hello, 48 y/o here, 6ft and 145lbs ; my latest running gps detects running cadence and stride lenght, so I started noticing these data.
my slow / easy run values are cadence ~155spm , stride ~ 4.5ft; fast / tempo run: cadence ~165, stride ~5.0ft
I do not suffer injuries but running feels very hard, especially on my quads. when I run I feel slow, heavy, tired all the time; I’m not over weight at all
higher cadence could be the fix? how can I work on that? I mean, at this moment there’s no way I could run one single mile at 170spm
any opinion is very welcome!
I’m no expert, but based on my personal experience, your stride sounds a little long. I’m 5’9" 175lbs, and my cadence is typically in the 170s and my stride length is about 3.5 feet. When I first started running my cadence was much closer to yours but as I progressed my stride I feel just naturally shortened.
hello, 48 y/o here, 6ft and 145lbs ; my latest running gps detects running cadence and stride lenght, so I started noticing these data.
my slow / easy run values are cadence ~155spm , stride ~ 4.5ft; fast / tempo run: cadence ~165, stride ~ft
I do not suffer injuries but running feels very hard, especially on my quads. when I run I feel slow, heavy, tired all the time; I’m not over weight at all
higher cadence could be the fix? how can I work on that? I mean, at this moment there’s no way I could run one single mile at 170spm
any opinion is very welcome!
If you want a faster cadence, look up the BPM of a song you like and practice hitting the beat on the treadmill or outside. I think you will find that with a faster cadence, you will be forced to be faster and lighter on your toes and the front of your feet.
I was going to say that sub-160 cadences are kinda normal for newish runners; and then ask how long you’ve been running. But, I decided to do the math on your spm/stride. Those are some pretty quick paces, which would indicate NOT A NEW RUNNER. So, just to confirm:
Easy = 155 spm * 4.5ft/stride = 7:35 per mile pace
Tempo = 165 spm * 5 ft/stride = 6:24 per mile pace
Can you give some race times (run splits, or open run races)? Not because I don’t believe you, but just to try and put those paces into some fitness context. My second reaction is that you’re just running too hard, too often; which is causing the heavy feeling in your legs. But, that depends on your actual running fitness. Maybe 7:35 really is your “easy” pace. How much do you run?
Its risky to change your run cadence. Most of the time your body/mind knows best. You are running pretty fast, and you are not currently experiencing any injuries at 48 yo. Maybe leave well enough alone?
Hello Tom, I am not a newish runner at all. I have started running in the mid 90’s. My focus has always been triathlon (I have done also 7 iron distances and more than 20 half distances), I had some decent running results (sub 1:20 h/m at 38-40 y/o). In general, I’ve always been a better swimmer/biker than runner. Moreover, in the last 3 / 4 years, running has become harder and harder; swim and bike, instead, seem to be still there. Quite recently, as I picked the new gps watch, I started looking at running metrics (I had no idea what my values would be) and was quite surprised (and worried!) to see my cadence was that low and my stride that long (compared to other people I follow on strava etc.), so I wonder if my troubles with running come from there, and if there’s something I could do about it.
About your question, usually I run 20 to 25 per week (3 or 4 sessions); I don’t run hard intervals any more, I do a mix of fartlek, hills and easy flat runs. This year I have done four sprint tri’s (three 1st and one 2nd in my a/g, mainly thanks to swim-bike combo), with running legs done at ~6’40" per mile. Thanks for your interest!
…I mean, at this moment there’s no way I could run one single mile at 170spm
any opinion is very welcome!
Why not?
What’s stopping you from shortening your stride and picking your feet up quickly behind you?
It’s actually really easy. Could the problem be that it simply feels wrong or foolish? Or is it that you’re automatically increasing your pace when you increase your cadence because you’re not consciously breaking the link between turnover and speed?
If you want to increase your cadence, you must first decide that’s the point of the run and force yourself to keep the pace very easy or you’ll just end up maintaining stride length and running hard because that’s what you’re used to doing when your cadence is up.
