For many, running is an everyday part of their life. Every runner out there knows the amazing feeling they get when they come home from what was a truly great run. Aside from the ‘runners high', which is an actual physiological benefit that those who participate in this sport can experience, running can be a great form of stress relief.

Then, there are others who are out there running to seriously improve upon their past performance. They are striving to be the best they can be with each and every run and want to see their finishing time decreasing as their training progresses.

When this is the primary goal, there are certain things you need to be sure you are doing to fully optimize your results.

Here are three factors to consider.

Interval Training

If you are looking to maximize the speed you are able to run with, nothing is going to get you closer to this goal then practicing running with speed. You'd be surprised at how many runners will keep trying to push their distance further and further, hoping that this will then enable them to run faster when they decrease the distance back again.

While in theory, this should stand up since if you have the endurance to go for 10 km for example, but then you are only needing to run 5km, you can push yourself quite hard due to this increased stamina, it is still not the same thing as if you would have pushed yourself hard in your training for 5km runs.

When you're training for an event, train for that event! For sure, you definitely do need to have some longer, moderate paced runs in there to keep your cardio base strong, but you also need to be sure you are pushing your boundaries on the other days as well.

You won't get comfortable running fast unless you are doing so frequently throughout your training program.

Rest

The next important thing you must be sure you do is get enough rest. Runners in particular seem to be prone to the notion that more is more, when in all reality, this is definitely not always the case.

If you aren't taking enough rest between your runs, your body isn't given enough time to repair any damages that have occurred to the muscle tissue and therefore, has not gotten stronger either.

You only improve your performance and skill level when you allow for sufficient rest and new muscle tissue is build (or at the very least, maintained). This is a very obvious principle that applies when you weight train, but it can also be applied to running as well.

The tissue damage occurring will not be the exact same nature as it would with weight training, but there is still damage taking place, particularly if you are pushing yourself hard during your workouts.

Hill Training

The final thing to look into if you are trying to increase your speed is hill training. Hill training will not only significantly increase the strength in your legs, but power as well.

Since speed is directly related to how much power you can generate, anything that helps you out with this regard will be beneficial.

When doing hill training, find a relatively steep hill outside (or alternatively use a treadmill that has an adjustable incline), then run up it as fast as possible, following by walking to the bottom once again.

Repeat this process six to ten times, and then do a final cool-down to finish up the workout.

So, if you are looking to increase the speed at which you are capable of running at, consider these three things.

While different coaches will have different techniques for really pushing the barrier and training programs they tend to favor, these are three elements that are quite common to them all.