Simple But Genius Hacks Elite Runners Use To Run Faster

[@wandelpassiert8064]

Whenever I start smiling during the workouts others passing by starting greeting me and smiling back. This is also a lovely side effect. ❤

[@goranwinblad]

Yeah that’s a great point being positive is contagious 😁

[@Averagebum21]

I’ve not only had people stare at me, but people actually telling me that they want to be like this, they want to do this.

[@oldmandice2731]

When I think "this is hard" I tell myself, "Yes, it is, and I do hard things because I am harder still"...Now I'm going to do it with a smile on my face, thanks!

[@xemtube]

Hacks to run faster (if you're already motivated): 1) Smile - study found it increases running economy 2.8%, the same as the Nike super shoes 2) Ask yourself "Can I handle the pain right now?" - the answer is yes 3) Accept negative thoughts will come, but don't give in to them 4) Mentally segment long runs into shorter runs

[@tomasr876]

Great video man! I also do couple of extra things. One of them is to give high fives to runners that go by, doesn't matter if you know them or not, it boosts your and their morale, it's like cheating! You would be surprised how many people start smiling after that. Another thing is to understand that pain, struggle, being out of breath, whatever other discomfort, is what we will so dearly miss when we will be old or dead. Cherish these hard times as you are the most alive during them, you are the true version of yourself then, and you might not feel this again, who knows which day can be your last. Another great vid Goran!

[@Kelly_Ben]

Love this!! I love ultras for that reason... everyone is so supportive and encouraging to each other, they genuinely want each other to succeed, and have fun doing it

[@doop445]

You are one of the most consistent sources of information.

[@goranwinblad]

Glad to hear, thanks for watching!

[@danhunters8226]

Something i try to do when i run is focus on the exterior. It's easy to end up in a mindset were you get tunnel vison and your mind gets completely focused on fighting the pain you feel. Instead you should try to look around, smell the grass, hear the birds, and try to experience the outside when you struggle the most. Find that when i do that the smile comes naturally.

[@andrewli1455]

research finds that elite runners associate with the pain rather than disassociate. personally i find myself focusing on the pain in order to get through it,

[@danhunters8226]

@@andrewli1455 I know nothing about that I'm nor a researcher or an elit Runner. But It's not about disassociating with the pain its about enjoying it.

[@MilanSmore]

Focus on the exterior and you will slow down

[@morrisg5060]

Smile. We run for enjoyment and health anyway. 🙃 But you are free to frown and focus on the pain😅.

[@Kelly_Ben]

I love this! I do it for the first part of a race, but tunnel inwards as the miles pass. I'll remember to enjoy the scenery more next time!

[@BrothBoss]

For tip 2, I often think while I'm pushing through, about how bad I wish I was running while I am not running. That perspective makes the pain much more bearable

[@nordicwilly6650]

Fantastic stuff! I will try to use these Jedi mind tricks on my high school kids who are running XC. Runners don't talk about the mental component enough. I tried the smile one today and sure enough it worked.

[@protaytoeguy3133]

When my legs get really heavy i have found that its way easier to focus on moving your arm. Your legs will respond to the arms movement so you can sometimes even speed up when you dont focus on your legs.

[@brianmessemer2973]

I've seen a few of your videos before this and liked them, but I just subbed. This video is excellent! It's so much about the mind, indeed. I'm a new runner - long time cyclist who started running in October 2023. I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for your channel, you're doing great videos, keep it up!

[@scottbeesley894]

The faster and more fit I've become the more I've realised that a strong mental game is crucial to performing well. As you get fitter and faster, you also get better at getting deeper into the pain cave and "redlining" for longer. Yes, everyone is exhausted at the end of a hard race, no matter the distance or the fitness level. But the fitter people are better are pushing their bodies further than others. If you don't have the mind power to keep up with your legs you won't succeed when it really matters.

