Have you ever watched a 5k race and said to yourself: How can I ever run as fast as that runner who is speeding down the finish line? Or have you ever been on a run, and if you had what it takes to become the best of the best in running? Don’t worry, because I have five amazing things that will make you better at running.

Step number 1. Training and Conditioning

The very first thing you do if you are thinking of being a competitive runner is training and conditioning; doing good training will make your body stronger and quicker in races. If you are a first year cross country runner, then I recommend doing 10 to 15 miles a week to start out easy and next year can increase your mileage to improve your endurance, also important to work on upper body strength and to increase your speed by doing strides and speed workout to push yourself, when I was running for the first time I didn’t really push myself but the most running I did the fastest I became.

Step number 2. Being hydrated

It is crucial to always be hydrated when you are running and especially before a race to get your body as much energy as possible, You should drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily because when you run your body uses energy and you should drink water to replace the energy you use up, you didn’t drink any pop or any other drink that could handle your running abilities especially right before a race, make sure to bring a water bottle to every practices and meets, i always bring my water bottle to every practice and every meet i run at.

Step number 3. Find a friend to train with

After you start running for a couple of weeks you should look for someone to run with who would push you to run harder and get you out of your comfort zone, it also helps to have someone to run with because you will always run faster with someone versus running my yourself and both of you can page each other, and it is important to have a supportive group of other runners who can cheer you on during a race, during my sophomore year of cross country I started running with this other runner who was faster than me at running and he would push my to be a better runner.

Step number 4. Never be satisfied

One of the most important things in running is never being satisfied with your running performance in a race. Not being satisfied with make you run harder and push yourself to the limits of your ability to put your best effort in, if you are satisfied with how you run in a race then you won’t push yourself hard and work harder to get better at running, i am almost never felt satisfied with how I did during a race and I always think about how I could have run faster.

Step number 5.Gaining experience

It is important to get as much experience you can by signing up for 5k and doing running events to improve what you knowledge on running, you also watch race and take notes on what the faster runners do during their races to make yourself better at races, and watch videos on running so you can know what to do and to set you up for success, and even try to go to far away races and even go to out of state races to get some experience with running all over the country The most years I did running the most I learned about running the fastest I became.

This is my four years of running cross country and I have come a long way since I started, and I started running I wasn’t that good at it but with determination I manage to win a couple of medals and varsity letters so don’t give up when it gets hard just keep working hard and of you follow these steps you will achieve success at running.