this post, we provide actionable advice that you will be able to use so that you can run faster and longer without getting tired.

Set your benchmark by doing a 1-hour run.

You will need to run as quickly as you can for 1. You will use this as a benchmark for your training.

Measure the following.
The distance covered in an hour.
Average speed (It’s handy if you have a training watch)
Splits
Average heart rate

Once a month, you are going to do another trial run to measure the improvements from the training that you have been doing.

Do endurance training.

The first thing you need to do is improve your endurance and cardiovascular strength by doing running. These runs will usually be tempo runs over a time duration.

You will need to condition your body to the sport that you are playing or the event that you are training for. If you plan to do an activity like soccer or rugby, you need to condition your body to run at a high intensity for 60-90 minutes. If you run the 400m, you need to condition your body to run at top speed for less than 1 minute. If it is 10km, then you will need to condition your body to run for 50 minutes or less at a high intensity.

You can only achieve this by training your body to run for longer durations at a higher intensity. This will involve a combination of tempo runs for time and tempo runs for distance.

When you are going for distance, you will be aiming to improve your time and you will measure your splits.

What kind of long endurance run should you be doing?

You should be aiming for a 1-2 hour long run at least once a week. Long distance runners measure their weekly running distance and it is common for them to run over 40km a week. (This should equate to around 4h worth of endurance running). You can use this as a benchmark and then scale up your endurance training from there.

Introduce fartlek training into your workout.

This involves running at different paces. However, your body won’t ever stop while you are running. Usually, it involves a combination of running at faster and slower paces. For example, you may run a 4km run with a combination of 1:10m splits on each 3rd 400m and the other 400m being run at 1:30m pace.

This will help you build your stamina and strength endurance.

The video below shows a good demonstration of fartlek training.

Interval training.

Interval training is the most powerful training that you can do to maintain your pace and minimise the deceleration when running. Top athletes will usually conduct intervals at 80-90% of their maximum performance.

Once you have your benchmark, you will be able to plan your interval training sessions.

Your initial recovery time may begin with walkback recoveries or 2-minute recoveries. Eventually, you will want to work up to less than 30 second recoveries.

You can see more about interval training in the video below.

Explosive training.

If you want to build your overall speed, you need to improve the power that you execute. To do this, you need to improve the strength and speed that your legs produce.

The best way to do this is to conduct plyometric exercises. We have provided more details on plyometric exercises here.

Increase your stride length.

Improving your stride length is a great way to increase your speed quickly. You can do this by improving the amount of power that you execute with each stride, accelerating off each stride and improving your ab and hip flexor strength.

You can conduct exercises that we have detailed here.

Endurance Training

How to run longer.