How to Improve Your Running Pace — 7 Proven Methods
Getting faster at running feels like it should be about running faster — and that is exactly the trap. Most runners who want more pace run their easy days too fast, skip the long slow runs, and wonder why the hard sessions never get easier. The truth is counterintuitive: you get faster mostly by running slowly, and the speed work is the smaller part of the recipe.
This guide gives seven proven methods, in order of importance: easy mileage, tempo runs, intervals, the long run, strength work, cadence, and sleep. None of them is a secret, and all of them work — the challenge is doing them together, week after week, for long enough for the adaptations to arrive.
Use the calculator
Start with your own numbers: try our pace calculator, running time predictor to work out your figures before applying anything on this page. The worked examples below use round numbers so you can follow the maths; the calculators use your real weight, height, age and goal.
Related reading: Tempo Runs Explained — How to Run Them and Why They Work, Interval Training for Runners — Workouts That Build Speed, Easy Runs Explained — Why Slow Running Makes You Faster. You can also browse the full guides section for the rest of the series.
The key points
1. Run more easy miles — the 80/20 rule. About 80% of your running should be easy (conversational pace) and 20% hard. Easy mileage builds the aerobic base — more capillaries, more mitochondria, a stronger heart — that makes every pace feel easier. Runners who flip the ratio, running most of their miles hard, plateau quickly and get injured often. The base is the biggest single factor in pace, and it is built slowly.
2. Add a weekly tempo run. Twenty to thirty minutes at a comfortably hard pace raises your lactate threshold — the speed at which fatigue accumulates — which is the main limiter for most runners. Tempo pace is about the pace you could hold for an hour. One tempo run a week, sustained for two months, typically takes 10–20 seconds per kilometre off a runner's comfortable pace.
3. Add one interval session a week. Short, fast repetitions — 400 m or 800 m at goal pace, with jogging recoveries — raise your top speed and teach your body to hold a fast pace when tired. One session a week is enough; two is for experienced runners. Intervals are the smallest part of the recipe by volume, but they are the part that makes the biggest difference to race times.
4. Extend the long run. One run a week of 60–90 minutes (or more for marathoners) builds endurance that carries the second half of any race. The long run is always easy — conversational pace, never raced — and it should be about 25–30% of your weekly running time. Runners who skip the long run fade in the second half of every race, whatever their speed.
5. Lift weights twice a week. Strength training improves running economy — the energy cost of each stride — by 2–8% in studies, which translates directly into pace: the same effort produces a faster speed. Heavy squats, deadlifts, lunges and calf raises, twice a week, are enough. The effect is largest for runners who have never lifted, and it also reduces injury risk.
6. Raise your cadence toward 170–180 steps a minute. Most slow runners overstride — landing with the foot far ahead of the body — which brakes each stride and wastes energy. A quicker, shorter stride with the foot landing under the body is more efficient and easier on the knees. Count your steps for 30 seconds and double it; if you are under 160, practise a quicker turnover with a metronome or music at 170–180 beats per minute.
7. Sleep 7–9 hours. The adaptations to training happen during recovery, and short sleep measurably reduces them: endurance, strength and reaction time all fall when sleep is short. A runner sleeping 6 hours a night is leaving pace on the table, whatever the training plan says. Sleep is the cheapest performance enhancer available, and the most neglected.
At a glance
| Method | Time to notice a difference | Expected pace gain | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy mileage (80/20) | 6–8 weeks | 10–20 s/km over 2 months | High volume, low intensity |
| Tempo run, weekly | 4–6 weeks | 10–15 s/km | One hard session |
| Intervals, weekly | 3–4 weeks | 5–15 s/km at race pace | One hard session |
| Long run, weekly | 6–8 weeks | Better second half, not pace | One long easy run |
| Strength, 2× a week | 8–12 weeks | 2–8% better economy | Two 30-min sessions |
| Cadence 170–180 | 2–4 weeks | Small, plus fewer injuries | Practise on easy runs |
| Sleep 7–9 hours | 1–2 weeks | Recovery, not pace directly | A bedtime |
The gains are not additive in a simple way — they overlap and reinforce each other — but a runner who applies all seven will improve far more than a runner who applies one.
The formula behind it
The pace maths is straightforward: pace per kilometre = time ÷ distance, and the Riegel formula (Riegel, 1981) predicts a new time from an old one — time₂ = time₁ × (distance₂ ÷ distance₁)^1.06. If your 5K is 27 minutes, your predicted 10K is 27 × 2^1.06 ≈ 56.3 minutes (about 5:38 per km). If your training takes your 5K to 25 minutes, the predicted 10K becomes 25 × 2^1.06 ≈ 52.1 minutes (about 5:13 per km) — a gain of 25 seconds per kilometre, which is a realistic two-month improvement from the methods in this guide.
