One of the questions you see asked quite often by runners new to the sport is, what is the best way to get better? If you look in the popular running magazines then you can usually find a set of weekly high-intensity runs that you absolutely need to be doing if you want to get better.

I always find this kind of advice to be a little short-sighted, to me it feels like a short-term fix, to what is usually a long-term problem. Don't misunderstand me, you need these weekly high-intensity runs in your schedule, I don't wish to be arguing against that at all. But, this advice will only get you so far. You should see incremental improvements in speed over a 8-12 week period by introducing high-intensity runs, assuming you weren't doing any before, but you will start to plateau after this.

People don't like to hear this, but to make big improvements is bloody hard work, and is often boring as well. The key to big improvents is consistency. You need consistency in your weekly mileage, that is the biggest 'secret' there is to better speed in distance running; far too much emphasis is placed on high-intensity runs, you need them, but they are often presented as a quick fix not requiring much in the way of time commitment.

When I started running I was able to run a 10k in 41 minutes, and a half-marathon in just under 1:45. If you look at those times, they are drastically out of line with each other. If you take my 10k time and attempt to predict my half-marathon, you would go for something in the region of 1:35. It took me 2 and a half years to reach that time for a half-marathon, and my 10k time improved very little in that time.

The difference was greater consistency in my weekly mileages. I'm not necessarily talking about a huge increase in weekly mileage. Using my experience to illustrate this, if you are running half-marathons around the 1:45 mark, then 20-25 miles in a week is probably quite reasonable. So, be a little ambitious and set yourself a target of 25 miles per week. Could you actually do that? Would you have the required commitment?

If this is representative of your average week, then running 35, even 40 miles in a single week would be quite reasonable for you I guess? Find yourself a quiet week, and as a one-off I'm guessing you could do that? What is much harder is committing to running 25 miles every single week; no excuses, you run 25 miles a week regardless of social occasions, work commitments, family... 25 miles every week without fail (illness is the only valid reason).

This kind of commitment is the best way to improve long-term. It's great if you can run 40 miles in a week, but if it's followed by 10 miles in the following week, that just isn't consistent. It is much better to run a consistent 25 miles on both weeks, but it is hard work. It involves dragging yourself out of the door when you really would rather not bother.

It will take months before you start to see an improvement, but continue running consistently in this manner and you will see improvements for years. Without really increasing my weekly mileages I have seen my half-marathon times fall from 1:43 to 1:29, and I know that there is more to come. It's only recently I've started seeing improvements in my 10k times, but it has taken 2 years. I've been taking big chunks off my times now for the last 18 months, and I know it's going to continue.

You all too often hear of people setting themselves very ambitious weekly targets, especially after the Christmas period. People will join gyms in particular and convince themselves they are going to go to the gym x nights a week, they'll manage it for a few weeks, but they will soon lose motivation. They key is to slowly increase your training, and take the time to find something you enjoy in the training itself beyond running quick times. Keep it achievable.

So, pick a reasonable target for weekly mileage, it will probably feel a little conservative, but stick to it. It's surprising how difficult it is, but it is equally surprising how much you will improve. I've seen big improvements this way, and I know plenty of other runners that have improved this way as well!