To raise your cadence you’ve got to shorten your stride. That can feel weird, and silly at first! But it can very quickly become natural and comfortable. Don’t try and change gradually. You can’t gradually mutate from slow long strides to short rapid ones, or if you can it’s certainly the hard way. Running has a rhythm and a pattern, that can and should be changed all at once, not as an evolution IMO. If you are singing a slow song and want to sing a faster one, it’s much easier to stop singing and then start singing a faster song instead than it is to transition between the two on the fly. Think of running cadence the same way.
I recommend focusing on short strides, which will force you to make them quick or you’ll hardly be moving. Your leg will start reaching forwards or pushing backwards to fall into your old gait. You must force yourself to remember you don’t want to “run” you want to try this new thing. The faster you try to run the harder it will be to avoid falling into your normal gait. So just shorten your stride and do it where no-one can see you. You may feel like you look silly, you probably don’t but self consciousness is an unnecessary distraction. Turn your legs over quickly. Concentrate on picking your feet up behind you as soon as your weight is coming of the leg. DON’T conciously push off. Make a point of cutting the backstroke slightly short. This is why you have to be willing to feel slow. It will feel like you’re not making any effort to move forward, just running quickly on the spot while kinda drifting forward. That’s fine. If you can do that a few times until it starts feeling more natural, you’ll start making it into a running gait, a new one. You’ll find a new cadence that’s comfortable. You’ll start adding speed, power, pace, without slipping back into your old style. They’ll be two different ways of running and there’ll be no tendency to accidentally move between them because they are two very different rhythms with no obvious way to move between them without stopping and thinking about it.
I completely changed my running style about 8 years ago and it I’ve never regretted it. I did it because I was having lots of knee pain, knew I was a heavy heel striker and plodding sort of runner, and suspected there may be a link. I wasn’t as fast or experienced as you which probably made it easier, and I changed started very gradually doing very short distances at first and building slowly over a couple of months. I’d completely stopped running due to the knee problems prior to this, so it wasn’t like I suddenly dumped lots of weekly volume to facilitate this. I also changed to fairly minimal shoes with zero heel-toe drop at the same time which I think helped. I don’t think the minimalist element is essential (and it does necessitate a gradual build) but I do think zero drop might help.
I’m absolutely certain lots of people will completely disagree with the above, but you can decide for yourself if it makes sense to you. It worked great for me… and my knees have been great ever since!
Treadmill intervals might help as well. If you focus on a speed and cadence (with full rest), you’ll eventually start turning over your legs to keep up with the beat and it will only be a matter of time until you can hold that tempo.
Experimenting with constant speeds on the treadmill also enables you to play around with a certain SPM versus another and what you feel more comfortable at. Your body will adjust to being more efficient over time and the higher cadence might feel effortless in a way over time. But, overall I think you have to make the decision of what is most efficient for you versus your goal speed (and what cadence that speed will require for you).
I think you could do 170 SPM for a mile. If you’re attentive to your form with higher cadences and keeping your posture upright, the legs will eventually fall into place.
Maybe you also need to build more muscle on your quads.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I think I might try to warm up then start with 2 minutes high cadence intervals with 1 minute walk recovery, then, when they start to feel “easy”, move to longer intervals, until high adence becomes natural to me
thanks for your advice! at the present, I’m in a cul-de-sac with running, so I’ll give “high cadence” a shot; it cannot make me any worse!
I had to completely relearn how to run, after a build to a marathon with poor form left me injured. One of the things I had to work very hard on was picking up my cadence; I was right about where you are (only with short legs, so my stride length was not as long!), and my PT wanted me to strive for 180. I actually have a metronome I use periodically to keep me honest.
I am slightly faster with the higher cadence, but I suspect that’s as much to do with the other changes in form that allow me to maintain the cadence as anything else.
