Running technique
September 24th, 2007 by Nikola Tosic
I remember this January I was running on Seapoint promenade. I had an easy recovery run and I always look for someone I can talk to while I am running. I met one guy and as I introduced myself I started hearing his steps. He was dragging the feet against the surface at the end of each step. This means he was breaking himself and creating additional yet unnecessary pressure on his knees on every step he made. I could not resist, being one of those annoying people that just have to nag all the time, to tell him about it. He said almost angrily: “This is how I run all my life and it works well for me!” However it was obvious this person was both hurting himself and not achieving his best result.
Running technique is a subject of many discussions. Every coach, if he can afford the time, will try to improve the running technique of athletes he/she coaches. By improving the technique running efficiency/economy increase and therefore you need less energy to achieve higher speed. This is a goal of each dedicated runner and coach. Even if you analyze at elite athletes that can look like a disaster you will see that actually their running stride are extremely efficient. For example Paula Radcliffe can seam like a mess but if you ignore her upper body her legs are 99,9% perfect and I am sure she still does technique drills.
Most important effect of better technique is health - the more efficiently you run the smaller the risk of injury is. The most common mistake with beginners is what the guy at the promenade did. He brakes a bit at the end of each step. I have met so many people that do this and I believe, although I have no research data to back it, this could be one of the biggest causes of injuries as it creates a lot of pressure on all joints.
Unfortunately it is not possible to teach runners how to improve their technique through a blog. Also there are lots of systems that can do this: workshops, seminars, websites, videos, magazine articles… I think it is important for every triathlete to understand the importance of running technique for health and performance and find their own way of improving it.
I hope bellow tips can help:
Try to make the surface contact (time your foot spends touching the ground) as short as possible. This will make you jump a bit when you run slower but as you start to increase speed your body will stop jumping up and down and will move more efficiently.
To shorten the surface contact you need to improve explosivity of your jump. This is a similar principle as in boxing: the point is not to push the surface you are hitting but to make contact and return, to touch the ground and immediately jump again.
Do not try to lengthen your step. You run faster by increasing the frequency of your leg turnover. Lengthening your stride in front of your body will only force you to break yourself. Your foot should make the contact just bellow your hips, not a millimetre further.
Do very short accelerations to improve your running form/technique. For example do 60-100 m acceleration. Start very easy and finish in 90-95 % max sprint speed. You should not feel tired after this but shaken up and awake. While you do these sprints focus on the length of your foot-surface contact.
I hope this inspires you a bit. Anything more would require a face-2-face training session. If anyone has any other suggestions please post them in comments.
