So I hopped on the treadmill this morning and was determined to practice all of the things I learned from last night’s Good Form Running Class. I started out by checking my cadence and was shocked to find it in the 140′s. With very little effort, just being more aware of trying to speed it up, I was able to up it into the 160′s. And I kept checking myself every few minutes by counting how many times my left foot stepped down in a 30 second interval (very easy to do on a treadmill) and then multiplying by 4. I would be interested to see myself running with a faster cadence to see if it helped me to land more midfoot.
Next I set out to change my posture. I found out very quickly that while it was easy to reset my posture while running it was hard to keep it relaxed and not hunched forward, especially the closer I got to the end of my 3 mile run. The tip about reaching both arms overhead really worked!
Lastly I tried to focus on my legs acting like they were propelling me on a skateboard to give myself more of a stride behind me instead of jamming my heel down in front of me. This was kind of hard to do, but I think with more practice it will get more natural.
While I am not sure that the treadmill was the best place to try to implement my new “tricks”, I was excited to try the things I learned before I forgot them. I am eager to get outside to practice some more and hoping that I can get away from the common form and get more into good form running to make my running more efficient. Who knows, maybe I’ll even shave some time of my races!!!
4 Comments
I did the GFR clinic at Striders a couple months ago. Making some of the changes felt awkward at first, but within a couple weeks the posture and mid-foot strike came more naturally. Definitely found the clinic to be helpful. Wishing you increased efficiency and good speed!
I have done it as well, twice actually. It can be a little much to implement all at once, so be sure to take your time and ease into each to find the changes that work for you, as well as the ones that do not.
In my 20+ years of running, I had never had my form evaluated until this spring at the Strider GFR clinic. What an amazing program! Once I finally saw myself running, I could see exactly what I needed to work on. Highly recommended.
I did the same thing Angie ~ My first run out I counted my cadence,relaxed my shoulders and ran from the hip like on a skateboard.. WOW what a difference for me.. It felt better to me and now every time I hit the roads I think of my horrible video and implement changes….HAHAHA That was a great clinic…
Hope your having a great summer…