I can swim, I can ride. I am tight in my hips/glutes and I feel stiff as a bourd when compared to a real runner. Can I learn to run better or anm I just doomed?
Running 6 hours/week
riding 14 hours/week
swimmng20k/week
Stiffness in Chicago
Have you tried yoga? Oh wait, you don’t have time…
I’m by no means a “natural runner”. Never have been. But, I do enjoy it. Several years ago I embarked on a quest to learn run technique. Bugged all the kids that ran track and worked at the running store I frequented. Drove 3hrs each way to meet Jeff Galloway and ask him about running technique. Read scores of stuff on the internet. Nearly all sources told me that run technique can’t be learned, and to buy shoes that complement/correct my natural style. This is the view shared by the majority of runners and running stores out there, and is perpetuated largely due to the influence of the running shoe companies. It is also what people want to hear. “I don’t have bad technique because there’s no such thing! I’ll just buy the right shoes”. To a minor extent, this myth has been exacerbated by the truly gifted “natural runners” that come out of Africa, etc. This is complete and utter bunk. Well, sure there are natural runners. But it don’t mean that you can’t learn good technique.
I purchased the Pose video and drill book from Doc Romanov’s website, and studied the form. Did the drills. Ran “Pose”. And it helped. Some. I set a bunch of PR’s and was able to run for a good while without injury. When I did finally succumb to injury, it wasn’t even run related. But still, something felt “off”.
Fairly recently, (2004) I decided that I needed a coach. A real live coach who I could see in the flesh, and who’d be able to make corrections in real time, and actually show me what I was doing. Someone I could build a long-term relationship with. I went back to the Pose website, and was lucky enough to find a coach within just over an hour’s drive. I had a session with him, and he showed me how I had misinterpreted/misapplied the technique. I ran better. During my second session, I had a HUGE breakthrough. I ran “light”. I’m by no means a light guy, and even less so a natural runner. Picture a giraffe on ice skates. A walrus salsa dancing. That’s me running. But dammit, now I’m running LIGHT!
I’m still a far cry from “Pose perfect” and expect that my approach of “perfection” will be along an assymptotic curve - but personal coaching really is helping in a meaningful way.
Go and find yourself a run coach who understands your needs, and who will work with you. That is in my experience, the fastest and most direct way to improve.
Anyways…the common denominator among most success stories in distance running is running fast on a regular basis. There is a way to do this almost everyday w/o hammering the legs.
Couldn’t agree more
Dear Tightness,
This is a question that all most all triathletes should be seeking an answer.
Before coming to multi-sport, I evolved from a very long running regime. This started at age 10, where I ran under 5 minutes for the mile. 8 years later I was ranked #2 in the US for High school 2 milers yada yada yada…
Without giving my full resume on this sight…did I mention that I also ran a national record of 33:47 for 10k at 11?! Anyways…the common denominator among most success stories in distance running is running fast on a regular basis. There is a way to do this almost everyday w/o hammering the legs.
The answer…Strides, pick-ups, Striders or whatever you want to call this… One of the most elementary methods to increase leg turn over, flexibility and speed is doing 15-25 second efforts at the end of nearly all of your easy runs. This is done preferably on grass or another soft surface…is football field.
Over the years 6 times the length of a football field has been the standard for me. As a multi-sport athlete, try the first 2 at half marathon race pace, next 2 at 10k race pace, and the final 2 at 5k race pace. These are not sprints.
Why strides??? Your central nervous system is trained to fire faster. This not only teaches us “not to be slowtwitchers”, but also the rhythm to know what it feels like to run fast.
Combine this with stretching your penguin running trunk and you should be all set!
2 of the programs I have run for has believed heavily in this philosophy. They happen to have some of the best results in the business…you can check out Jesuit High Schools all time list at http://www.jesuittrack.org/jhstop25.html pretty impressive stuff…
Paul
one more thing…as I witnessed with most triathletes, when doing a track or other interval session, we triathletes tend to jump right in the workout w/o stretching or strides…do them and you will get much more out of the workout…any questions??
Plyometrics
.
OK, it’s time to erase my ingnorance - just what are strides? I’ve heard about them but have never seen them described. Places that I can get that information? Also, why on grass/football field?
