One of the first ways to increase your potential speed is to activate your muscles and joints before you start running. The best way to do this is dynamic stretching. Exercises like lunges, high-kicks, hamstring stretches, and calf stretches, will all make a huge difference in helping prepare the muscles and joints you need to use to increase your explosiveness as a runner!

Almost everyone gets anxious when meeting new people, which means that the other person is probably just as nervous as you. So, don't stress out about how you're going to make your first impression. Just let your personality show!

Some simple ways to get the conversation going are:

1. Tell the person your name and then ask for theirs.

2. Ask what kind of things they like to do, and maybe tell them something you like.

3. Ask follow-up questions, like where do they work or go to school.

4. If the conversation isn't coming naturally yet, try asking viewpoint questions, like: What do you think about this weather? or What's your favorite food or music?

These basic ideas will have you well on your way to an effective introduction! Remember though, try to just follow the flow, as long as you're comfortable with the subject, talk about whatever the other person wants to.

By setting goals to achieve, you can better track your progress, which makes every little achievement more noticeable, and gives you motivation to keep striving to get faster. One way you can get started is to have a stopwatch and time yourself for how long it takes to complete one lap or run for whatever distance you're trying to achieve. Then take that time and work towards beating your record every week. Also, be sure to exercise and stretch those muscles and joints even on days you're not running, which helps maintain good conditioning and increase your potential next time you run. Doing all of this will help you to progressively run faster!