Striders: The 20-Second Secret to Faster, Smoother Running

Key Takeaways

• Striders are short 15–25 second accelerations at 85–95% of your max speed — fast but controlled, never all-out sprints
• They wake up your fast-twitch muscle fibers and get your body ready to run quick before workouts and races
• 4–8 striders after easy runs keep your leg turnover and form sharp without adding real training stress

A strider (also called a stride, stride-out, or pickup) is a short acceleration lasting roughly 15–25 seconds where you gradually build to about 85–95% of your max speed, hold that pace briefly, then ease back down. Striders aren't sprints — you run fast but controlled, relaxed and smooth. They're the closest thing to free speed I know.

Quick Metrics

Parameter	Value
Duration	15–25 seconds
Intensity	85–95% max speed
Distance	50–100 meters
Reps per Session	4–8
Recovery	60–90 seconds walk/jog

How to Execute Striders

Start at an easy jog. Over about 20–30 meters, build smoothly until you're running fast but not all-out. You should feel quick and light — high cadence, relaxed shoulders, arms driving.

Hold that pace for maybe 50–80 meters, then ease off. Walk or jog easy for 60–90 seconds between reps.

Coach's Tip: stay loose. If you're grimacing or tensing up, you're pushing too hard. A good strider is fast, but it should feel smooth.

Step-by-Step Execution

1. Start easy: Begin at a comfortable jog
2. Accelerate gradually: Build speed smoothly over 20–30 meters
3. Hold fast pace: Stay at 85–95% effort for 50–80 meters
4. Decelerate smoothly: Ease back down over 10–20 meters
5. Recover: Walk or easy jog for 60–90 seconds
6. Repeat: Complete 4–8 total reps

When to Use Striders

When you do your striders matters. Here's how the timing changes what they do for you:

Timing	Purpose	Best For
Before a workout	Wakes your legs up, raises your heart rate	Hard sessions, tempo runs, intervals
Before a race	Primes your fast-twitch fibers, sharpens reflexes	Competition warm-up
After an easy run	Keeps speed and form sharp, prevents "flat legs"	Recovery days, base building

Before a Workout or Race

Striders go at the end of your warm-up — after easy jogging and drills like the skipping above have raised your core temperature and loosened your hips and ankles.

Here's what they're doing: waking up the fast-twitch fibers you never touch at easy pace, and warming up the line between your brain and your legs. You're telling your body "we're about to run fast," so it isn't shocked when the gun goes off.

Most competitive runners do 4–6 striders in the final 10–15 minutes before a race, finishing the last one about 3–5 minutes before the start.

After an Easy Run

If you never touch faster paces, easy days leave your legs feeling flat — and over time that erodes your form and your running economy, which is how much energy it costs you to hold a pace. A few striders keep your mechanics sharp and your connection to speed alive without adding real training stress.

This matters most during high-mileage base building, when most of your running is slow. Striders make sure you never lose touch with turnover and speed.

Why Striders Work

When you accelerate to near-max speed, you call on muscle fibers that easy running never uses. Those fast-twitch fibers need regular work to stay responsive.

Just as important, striders keep the signal between your brain and your muscles sharp. Running fast takes quick, precise firing. Run only slow, and that connection gets rusty. Striders keep it clean.

And here's the beauty: they do all that without wearing you out. A set of 6 striders adds up to maybe 500 meters of fast running with full rest between efforts. Compare that to a threshold or interval session and you'll see why striders get called "free speed."

A Brief History

Striders have been a staple of competitive running for generations, even as the names and the understanding have evolved. Arthur Lydiard — the New Zealand coach whose methods shaped distance running from the 1960s on — built fast, relaxed running into his training philosophy.

Coaches figured out long ago that slow mileage alone builds your engine but doesn't prepare your body for racing speeds. Striders became the elegant fix: a way to touch speed often without the fatigue bill of true speedwork.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Running too hard. Striders should feel controlled and smooth. If you're straining or your form is falling apart, back off.

Skipping recovery. The walk or jog between reps isn't optional. Rush it and the quality of each rep goes with it.

Doing too many. More isn't better. 4–8 is plenty — 15+ turns striders into a workout, and that defeats the purpose.

Bad timing. Don't do striders right before a hard workout when you're already warm and ready to go. Do them during the warm-up and finish 5–10 minutes before the main session.

Making Striders a Habit

The runners who get the most out of striders are the ones who do them all the time. Add 4–6 to the end of your easy runs 2–3 times a week, and build them into your pre-race warm-up. Over months and years, that small habit compounds into real speed and efficiency.

I use striders constantly with my youth and high school athletes to help improve their speed, and they tend to win our local 5Ks. Look down the starting line before a race — it's rare to see anybody other than my runners doing striders.

For more on setting realistic training goals, or to calculate your training paces, explore our other resources.