Coaching Files: Running form Part I

I get to start training again tomorrow. It has been a full two weeks off. And I mean off. Aside from some hikes while on vacation I did nothing. Nada. Zip and zilch. I also hated every single moment of it. I also followd instruction and went off the core and that was an utter disaster.

I never felt the urge to eat anything and everything. I had some bagels and toast and some of the high glycemic foods I had given up. And they made me sick to my stomach. The side effect of eating clean is that eating dirty makes you feel like sh*t. The two indulgances I did engage in were Diet Coke and Coffee.

I know. Someone call the police over my wild livng.

Tomorrow I get to run. As you know I have become a student of running form as both a coach and as an athlete. I am excited beyond belief to put into practice what I have watched, read and listened to.

There are three running coaches who in my opinion have the corner on running:

Jack Daniels

Bobby McGee

Nicholas Romanov

Over the past several weeks I have read what they have written, watched videos and footage of runners that have been coached by them or that they are critiquing, and have watched several seminars thay all have given. The three of them seem to focus on some common points:

1. Running with a forward lean from the ankles (not from the waist)

2. Cadence of > 180 (this is counting both feet)

3. Driving the knees forward rather than focusing on the push off. In fact in one of his seminars Dr. Romanov demonstrated how he believes there is no push off in running.

There are several points on where I should not say they disagree but differ. One points out that a midfoot landing is critical while the other points out that the midfoot would mean the arch, which does not touch the ground. Rather than focus on those kinds of points I think it is really important to focus on where these three agree.

These three seem to have vast experience working with runners who are causal, marathoners, elite distance, triathlon, all kinds. All backgrounds. All shapes and all sizes.

Dr. Romanov in one of his seminars pointed out that there is really no standards of running form, like there are for swimming and for cycling. Often times running form has been left alone. Yet it is the sport that seems to garnish the most injuries.

In 2006 the Runner's World Guide to Running (or whatever it was called) made a statement of this effect (and please know I am paraphrasing)......

All but the luckiest of runners will experience an injury at some point in their running career. So you have to be prepared to expect a niggle of some sort at some point.

Wow. That's a statement of doom and gloom. Welcome to running, expect to be injured sucker! Doesn't it interest you that the sport with the highest injury rate (last year it was estimated that 85% of runners sustained an injury?) is the one sport that really requires..... no equipment? It's something to think about for sure. Did cavemen have these injuries when hunting down their food? Or did they just run naturally?

Here is an interesting article from Dr. Romanov on why he thinks the shoe companies are to blame for poor running form.

Biomechanics are certainly something to look at and consider as we try to improve running. In the pool and on the bike we spend hours and yards and miles to perfect our form. Get the most of our swim stroke, establish the best fit and aerodynamics on our bikes..... yet when it comes to running we are very afraid as both athletes and coaches to correct form.

A person who runs a 17 minute 5K will not be open to correct biomechanics. They truly believe that in order to go faster they must train harder. That might be true, but a peek at how they run could give them that extra bit they need to break the 17 minute barrier.

To change anything.... you must first be open to change. If you lack openness, you deny yourself opportunity. I have noticed that runners in particular are very defensive about their form, and their shoes. Swimmers and cyclists seem much more willing to make changes. Running for some can be riskier.

If you are like me..... looking to hit your absolute best potential in 2010, maybe your openness to making changes is greater. I by nature am not a great runner. It's something I ave worked hard at especially with my new coach. While I made great improvements, those improvements did not come forth on race day for several reasons. One of the biggest reason is that I have never had my running form critiqued.

Swimmers by nature bring barriers to running. We have excellent plantar flexion and terrible dorsiflexion. Those with a breaststroke background are in the worst scenario with their externally rotated hips. Swimmers tend to have bigger shoulders and chests and therefore run with the chest pulled high and back. Here is a great articles about the importance of proper body alignment.

My first foray into new running form is drill work. And a lot of it. Getting me to lean forward not from the waist but from the ankles. Allowing gravity to help pull me forward rather than be so upright that I have to work against it.

We have brought my running cadence up to about 93, so on that front I am doing well.

The third thing we will work on is landing more forefoot and decrease that heel strike. Take a look at your race photos and see where you land. You may think you are on your forefoot but.... NOPE!

That's purely the beginning. We have lost to correct and with a year to go, I am very hopeful that I can crack my running ability.

So take a look around that the different resources. Get your run form analyzed by someone who knows what they are doing. It will never hurt to have it looked at. It can mean the difference between snapping an Achilles to break 17 or correcting a few simple flaws to get there. We were meant to run, made to run.

And remember: the willingness to change must be there to even attempt it.