So far, I never met a runner who wanted to run slower – everyone wants to know how to run faster! As a permanent back-of-the-pack runner, I accept the fact that most runners run faster than me. I look in envy at the elite runners streaming in to the finish while I'm still getting started.

I just read a great article by Steven Bentley of Bentley Coaching on Running Efficiently. In a nutshell, he points out that to run faster you need to improve your running efficiency. Most of this article raises points that I was aware of – in fact I've written articles in the past on the same subject: maybe I should go back and read them again!

What he does, though, is put it all together in a way that makes sense, looking at the biomechanics of running from a scientific viewpoint, reinforced by his own coaching experience. I'm starting to put his ideas into practice, so I thought it would be worth while writing a series of articles with running tips based on my experience. This is the first one.

The two factors that control your speed

Two factors determine your speed: stride rate and stride length. Stride rate is the frequency of your stride, or how often you take a stride; stride length is the length of each stride on the ground. Stride length is not the same as how far your legs move in relation to your body.

To run faster you need to increase one or the other or both. In fact, increasing both to start with is too severe – you'll run quicker but you'll tire too quickly to get any training benefit. The best way to start training to increase your speed is by increasing your stride rate.

Stride Rate

Working on stride rate establishes proper running mechanics and aerobic efficiency. It enables you to use less energy per stride, rebound quicker off your ground-contact leg and increase forward propulsion. Initially, your aerobic capacity will limit your speed – when you increase your stride rate do not also try to run faster – that will come later.

Your purpose in increasing stride rate is to build a foundation to run faster later. Until you adjust to the new stride rate, your stride length will be shorter and you may actually run slower than you did before – increasing your stride rate first allows your cardio-respiratory system to become used to the more rapid turnover. Once you are used to it, you can increase your stride length by increasing strength and range of motion.

So what should your stride rate be? The winners in distances from 1 mile to marathon (including, of course, half-marathons) have stride rates between 92 and 104 strides per minute. When I checked mine, I found it was a sorry 60 strides per minute – no wonder I'm so slow these days!

Increasing Stride Rate

I don't think I could count strides for a full minute, but counting for 20 seconds is not too difficult. I found that, when I was just running slowly and easily, my count was 20 (or 60 per minute). My goal is to increase this to 30 (or 90 per minute).

Since my half-marathon time was 3:45 this year (I walked part of the way) increasing my stride rate to 90, all else being equal, would give me a time of 2:30 next year – a huge difference! I'm not expecting this, but it gives me a reason to follow this plan. What I very quickly found, though, when I tried it, was that I could not maintain that rate at all!

My guess is that you have a faster stride rate than me, so it's unlikely that you will face the same challenge that I do. Even so, you may well find that it is not simply a case of going out there and hitting a 92-104 rate immediately, unless you are already an elite runner. In the next article, I'll reveal a plan for anyone to increase their stride rate to run faster, and tell you how it's going for me.