[@spacewanderer1]

Just ran a trail race yesterday up Mount Wilson in Southern California. Wish I had seen this before!

[@CiCC-kány]

Thanks for the great advice. Some additional thoughts that help me: - 'When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.' Everyone can do (swim, ride, run) it at the beginning when it's nice and feels easy, but only the tough ones can push it through the tough parts, and I'm tough guy. - When it gets hard and painful in a race, I think about that it's the same for the others around me. If it wasn't they were not around me, but much ahead (and it would be hard and painful there). So, I just have to endure a little more then they do. - When working hard, and my muscles are burning, I try to visualize that blood is flowing through the muscles, they flex and push me forward, they work very hard and that's why they are burning. - When I'm tired and my form is degrading, I think about myself from the outside, and how others would see me. Other runners, people at the bus stop or in their cars, kids on the playgrounds. I try my best to run with the best possible form, so everyone would think 'Wow, that guy looks so great!' and 'He runs like a god!', and try to not think about the race videos and photos where I look like a sack of potatoes trying to move forward. - I do this not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

[@owen-trombone]

I always love your videos, Göran. Authentic, useful, positive. Keep it up. 👍

[@Nic.kname.09]

It is good to know that even elite athletes have doubts when they're running. I will try to be more accepting of these now, but I have to say I have usually used the last trick to help me get through when these thoughts have occurred.

[@goranwinblad]

Absolutely! Yeah that is my favourite mind trick as well 😊

[@Syntropicfarming]

Smiling works really well. When I got hurt in my last marathon, I kept smiling, and then I finished the race very strong 😂😂😂

[@missingmimic]

When you said you "felt faster" in your kit it made me smile, it's funny we all believe the same kind of things

[@adamgriss2025]

That’s funny because I have my fast socks and slow socks which is weird because I am equally slow whichever socks I wear 😂.

[@sheelageorge12]

Great Tips Göran, but I overdid it last week 😱 . 2024/05/18- 26 deg C, Worlds Largest HM, Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon, Target Time -1:45. Trained hard for 12 weeks running over 350kms. Ran a 1:46:30 4 weeks back in training at 5 degC. Race day was hot , felt hard, but kept pushing through 5k, 10k, and 15k at 4:56 average pace. The next 40 mins was the strangest 40mins in my entire running journey of many years. No memory of what happened, I lost complete track of myself somewhere after 15k, My GPS shows I kept running on autopilot for 1.5k and collapsed completely. Was a heat stroke, after 40 mins wakes up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Body temp was >40 degC, low BP, low Blood sugar, high Lactate. Thank God, I was cared for in time. After many bottles of IV and Electrolytes, I was stable. Just don't overdo it 🤣. By the way, for this race I had taken an online training by Mustafa Mohamad, the Swedish Marathoner mentioned in this video. What a coincidence. I have improved my running so much with this training, but never took care of hydration seriously.

[@sunefred]

Thanks for sharing and great that your are ok. I follow a lot of Ultra Marathon channels here on YT, and for them heat, nutrition, sleep, and stomach issues, are very common. That's one reason why it takes a while to get good in that discipline, you need the experience! You just got +1 experience and a learning opportunity. Grats =)

[@sheelageorge12]

@@sunefred , yes it has been a huge learning curve for me. So much to take from this experience.

[@aidanoc19]

I heard a quote, I think from Ryan Hall, 'Run the mile you're in', via Brock Kelly. Similar to your last point but I find it helps me immensely, in training and racing. I focus on how I'm doing there and then, how I feel at my pace, hit a split, tick it off, move on.

[@CubaCubinho]

It's funny to see this video today. I just came back from my third ever half marathon with a great PB. With 7km to go I started to loose my pace... With 5 to go I remembered smiling as I normally did and this safed my race. No one ever told me but it seemed to be a logical way to make things easier.

