By RunDoyen.
Featuring coaching insights from Jacob Phillips.

RunDoyen connects runners with expert online running coaches and race-focused training plans built around real goals, real schedules, and long-term progress.

TL;DR

• Consistency matters more than chasing isolated breakthrough workouts.
• Better runners develop aerobic strength and speed rather than choosing one at the expense of the other.
• Easy running should make up most of training, and learning to run easy well is a skill.
• Hills, long runs, progression runs, and racing all provide different training benefits.
• More training can help, but progress should come through practical, sustainable increases rather than arbitrary mileage goals.
• Enjoying the process matters because long-term improvement requires months and years of repeatable work.

If you want individual guidance on fitting these principles to your schedule, current fitness, and race goals, Get Matched with a RunDoyen coach.

Table of Contents

1. Consistency Comes First
2. 10 Ways to Become a Better Runner
3. How the Training Pieces Work Together
4. Common Mistakes
5. Safety and When to Get Help
6. Build a Training Process You Can Repeat

Consistency Comes First

There is no single workout that turns someone into a better runner.

Improvement usually comes from stringing together weeks and months of appropriate training. That makes consistency the foundation of the entire process.

A useful way to think about consistent training is to make it practical, personal, and progressive.

Practical means the training fits the time and resources you actually have. A plan that looks perfect on paper but cannot survive your work schedule, family commitments, sleep needs, or available training environment is unlikely to stay consistent.

Personal means the training reflects your current fitness, goals, experience, and preferences. Two runners preparing for the same race may need very different weekly structures.

Progressive means the training gradually asks more of you. That progression might involve mileage, long-run duration, workout volume, pace, hills, or race-specific demands.

RunDoyen’s broader five tenets of distance running training reinforce the same basic idea: meaningful development comes from a repeatable training process rather than constantly searching for a new shortcut.

For runners using structured programming across different race distances, RunDoyen also organizes options through its running training plans.

10 Ways to Become a Better Runner

The following framework brings the core training ideas together into 10 practical principles.

1. Build around consistency.
   Before worrying about advanced workouts, create a training routine you can repeat. The best program is not simply the most demanding one. It is one that fits your life closely enough that you can continue executing it week after week.
2. Gradually increase the amount of productive running you can handle.
   Becoming a better runner generally requires running, but “more” does not have to mean chasing an arbitrary weekly mileage number. One runner averaging 50 miles per week might eventually progress toward 55. Another runner might create a new stimulus through a longer long run or a slightly longer aerobic workout. The important point is progression, not copying someone else’s volume. RunDoyen’s guide to increasing running mileage explores this part of training in more depth.
3. Develop aerobic strength and speed.
   Distance running requires the ability to sustain effort for a long time, which makes aerobic development essential. Easy runs, long runs, tempo-style work, and progression runs all contribute to that foundation. But speed still matters. A runner trying to improve at longer distances should not assume faster running belongs only in 5K training. Developing the ability to move quickly can support performance across race distances.
4. Use hills instead of avoiding them.
   Hills can challenge the cardiovascular system and the muscles at the same time. They can appear as dedicated repetitions, short hill sprints, rolling everyday routes, or hilly long runs. They do not need to dominate the schedule to be useful. The appropriate type and amount depend on the phase of training and the runner. RunDoyen’s guide to hill training for runners covers several ways hills can fit into a program.
5. Learn to start controlled and finish stronger.
   Not every run should begin at the fastest pace that feels manageable. One useful habit is to let the body warm into the effort, begin relaxed, and allow the pace to progress naturally when appropriate. This can create a negative split without turning every easy run into a workout. The goal is control, not forcing a fast finish every day.
6. Race often enough to practice racing.
   Racing is a skill as well as a fitness test. A race gives you opportunities to rehearse your warm-up, pacing decisions, pre-race routine, competitive focus, and response to discomfort. Not every event has to be a peak race. Some races can simply provide experience that makes important goal races feel more familiar.
7. Include purposeful progression runs.
   A progression run is more than accidentally speeding up near the end of an easy day. It can be a deliberate aerobic workout in which the effort builds throughout the run. One coach-led example is to finish the final few miles around marathon effort or somewhat faster, depending on the athlete and the purpose of the session. That creates a strong aerobic stimulus while teaching the runner to stay controlled early.
8. Do not neglect the long run.
   The long run develops the ability to stay on your feet and sustain aerobic work for an extended period. One coaching framework places the long run at roughly 20 to 30 percent of weekly mileage. That percentage is a guideline rather than a universal rule. Long runs can also vary in purpose: some are comfortable, some roll over hills, some finish progressively, and some contain segments around marathon or half-marathon effort.
9. Learn how to run easy.
   Most training is not a race and not a hard workout. Easy running makes up a large share of the week, which means running relaxed should be treated as a skill. Easy does not have to mean mechanically slow. It means the effort is controlled and appropriate for the day. The distinction is explored further in RunDoyen’s guide to easy run pace and recovery days.
10. Enjoy the process enough to stay engaged.
    Improving at running is demanding. Progress may require more volume, harder workouts, new race distances, or simply better day-to-day habits. Enjoyment helps make that work sustainable. A runner can create variety through a new route, a group run, a different race distance, or a goal that brings fresh energy to training.

