How to run faster...

Every week, I receive emails from about.com's running zine. There's always little tips, suggestions and nutrition advise I sometimes find handy, and sometimes dismiss because I just don't want to filter through all the advertisements. But when I saw the title of the last email, I thought, "Hey! I want to run faster! I'm plagued with a 9:02 mile. I have got to break 9 minutes. Tell me how to run faster! Tell me!!" Eagerly, almost foaming at the mouth, I opened the email and quickly scanned the contents. "The trick to running faster," the email explained, "is to simply... run faster." I sat at my computer momentarily stunned. What? No running drills? No agility work? No sprint work? At first, I was disappointed in the simplicity. But then... I thought about it. I thought until my thinker was sore. 

My athletic background has roots in the water, not the land. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, I was on my high school's swim team. My coach (who happened to coach the cross country team and sort-of got roped into coaching the swim team because no one else would do it) explained to us that you start out each practice and race with $1. Your goal is to only spend a dime at time. In other words, don't go out so fast that you have no money (fuel) left to finish the race. That advise has stuck with me my entire life. I grin knowingly to myself as people rush pass me in the first mile. By the time I enter the third mile, I'm passing tons of those early sprinters who have long since petered out. The drawback to this advise is that I often hold back too much. I'm faster and stronger than I think I am. I can invest more in the beginning, middle and end. Instead of spending a dime, I could invest a quarter.

So today, I repeated that one-liner piece of advise to myself over and over. "The trick to running faster is to simply run faster." So I did. I increased my cadence going up the hills and lengthened my stride on the down hills. I actually caught up with my super speedy running neighbor from my 'hood (who I have always admired for her diligence and persistence in losing weight and becoming an athlete). I ran the last 1/4 mile right beside her. I was elated. And I received my best 5K time ever - running 3.1 miles in 30:22. That's an average of 9:48/mile. And I'm going to break that time for the Poppy 5K in Georgetown in 2 weeks. Oh yeah. Life's good.