[@goranwinblad]

That’s really cool to hear congrats on the race and thanks for sharing! 😁

[@Para20Site]

The smaller sections is what really helps me. In the beginning it’s all about reminding myself how well I’m keeping up and making progress, while at the end I’m just telling myself I have already done this 8 times, so I can do the last 2 as well as that’s just a few more.

[@jon735]

Great video. Thank you for sharing and, I hadn’t heard any of this advice before! I’m going to try all of these tips in my half marathon PB attempt next month. I thought it was going to be another video about doing a warm up before a race!!

[@माधवीरामदीन]

I love this vid

[@goranwinblad]

Glad to hear 😊

Is that Ed's "pitch the next video" technique I am seen here? Great job with you channel, your growth is inspiring!

[@jonr6680]

Love it. Target focus, visioning & program the goal (winning) a thousand times before even starting. Then you have that thought available when the pain hits. Ppl give up bc the pain right now feels bigger than the future goal. Even if it's only minutes away.

[@piotrlebioda7036]

Goran, i love your channel! Keep it up! greetings from poland!

[@resiakanam8502]

The last tip ive been using myself for years and it makes a huge difference.

[@John-vz8ri]

Great video as always, Goran!

[@goranwinblad]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@willemvanriet7160]

Neat tricks Will try One ove learned is that everytime a hill starts my minds tries to tell me im getting tired but if i realize then its just effect of gravity and the hill i feel strong again and pick uo the pace

[@kokiwebs]

Great tips! And so easy to implement...

[@notarabbit1752]

When it hurts, I like to lie to myself about doing more after the end. Like instead of thinking "okay the finish line is just a couple minutes away," I'm like "okay, right after this I think I'll turn around and run it two or three more times." or "I think I'll do another lap, but hopping on one foot instead" and other things like that.

[@LeadershipAlliance]

🥳 Simply GREAT content Göran! Thank you for your consistently high quality training insights with practical benefits. You are featured in my soon to be released next book, “peak performance on demand;” will be sure you get a review copy as soon as it’s published 🦅

[@goranwinblad]

Thanks glad to hear and best of luck with the release of the book 😀

[@therungeek]

I read about smiling thing in "Thinking, Fast and Slow" book, and actually I started using that in running and other parts of life. It actually works.

[@arpski1373]

Hi goran, I love the video ideas! Tips are quite easy to implement. Great camerawork too ;) Ps: you could change the spelling of the 3rd timestamp, better for business 😁

[@maheshpatil1498]

You are inspiration🙏🏽 Love from India ❤ Dr. Mahesh Pediatrician.

[@PALOsvk]

What is also helping me during very hard training sessions is thinking about that next race goal, where I need to go in this pace not only 10x1km / 24x600m etc. but the whole 10k or 21k, the same speed. Or thinking about my co-runners in that Race, that I have to keep with them in the pack so I cannot slow down during that interval, or thinking about my family who are cheering me up...I am simply imagine them there on that very stadium and cheering me :D (of course they are not there) Helps me a lot.

[@BareFinn1986]

Thank you for all the tips. I wish I knew them when I made a push to improve my 1,5km today. I had a moment where I almost slowed down. The Strava live segment on my watch showed me that the ghost runner had gained on me and that gave me the motivation to push hard for the last bit. Beat it by 3 seconds. 😁👌 I will definitely try to remember these tips next week when I'm doing a 10km race (Straumemila). I hope to achieve sub 40 minutes. Hopefully these tips will help me. 😎

[@BareFinn1986]

I didn't manage sub 40. I ended up with 42min 40sec. But I'm still happy, it's a record 10k for me anyway 😅 Used all the tips for the race and I will definitely try to remember them for future races. 😎👍

[@corina8696]

Great video, Göran, and great tips! I just wonder, if you run an all-out race and reach your maximal heart rate too early (e.g. after 3 k in a 5 k race), is there any point when it can become dangerous to push through it without slowing down? Is it mental strength or sheer inanity to continue at the very limit for considerably more than just the finish sprint?