The 80/20 rule is arithmetic too: in a 5-hour running week, 4 hours should be easy and 1 hour hard. Most runners invert it — 4 hours moderate-hard and 1 hour easy — and then wonder why the hard sessions feel flat. The calorie maths is the Compendium (Ainsworth et al., 2011): running at 6 mph (9.8 MET) burns 9.8 × weight (kg) per hour, so an hour's run at 75 kg burns about 735 kcal — but pace improvement is about the training, not the calories, and the numbers that matter are the paces, not the burn.
Your plan, step by step
- Build the base: run 4 days a week, 80% easy, for 4 weeks before adding speed work.
- Add one tempo run a week (20–30 minutes at comfortably hard pace) and one interval session (400–800 m repetitions).
- Extend one run a week to 60–90 minutes, always easy, and keep it at 25–30% of weekly time.
- Lift weights twice a week and practise a quicker cadence (170–180 steps a minute) on easy runs.
- Sleep 7–9 hours, track your paces weekly, and judge progress over 8-week blocks — not single runs.
How to use this guide
Use the seven methods as a system, not a menu. The runners who improve most are not the ones who do the hardest intervals; they are the ones who run easy most of the time, do one tempo and one interval session a week, lift twice, and sleep properly — week after week, for months. The system is boring, and it works precisely because it is boring: the adaptations it produces are cumulative, and they only arrive with consistency.
Be patient with the timeline. The first four weeks feel like nothing is changing — the easy runs are slow, the tempo is hard, and the watch shows the same numbers. Then, around week six, the easy pace quickens by itself, the tempo feels manageable, and the race times start to fall. That is the base arriving, and it arrives on its own schedule, not yours. Keep going and it will come.
What this guide does NOT tell you
The pace gains quoted are typical values from coaching experience and the research literature — individual results vary with age, training history, genetics and starting fitness, and a runner who is already well trained will gain less than a runner who is starting from a low base. The 80/20 rule is a guideline, not a law, and the cadence target of 170–180 is an average that varies with height and speed — shorter runners naturally run at a higher cadence.
This guide is general information, not medical advice. It cannot judge whether interval or tempo training is safe for you, and it does not diagnose or treat anything. Anyone with a heart condition, joint problem or medical condition affecting exercise should check with a clinician before starting speed work, and sharp joint pain or chest pain while running are signals to stop and get checked, not to push through.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to improve running pace?
There is no shortcut, but the most effective combination is easy mileage (80% of running at a conversational pace), one tempo run a week, and one interval session a week — sustained for 8 weeks. Most runners gain 10–20 seconds per kilometre in that time. The single biggest mistake is running the easy days too fast, which leaves you too tired for the hard sessions that actually build speed.
Does running slower make you faster?
Yes — paradoxically, easy running builds the aerobic base (capillaries, mitochondria, heart strength) that makes every pace feel easier, and it does so without the fatigue that hard running creates. About 80% of your running should be easy. Runners who do most of their miles hard plateau quickly, because they never build the base and never recover enough to do the hard sessions well. Slow running is not wasted running.
How often should I do speed work?
Once a week for most runners — one interval session, plus one tempo run, with the rest easy. Two hard sessions a week is the practical maximum for most people, and the hard days should be separated by at least one easy day. More speed work than that usually means the easy days are too fast and recovery is incomplete, which produces worse results, not better ones.
Does strength training make you a faster runner?
Yes — strength training improves running economy (the energy cost of each stride) by about 2–8% in studies, which translates directly into pace, and it reduces injury risk. Heavy squats, deadlifts, lunges and calf raises twice a week are enough. The effect is largest for runners who have never lifted, and it is one of the most underused methods in this guide — many runners skip it entirely and leave free speed on the table.
What cadence should I run at?
Around 170–180 steps per minute is a good target for most runners, though it varies with height and speed — shorter runners naturally run at a higher cadence, and faster running raises cadence automatically. If you are under 160, you are probably overstriding (landing with your foot far ahead of your body), which wastes energy and stresses the knees. Practise a quicker, shorter stride on easy runs, using a metronome or music at 170–180 beats per minute.
Estimates only, not medical advice. Minimum safe intakes: 1,200 kcal/day women, 1,500 kcal/day men — consult a healthcare professional before a very-low-calorie diet.