Hello Tom, I am not a newish runner at all. I have started running in the mid 90’s. My focus has always been triathlon (I have done also 7 iron distances and more than 20 half distances), I had some decent running results (sub 1:20 h/m at 38-40 y/o). In general, I’ve always been a better swimmer/biker than runner. Moreover, in the last 3 / 4 years, running has become harder and harder; swim and bike, instead, seem to be still there.
…
About your question, usually I run 20 to 25 per week (3 or 4 sessions); I don’t run hard intervals any more, I do a mix of fartlek, hills and easy flat runs. This year I have done four sprint tri’s (three 1st and one 2nd in my a/g, mainly thanks to swim-bike combo), with running legs done at ~6’40" per mile. Thanks for your interest!
Those are damn quick times for less than 30 mpw, and 3-4 sessions.
Does everybody here realize they are suggesting a running form change to someone running 6:00 pace for a half-marry at 38 yo? Someone who has no injury history running that pace at 195 lbs for 25 years?
Maybe the cadence change in warranted, I dunno. I’m hesitant to say so, because of your very good pace, your weight, and your long injury free history. Form change can be good OR BAD.
I think intervals are a good idea. Not because it’ll be hard to just keep going (it should quickly become easy), but because you’ll get used to starting into the new gait each time because you’ll do it several times on the run rather than just once.
Incidentally, from the time I first raised my cadence has been 182 or 183spm at a cruise (up from something in the high 150s). It goes up if I’m pushing. Maybe low to mid 190s for a 5km race and over 200 for a sprint. It drops to 178-179 if I’m really fatigued and shuffling my feet. I don’t check it, there’s no need, the rhythm is essentially fixed. this is why I don’t recommend trying to increase gradually. It doesn’t work that way. I presume it’s down to the harmonics and natural frequencies of your limbs more than anything else. There’s a reason a pendulum’s frequency depends on it’s length and not how it was taught to swing 
The human body is a more complex multiple pivot system, with actuators, so we can manage varying frequencies of motion but there are those that are comfortable and efficient and those that are not.
Low cadence, long stride, high vertical ratio runner right here! 
. Mid to high 160’s cadence, 1.30-1.35 stride length, VO of around 11. It’s just the way I run based on my biomechanics. I have tried to change it in the past but it never lasted. I long ago simply stopped worrying about it and focused on run frequency/duration/pace in that order.
Tom, I am 145lbs, not 195, that makes a huge difference :)) . That being said, the point is that now, at 48 y/o I’m getting slower at running with a faster rate than swimming and cycling; but it’s not only a matter of speed: now running sucks, I feel tired all the time, no matter the kind of workout I’m doing; this usually doesn’t take place on the bike or at the swimming pool. Since I got the gps that records running dynamics, I started wondering whether my low cadence were the problem (or part of it)
Never knew 165 was a low cadence
.
thanks for your advice! at the present, I’m in a cul-de-sac with running, so I’ll give “high cadence” a shot; it cannot make me any worse!
If you do change your cadence, change it slowly, over the off-season or after an injury would be the best times to do it. I upped mine from 155 to 175 over a span of 6 months by slowly stepping it up 5 beats every few weeks. Changing it too fast can lead to injury. Oh and I should note my n=1, my running over a half mary got a lot faster and easier after changing my cadence.
When it comes to running, it’s something humans do quite naturally (unlike swimming) so we tend to automatically do what is most efficient. If you look at Chrissie Wellington vs Mirinda Carfrae, both ran similar time but with radically different form. Same with Mark Allen and Dave Scott.
FWIW; I have a run cadence very similar to yours (and a big back kick even at training pace), 155 (going up slightly at faster efforts) and have an extensive running background (35 years, Div1 Track/XC).
sorry. Yeah. I don’t know where I got the 195 from. I’ll blame it on my bad contacts, and 51 yo eyes.
It’s low. I believe in high cadence. Especially if you want to run faster. To put it in perspective, this past weekend, I ran 1:15:30 off the bike with a cadence of 184 and stride length of 1.51. My cadence increases as I run faster in open races.
You spend less time on the ground with a faster cadence