[@masopev412]

Göran I really like your videos, and imho the only thing that could improve is if you included citations of the studies mentioned. For example, you could simply add the citations in the description, since I think some (but not few) of us who watch would love to take a look. Go on with this great channel!

[@masopev412]

EDIT: I paused the video to make the comment right before a screeenshot of the article's first page appeared on screen. So my comment becomes: I love the fact that you also include citations!

[@goranwinblad]

@@masopev412 Thansk for your kind words and comment, yeah I always try to include visuals of the title of the article and authours, will continue doing that!

[@umrengnr]

Question for Goran or others with experience. My son is 9 and ran 7:45 min/mi in his last 5K. He loves running. Last week we ran an easy pace 4.5mi (his longest run) and the next day he wanted to run more, but I told him to rest. I feel like I've done good pushing him but not getting him injured, but I've had some family think he is running too much for his age. I want to encourage him, but don't want to cause damage to his developing body. Any advice on how many miles are too many at his age? Thanks.

[@umrengnr]

​@@ResonatingRealms Thanks

[@dansho3712]

love it when u upload!

[@jaituk2328]

How do you record yourself while running? And when simply speaking standing? Does someone know? Is it insta360 x3/x4?

[@danjohnson9821]

I would add having a mantra can also help, especially during a longer race, such as a marathon. One that I sometimes use is "the longer I go, the stronger I get".

[@goranwinblad]

Good point, thanks for adding it! 😊

[@9freesolo]

A great video!!

[@asmith7746]

During my marathon last month, I started hurting around halfway, but the last seven miles were brutal on my legs. I broke the segments down to how many more gels I would be taking. I was yelling in my head, "Pain is fuel!" over and over, which made me laugh and smile as I thought, well you have plenty of fuel. I also asked myself how long I wanted to be in pain? The more you slow down, the longer the pain will last. My cardio was there, I did six hours of strength training a week, but I had never run that pace for that long.

[@AvinashSingh-sp4qv]

Sir i try to run sub 4 minute 1500m what's my lactate threshold pace for 6-7x1k according to you plz reply sir 🙏🏾

[@HaraldHofer]

I'm practicing Kendo for almost 25 years. I had to endure some gruesome trainings, especially in the beginning. Smiling helped a lot. Even if i didn't feel like it at the moment: I didn't give the Senseis the satisfaction of breaking me. With running it's similar: the speed and the high effort will not break me...

[@rickgarrison183]

4:42 Sub 30min 5k is easy though?

[@MrMightyArmour]

He said sub 13min 5k, with bit of an accent :D

[@Dandelion-32]

I found out some time ago that intense body and facial expressions during leg presses actually created an energy leak. When I relaxed my face and smiled, I could do more reps at a lower perceived effort.

[@TheCuratorIsHere]

Smiling while running for psych improvement is something I figured out at 44yo after only a year of running. I can’t believe people who have been running for a while haven’t figured this out already. What have they been doing?? Wtf Along with: nose breathing only, beating the drum arm swing like Kipchoge, flat foot landing with power, shoulder oscillation, hip oscillation, looking far ahead, never entering zone 5, having running mantras, eating carnivore, and so on.

[@olleharstedt3750]

Any tips on how to run without ruining my knees if I'm 40+ and overweight...?

[@chrisowen4465]

I'm 49 years old and in my last 5KM race, I knocked 1 min 30 seconds off my PB (20:02). How? Less training in the lead up and an energy drink (150mg caffeine) before running. I couldn't believe the difference.

[@BM24DK]

I don't know if I understand the 2nd point correct. "Can I endure this pain right now right here?" Well if I am feeling exhausted and tired then I am going to say "no" in some situations. To me it's not really a question that works every single time.

[@Nic.kname.09]

Perhaps turn it from a question into a statement. 'I can endure this right now'.

