Welllll.... don't get exasperated with me, Lee, but it seems like you're descriping a kind of "loping gait", involving excessive vertical bounce which translates to wasted energy and unnecessary impact. And in the barefoot framework, you're quite possibly adding the dreaded "push-off" into the mix.
But if you're running happy and free and feel fit and fine, then that's all that counts!
Thanks Willie, good things to be aware of. I only get exasperated with sterile debates in which one or both sides bring preconceived notions and/or agendas and refuse to consider the opinion, or whatever evidence, the other side proferrs
. Constructive comments or criticisms are always welcome, and that seems to be the general tone of this site/society.
I'm about ready to head out for my run, so I'll try to proprioceive bounce and push-off as you suggest. I'm pretty sure I don't 'bounce' because I check myself out in store windows once in a while. Push-off will be harder to objectively observe, but the fact that I don't get abrasions is a good sign, right?
In any case, I think it's important to keep pace in mind with any sort of evaluation of cadence. At a bit over 6'1", and with fairly strong legs, I think my 162-4 stride rate may be perfectly normal for 10mm pace, which is my slow pace on smooth, flat surfaces. By 7mm or 7:30 mm my cadence picks up to 180, and so presumably it would be in the 190-200 range if I approximated elite marathoners' pace. So I don't think it's out of line to assume that if my form is fine once I hit the magic number of 180 at 7mm pace, that it's probably OK at 10mm and that lower cadence is an effect of lower pace and not of deteriorating form at slower paces. This also jibes with Hutchinson's data (
http://sweatscience.com/the-problem-with-180-strides-per-minute-some-personal-data/). I'm also pretty sure my cadence picks up on rougher surfaces, which I would take to be a good sign, if true, that I'm making proper, mostly unconscious adjustments. One day I should just go out an check out all the variables, but today's goal is to see if I can maintain 9mm pace for 7 miles, so I don't really want to mess around too much with other stuff. Maybe on Tuesday's run. Thanks for the feedback.
I did find it interesting when I watched Dr. Mark's video again before sending it off to a friend who's trying BFR at my behest, that he states 180 is when everyone achieves peak efficiency. It's interesting, because he's a doctor and so presumably isn't just parroting the misunderstood Daniels quote about 180 being optimal because he happened to observe elite runners with good form at or above this cadence while running twice as fast as your average recreational runner.
Also, I took a peak at RW's BFR site this morning, and there too is a thread on cadence, and it was interesting to observe that a lot of people there subscribes to the 180 rule as dogma, whereas here people either don't subscribe to it, find themselves unconsciously gravitating to it, or have consciously employed it to overcome overstriding or bad form, but that fewer accept it as a hard, fast rule than those over at RW.
I was wondering, do you notice a difference in culture among the barefoot runners at RW from those who participate here, and if so, what are the differences, in your opinion?