Most runners are constantly looking for the next thing that will make them faster.
A new workout, a different training plan, more mileage, or some secret training method used by elite athletes.
But after decades of running, racing, and now coaching, I’ve come to realize that the fundamentals matter far more than the details.
There’s no such thing as a perfect training program, and certainly no way to perfectly execute any training program in real life. You need a sensible program based on a few key principles you can follow consistently for weeks, months and years.
Here are 5 key principles for training that will help make you a better runner.
1. Consistency Beats Heroic Workouts
One of the biggest mistakes runners make is placing too much importance on individual workouts.
We all enjoy those sessions where everything clicks. Maybe you run your intervals faster than expected, complete a particularly challenging long run, or finish a tempo workout feeling like you’ve reached a new level of fitness.
Those workouts can be satisfying, but they’re not what ultimately makes you a better runner.
Fitness is built through the accumulation of training over weeks, months, and years. One exceptional workout isn’t going to transform your fitness, just as one disappointing workout isn’t going to ruin it.
In fact, pushing too hard in a single session can sometimes do more harm than good. If that workout leaves you exhausted, forces you to miss several days of training, or results in an injury, you’ve set yourself back rather than making progress.
I’d much rather see a runner complete 90% of their planned training consistently than hit every workout perfectly for three weeks before breaking down.
The goal isn’t to prove how fit you are every time you lace up your shoes. It’s to gradually become fitter through regular, sustainable training.
Train to build fitness, not to prove fitness.
Remember: Consistency over time beats occasional brilliance.
2. Don’t Copy Anyone Else’s Training
As Dr. George Sheehan famously said, “We are all an experiment of one.”
Every runner brings a different combination of experience, fitness, strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and circumstances to their training.
Some runners thrive on higher mileage. Others perform better with less volume and a little more intensity. Some love structured interval sessions, while others prefer tempo runs, hills, or fartlek workouts.
And then there’s everything happening outside of running.
Your job, family responsibilities, sleep, age, running experience, talent level, stress levels, and available training time all influence how much training you can handle and how well you recover at any given time.
That’s why copying someone else’s training plan, even if that person is a very successful runner, is a bad idea.
The right training program is one that challenges you enough to stimulate improvement while fitting realistically into your life.
It also needs to evolve.
As you become fitter, you may be able to handle more training. At other times, work commitments, fatigue, or changes in your health might mean temporarily doing less.
Training within yourself and your current ability allows you to adapt to and benefit from the training you’re doing. Doing too much breaks you down and prevents you from adapting. Plus, it prevents you from being consistent as we discussed above.
Progression should be gradual and controlled, based on how you’re responding to training rather than an arbitrary mileage target, pace or schedule.
Remember: Train for where you are today, not where you think you should be.
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3. Intensity Is Important, but It Must Be Managed Carefully
There’s no question that faster running has an important place in a well-designed training program.
Tempo runs, intervals, hill repetitions, and other challenging workouts help develop different aspects of running fitness.
But more intensity doesn’t automatically produce better results.
One of the most common mistakes I see among recreational runners is doing too much of their training too hard.
Trying to fit too many interval sessions, hill repeats or tempo runs into your training week is more likely to break you down than build you up. It also makes your fitness more fragile. Intense sessions build fitness quickly, and that fitness also disappears quickly when you have downtime due to injury or illness.
Easy running and the aerobic adaptations that come with it, on the other hand, take longer to build, but also stay around longer during reduced training.
The problem is that every hard effort creates fatigue. When that fatigue accumulates faster than the body can recover, performance eventually suffers.
Easy running isn’t wasted training. It develops your aerobic system, builds endurance, and allows you to accumulate training without the same recovery demands as harder sessions.
That doesn’t mean every easy run needs to be painfully slow, either. The objective is to find an effort that provides a useful aerobic stimulus while leaving you ready for your next training session.
I believe most runners can make significant improvements with a relatively small amount of carefully managed intensity, supported by plenty of easier running.
The key is making your hard sessions purposeful rather than simply running them as hard as possible.
Remember: Train hard when needed, but give yourself plenty of time for recovery.
4. It’s Better to Be Slightly Undertrained Than Overtrained
This is one of the most important principles in my coaching philosophy.
If I have to choose between having a runner arrive at the starting line slightly undertrained, rested, healthy and ready to go, I’ll choose that every time over a runner who is overtrained, mentally exhausted and carrying some minor injury or other.
That doesn’t mean I want runners to be poorly prepared. It means I recognize that there’s a limit to how much training the body can absorb productively.
Adding another interval, extending a long run, or squeezing in extra mileage might seem like a good way to accelerate progress. But every additional training stress comes with a recovery cost.
At some point, the potential benefit becomes smaller than the additional fatigue and risk.
It’s a difficult balance, but it’s vital to navigate this if you want to reach your best level in your goal race.
This is particularly relevant for masters runners, who need to account for changing recovery needs and the demands of everyday life.
I’d rather see an athlete finish a training block healthy, confident, and eager to race than exhausted from trying to squeeze every possible improvement out of their program.
Good coaching isn’t about finding the maximum amount of training someone can survive, it’s about finding the amount of training that produces the best results. Those two things are not the same.
Remember: You don’t get fitter simply by training harder. You get fitter by adapting to the training you do.
5. Race Often Enough to Become Good at Racing
You can develop tremendous fitness through training, but racing requires skills that are difficult to learn anywhere else.
Pacing, managing discomfort, responding to competitors, handling nerves, and making decisions under pressure are all part of becoming a better racer.
And like any skill, racing improves with practice.
I believe many recreational runners would benefit from racing more frequently, particularly over shorter distances.
A local 5K, parkrun, or tune-up race can provide valuable feedback about your current fitness without requiring months of preparation or taking much away from your current training program.
You learn what different race efforts feel like. You discover whether your pacing strategy works. You practice your pre-race routine and race day fuelling plan. You become more comfortable with the uncertainty and discomfort that come with competition.
Racing also gives your training a purpose.
It’s one thing to complete a series of workouts that suggest you’re getting fitter. It’s another to put that fitness to the test and see what you can actually do.
Finally, racing is fun. There’s nothing quite like putting yourself out there, giving an effort and seeing what you are capable of on the day. Plus, you’ll likely start seeing some of the same people, especially at local races. I’ve built some great friendships and friendly rivalries this way. It’s a low key way for introverts like me to meet new people with whom I usually have at least something in common.
Of course, racing frequently doesn’t mean running every event at maximum effort or compromising your training with constant competition. Sometimes you may run a little fatigued from your recent training, and that’s ok. You don’t need to (and shouldn’t) do a full taper for a non-goal race.
Some races can be treated as hard training sessions, essentially replacing your key interval session or long run for the week. Others might be opportunities to practise pacing or experiment with tactics. A few will be important goal races where you’re aiming for your best possible performance.
The appropriate frequency depends on your experience, fitness, recovery, and the distances you’re racing.
But I think runners sometimes become so focused on preparing for races that they forget racing itself is an important part of their development.
Remember: Training makes you fitter. Racing teaches you how to use that fitness.
Final Thoughts
If there’s one common theme running through these five principles, it’s that becoming a better runner doesn’t require making training more complicated.
It requires making good decisions, consistently, over a long period of time.
Train consistently, whatever that means for you. Follow a program that suits your abilities and circumstances. Use intensity wisely. Resist the temptation to do more than you can recover from. And give yourself opportunities to put your fitness into practice.
None of these ideas is revolutionary or unique.
The challenge is in applying them consistently over time. If you do, these principles can make an big difference, especially for runners who want to continue improving well into their masters years.