[@BM24DK]

@@Nic.kname.09 what works for me is to ask the question “why am I doing this? Who am I doing this for? (Myself, family etc.) It usually give me the last bit of energy to push through

[@TheRizzyShorts]

Well that is just mental weakness then. It’s not that you can’t endure the pain it’s just that you don’t want to. Being tired makes you want to stop but you can stay through the pain if you really wanted to

[@justjustjoo]

My tip would be: Don't race too often. Don't do mentally taxing training runs too often. It's really hard to give it everything, if you haven't forgotten yet how bad it felt the last time.

[@Robzabest25]

fast lane to injury?

[@johnshellenberg1383]

Smiling really does work! I've used it many times and didn't realize I was doing it. Our minds are weird...

[@PriitKallas]

Several years ago, I saw a study where thinking about loved ones was improving running performance. I couldn't find it now. If anyone knows about it post it in a reply

[@garlicyum]

when it gets tough during ultras i usually think "soon this will be yesterday"

[@jasestu]

I'm afraid to push harder - I'll injure myself!

[@NormEnglund]

That's the other side of the coin. You have to listen to your body. To do that, my main effort is to focus on my running form. If I get to the point where it's falling apart, I fix it, but then I have to keep fixing it, I know that I have to let go of my goal (for that run).

[@a.fdz.prieto1870]

Me encanta el contenido de tus videos. El trabajo mental y el estado positivo para afrontar correr es una maravillosa herramienta de felicidad 😊felicidad 😊

[@goranwinblad]

Thanks glad to hear!

[@mrcrackerist]

I would not push through pain, but fatigue yes.

[@gbone7581]

I used to tell myself "Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" All things good and bad will come to an end.

[@toesoxbro1066]

Whenever I run the 3200, I split it up into 32 100’s and count them off backwards during the race.

[@jfmorache]

What if I pass out ?

[@Lentsku]

Can you define what kind of pain is okay to push through?

[@jonasjoko294]

I think this is all about general fatique, so basically everything that will go away after a few Minutes of rest after the race. If you have any pain in your knees, cramps or something similar, I would not advise to push through

[@jonr6680]

Chest pain...NOT!

[@goranwinblad]

Yeah agree on this!

[@gbone7581]

Good pain - when you are just taking strain Bad pain - when you are damaging yourself, you can push through the good pain.

[@natethetoe386]

I always count the last 200, and most, painful steps. I don't know, works for me.

[@jpurdes]

Imagine if Emil Zatropek was smiling on his races...

[@jonas-msko]

this is so interesting holy shit

[@francesc5313]

I use another trick during the races. When it feels really hard I use a few curse words and speak out loud them. It's the opposite of smilling during race but it works for me :)

[@goranwinblad]

Thanks for sharing that’s interesting to hear!

[@laius6047]

Yeah i do it but instead of smile of hapines its a smile of anguish

[@Rareos]

remember everyone, it takes a greater number of muscles to frown than it does to smile. ..maybe

[@qigong1001]

This too shall pass.

[@OliverGriggs-vs9gy]

Do a park run

[@d0b0b]

I find it easier when the weathe gets bad, pushing against the elements is a distraction I think.

[@osullivanscott]

When you think you're done, you're only 40% done lol

[@goranwinblad]

True!

[@matthewaislabie7354]

No brain no pain... got it.

[@ShinSuperSaiyajin]

With that said, Joyboy is possibly the fastest runner ever If you know, you know

[@tedd9621]

Some cyclists grins when they climb the mountain. I did it often too on my bike.

[@Isnack96]

👋😁

[@CaptainBrash]

The mindfulness acceptance thing is pretty close to Buddhist philosophy which is pretty cool. Basically, both the mindless pursuit of happiness and pushing away of pain or trying to escape negative feelings are all forms of unhappiness and you have to accept both the good and bad as they come with the knowledge that it's a temporary state.

[@250txc]

god ... give me a break!

[@K-A.sundberg]

Try shaving your legs, it will make a huge difference too