How the Training Pieces Work Together

A common mistake is treating training elements as competitors.

Should you focus on endurance or speed? Hills or flat running? Easy mileage or harder sessions?

The better question is how those elements should fit together.

Easy running provides the base

Because easy running makes up much of the training week, it creates the environment in which harder sessions can exist. If every ordinary run becomes moderately hard, the distinction between recovery, aerobic development, and quality work begins to disappear.

That is why learning to run easy matters. It gives the training week structure.

Aerobic workouts raise sustainable effort

Tempo-style running and progression work develop the ability to maintain stronger efforts for longer periods. The progression run is especially useful because the athlete has to control the opening portion and still run well later.

That sequencing matters. Starting too aggressively may produce impressive early splits, but it can undermine the purpose of learning to finish strong.

Speed keeps faster running available

Distance runners sometimes view speed work as optional because their goal race is long. The opposite mistake also happens: runners enjoy fast repetitions but avoid sustained aerobic work.

The training principle here is balance. Aerobic strength helps you sustain effort. Speed gives you a larger range from which to operate.

Hills combine multiple demands

Hill running can bring strength and aerobic challenge into the same session. It also changes mechanics and effort without requiring every quality session to happen on a flat track.

The key is choosing hills because they serve the training goal, not simply because harder terrain must always be better.

Long runs build durability

The long run is not one single workout repeated every weekend.

Some long runs can be easy and focused on time on feet. Others may be progressive, hilly, or include controlled race-specific work. That variety allows the long run to evolve as fitness and race demands change.

Common Mistakes

• Increasing mileage simply because another runner runs more. Progression should match the individual runner rather than an outside benchmark.
• Turning easy days into medium-hard days. When easy running loses its relaxed quality, the entire week can become harder than intended.
• Training only your favorite quality. Loving speed work is not a reason to skip aerobic development, and preferring long aerobic efforts is not a reason to ignore speed.
• Avoiding hills completely. Always choosing flat terrain can remove a useful training stimulus.
• Starting every run too fast. Controlled starts can make it easier to finish well and execute the intended purpose of a session.
• Treating every long run the same way. Long runs can serve different purposes across a training cycle.
• Assuming every race must produce a personal best. Some races can serve as practice for pacing, routines, and competitive execution.
• Making training so serious that the process stops being enjoyable. Sustainable improvement is easier when there are goals, routes, people, or events that keep training engaging.

Safety and When to Get Help

General guidance: Training progression should be appropriate to your current experience and recent workload. Examples such as moving from 50 to 55 miles per week, extending a long run, or finishing a progression run at a strong effort illustrate training concepts, not universal prescriptions.

If pain, illness, unusual fatigue, or another physical concern makes normal running difficult, changes the way you move, or continues to worsen, consider backing away from the planned workload and seeking guidance from an appropriate qualified professional.

A training plan should also be adjusted when life stress, recovery, or available training time changes. Consistency does not mean forcing every scheduled session regardless of circumstances.

Build a Training Process You Can Repeat

Becoming a better runner does not require making every part of training harder at once.

It requires understanding the purpose of each part.

Run easy enough to keep easy days easy. Build aerobic strength so you can sustain effort. Keep some faster running in the program. Use hills purposefully. Respect the long run. Practice racing. Learn how to finish runs under control rather than spending all of your energy in the opening miles.

Then make those pieces practical enough to repeat.

That is where improvement becomes sustainable. A strong training cycle is not just a collection of impressive workouts. It is a progression of manageable weeks that gradually move the runner from the fitness they have toward the fitness they want.

For runners who want to compare coaching options and find a style that fits their goals and schedule, Browse Coaches at RunDoyen.

FAQ

What is the best way to become a better runner?
Start with consistency. A practical schedule that you can repeat gives you a foundation for gradually developing mileage, aerobic strength, speed, hills, long runs, and race-specific work.

Should I run more if I want to improve?
More running can create a useful training stimulus, but there is no universal mileage target. Increasing weekly mileage is only one option. Depending on the runner, progression might also come through a longer long run, more workout volume, or a more advanced session.

How much of my running should be easy?
The coaching guidance behind this article emphasizes that the majority of training is easy running. Easy days should feel relaxed and controlled rather than becoming another hard session.

What is a progression run?
A progression run is a session in which the effort intentionally increases as the run continues. A stronger version may finish the final miles around marathon effort or somewhat faster, depending on the athlete and the purpose of the workout.

How long should my weekly long run be?
One coach-led guideline is roughly 20 to 30 percent of weekly mileage. It should not be treated as a rigid rule for every runner or every week. Long-run length and intensity should fit the athlete’s experience, training phase, and goals.

Do distance runners still need speed work?
Yes, the training philosophy presented here combines aerobic strength with speed. Faster work and sustained aerobic training serve different purposes, and both can contribute to development across race distances.

How can an online running coach help me improve?
An online running coach can provide accountability, remove some of the guesswork around daily training, answer questions, and adjust training around a runner’s schedule, fitness, and goals. The value is not simply receiving workouts, but having a training process tailored to the individual.