Many runners believe that they only have a certain amount of speed and whatever they do it will never change. Those who have this attitude are reinforced when they hear others say that you are either born fast or not. To some extent some people are born with factors that make them faster than others, such as quick reflects and co-ordination. However, everyone has the ability, including you, to improve their speed by improving leg strength and range of movement. Speed is equal to stride length and rhythm. Therefore, it is obvious that increasing leg strength and mobility can increase speed.

To increase speed the athlete must do weight training for leg strength and stretching exercises for more mobility. Some athletes also believe that improving speed can be achieved by running fast over short distances repetitively. Although I do not disagree with this theory, I believe the first to be more effective. Often, runners will find that they are faster in the cross-country season than the track season even though they are not doing any short fast running. Weight training, in the off season, with particular attention to leg strength has given the runner this speed.

For extra mobility the athlete should stretch before and after every run for at least ten minutes. Not only does this have the affect of improving mobility but also of avoiding injuries, as does weight training. Weight training should be done at least twice a week for any improvement to be seen. However, during a period of competition the athlete may want to reduce this to one session a week. One misconception I have found amongst many athletes is to lift weights hard in the off season then stop during periods of competition. A runner will appreciate that if he stops running he or she will gradually loose some of their stamina. Similarly, an athlete will loose strength by eliminating weights in competition season.