Saturday, April 16, 2011

Just a few thoughts on running style:


Stance - Run tall and relaxed.


Head - Look straight ahead. This will place your head nicely in line with your spine.

Once your head is positioned correctly, the rest of your body tends to follow suit and vice versa.


Shoulders - Keep them relaxed, low and open, enabling you to breathe properly.

If you feel your shoulders sneaking up to your ears or geting sore, scrunch them up high and drop them, from time to time.


Arms and hands - Keep your forearms parallel to the ground. Your wrists are straight and your hands held in a loose fist, as if you are holding a roll of 20c coins, or a mini ice cream cone.

As your arms swing, your hands shouldn't cross the mid line of your tummy. Your hands will move between the top of your hips and the bottom of your ribs.

When sprinting or running uphill, you'll find that your hands will move higher.


Feet and legs - Land mid foot, not on your heels. As it hits the ground your foot should be underneath you, not out in front.

Push off strongly.

As you sprint or run uphill, you'll find that you'll move on to the balls of your feet.


Leg turnover X stride length = speed.

Remember our drills? High knees, butt kicks and bounding? The aim is to promote leg turnover and optimum stride length.

As distance runners, we value leg turnover more than stride length.

Shorter, faster strides, with low knee lift is what we aim for.

Everybody is different, of course and experience will tell us what combination of turnover and stride length works for each of us.

Don't worry too much about this for the half marathon in 4 weeks, but it' something to think about in the medium term.


Breath - I breathe in and out of my mouth. I need more oxygen than I can get breathing through my nose.


Fatigue - As your tire, focus on your form. Try not to look down or let your head dip or wobble.

Try not to round your shoulders or bend at the waist. Keep your hands down so that the move within the range of your abdomen. Keep your hips lifted.


Hills - Going up - you might find yourself leaning a little more forward than normal. You may want to shorten your stride and increase the rate of your leg turnover. Use your arms and core strength to help you to the top.


Don't pause at the top of the hill, keep the momentum going. Lengthen your stride back to normal.


Going downhill - Lengthen your stride, tilt your head slightly forward and relax.

Be careful though as running downhill is much more stressful on the body than running on the flat.


Don't get too hung up on any of this, just enjoy your running.

1 comment:

Sophie said...

brilliant tips Anthony - you've been a fantastic team trainer! Sophie x