Think about running the length of a football field, 6-8 times, 2 times a week. These should be fast, not sprinting…maybe acellerate to the 30 yard line, then hold it for the rest, decelerate slightly at the end. Recover and repeat. This is going to help with form, and turnover.
My preference is to do these up a steep hill, recover totally, walk down, do another. Strides are a key component to a successful running program.
Frequency
Core
Flexibility
Technique
2 * Per Day
Off Road
.
If you are thinking about going the running coach route, Coach Bill Leach is a good person to hookup with. Even if for a short period of time he can be pretty helpful with developing your running. I worked with him in a group situation for about 10 weeks and improved my running speed and remained injury free. He used to Coach the Depaul University’s women’s track team, but has since gone out on his own. You probably see him all the time in the Chicago Athlete, but desite the goofy column, he is pretty good. One of the benefits of him is that he is in Chicago and I believe that is where you live. Here is a link to his website www.coachleach.com or bill@coachleach.com Good Luck!
**Khai **,
Do you use running flats to run in? I also ordered the DVD and book to work on my form, I see that Jurgan Zack also swears by the Pose method…
My preference is to do these up a steep hill, recover totally, walk down, do another. Strides are a key component to a successful running program.
It may be better to do the strides downhill instead of up, having the hill work for you as opposed to working against the hill. This approach would recruit more fast twitch muscles. You should be careful of the incline…a gradual downhill would be much better than steep. Too steep and you may pull something.
I agree with the downhill strides, at least for the fastest ones…very gently downhill, though. We used to do these in football practice over a quarter of a decade ago in order to increase 40 yard dash times.
Doing them uphill isn’t a bad idea at all, but, if strength isn’t the problem (usually it isn’t) the downhill strides make your turnover rate faster than the uphill ones.
Please, though, be careful and don’t get carried away too soon. Give your body time to adapt. You’ll know when it is really doing you good when you can begin to REALLY push the speed and, I hate to use this term…run HARD…downhill. It shouldn’t feel hard at all, it just feels like your legs are going crazy-fast…sort of like on a fixed gear bike at a high speed.
I would never suggest running downhill striders to anyone. When you read the training logs of elite runners, they are peppered with hill work – uphill. Many coaches (like Peter Coe) would have their athletes sprint uphills and then would actually drive them back downhill. There may be some who run fast downhills, but not that I can pull out of my head at the moment. When running downhill, many runners lean back, as if to brake themselves, putting stress on the quads…I can’t see how working this would help with form or economy, as this isn’t the appropriate form to learn.
There was an excellent thread on letsrun the other day about Rodgers Rop and some good info on hill work:
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=381864&thread=381864
peter826 wrote: When running downhill, many runners lean back, as if to brake themselves, putting stress on the quads…
You are correct, if the hill is too steep. By all means, if the hill is so steep that you cannot turn your legs over fast enough, causing you lean backwards…don’t do it.
I’m talking about downhill as in 0.5% or 1% grade. It isn’t much. In fact, the crowning slope from the center of the field to the sidelines on a football field is enough slope. Just take an aspirin of downhill medicine, not the whole bottle…
Another coach you might want to look at is Pete Pfitzinger. There’s also a lot of good info on his site.
Another coach you might want to look at is Pete Pfitzinger. There’s also a lot of good info on his site.
Thanks for the link! I was on the Cornell track team with Pfitz, one year behind him. My freshman year, the first time I saw him (he had been doing x-country skiing for a bit), he did a 9:00 two mile on a 220yd indoor dirt track at Yale. I was impressed. Really nice guy, outstanding runner, very intelligent. Brings back some great memories.
Thanks for the link! I was on the Cornell track team with Pfitz, one year behind him. My freshman year, the first time I saw him (he had been doing x-country skiing for a bit), he did a 9:00 two mile on a 220yd indoor dirt track at Yale. I was impressed. Really nice guy, outstanding runner, very intelligent. Brings back some great memories.
Ken Lehner
Ken, that’s awesome. I actually did a consult with Pete in my qwest to break 2:30 in the marathon.
Matt
Many coaches (like Peter Coe) would have their athletes sprint uphills and then would actually drive them back downhill.
Grass or other soft surfaces is what allows you to do these on a daily basis. Take the concrete out lets you keep the energy in.
Keep on Stridin’!