Don't shorten your stride!
- Thread starter Barefoot Gentile
- Start date
Cool, I'll probably spend at least another few months mindlessly running while I build up conditioning, and then when I feel like I have a reasonable base of, say, seven miles in an hour, I'll start exploring technique.
Or perhaps I'll dedicate one day a week on interval training (I run 3x per week) in which I try to up my cadence and speed, using the knee-drive and other suggestions proposed in this thread and other places. On the other days I could stick to one day hills and one day long and slow, still running without much thought. Do you think this sort of routine would be viable, or should the attempt at a new technique be all-in?
i was able to read through this post last night and i'm glad i did. i've been doing maf training for a few months now and have only recently since march upped my speed. thanks to everyone here debating what works i remembered something i learned on another forum. bf gentile and a few others are part of it so maybe they can expand on this since i don't have the time. that is if anyone is curious.
basically it's allowing your hips to do all the work. the guys there termed it "salsa hips". since i'm latin i really swung my hips and found that didn't work well for me. with playing and time i figured it out and when i was good and warmed up today, and not running uphill, i remembered to let my hips do the work. activate your glutes and allow them to pull your foot of the ground. i don't know my cadence or anything but i can tell you it sure was easier running like this. i've been using such short strides and such a low cadence to keep in my maf zone.
basically it's allowing your hips to do all the work. the guys there termed it "salsa hips". since i'm latin i really swung my hips and found that didn't work well for me. with playing and time i figured it out and when i was good and warmed up today, and not running uphill, i remembered to let my hips do the work. activate your glutes and allow them to pull your foot of the ground. i don't know my cadence or anything but i can tell you it sure was easier running like this. i've been using such short strides and such a low cadence to keep in my maf zone.
NickW
Guest
Not sure what your saying exactly Mike. Maybe we will have to go running sometime and you can show me. That is if you don't mind a short run with a mile walk at the end of it.
Does anyone actually count their cadence????
If I try to focus on minute details like this I have a hard time running relaxed. My basic strategy is this
1) Run relaxed (don't fight your body)
2) Bend the Knees - this should lead to lifting the foot (instead of pushing off)
At most I will pick one more aspect of form to think about while I run. Anyway, back to stride length - its not like you have to try and shorten it. It is a natural consequence of bending your knee so your foot lands under your body. Heel striking leads to long strides where your foot lands well in front of your center of mass (which acts like a brake which opposes forward motion and transmits force up your rigid leg).
If I try to focus on minute details like this I have a hard time running relaxed. My basic strategy is this
1) Run relaxed (don't fight your body)
2) Bend the Knees - this should lead to lifting the foot (instead of pushing off)
At most I will pick one more aspect of form to think about while I run. Anyway, back to stride length - its not like you have to try and shorten it. It is a natural consequence of bending your knee so your foot lands under your body. Heel striking leads to long strides where your foot lands well in front of your center of mass (which acts like a brake which opposes forward motion and transmits force up your rigid leg).
I'm a bean counter too. I spent 3 months running with 4 separate playlists where I had changed all of the cadences of the music to correspond with the BPM I was trying to run at (170,180,190,200). This was when I was trying to figure out a good range for myself and refine my running form to keep from getting injured. I settled in around 190-195 and then tossed the playlists.
While many people are posting here about just running in a way that feels good and don't sweat the details, I'm definitely a sweat the small stuff kind of guy and a bit of a nerdo, so reading about these things and trying different styles and forms is part of the allure for me. I've read a bunch of books on form and have tried many of them and found ways that worked for me. One of the things I think we have to overcome here is that it is unlikely that just tossing the shoes is going to immediately get people running in ways that are optimum and good for the joints and bones. I've heard 3 stories this week about folks who start running barefoot and gave themselves stress fractures and quit BFR.
I'm not saying that everyone has to spend 6 months screwing around with form and trying very very minor tweaks to the way they run like I did, but I do think that some advice on how to land and absorb the shock of the landing is helpful to most beginners, right? Otherwise we get Keith Olbermann as our advocate to the masses after he stomps out the front door in VFFs.
http://birthdayshoes.com/keith-olbermann-has-stress-fracture-running-in-fivefingers
While many people are posting here about just running in a way that feels good and don't sweat the details, I'm definitely a sweat the small stuff kind of guy and a bit of a nerdo, so reading about these things and trying different styles and forms is part of the allure for me. I've read a bunch of books on form and have tried many of them and found ways that worked for me. One of the things I think we have to overcome here is that it is unlikely that just tossing the shoes is going to immediately get people running in ways that are optimum and good for the joints and bones. I've heard 3 stories this week about folks who start running barefoot and gave themselves stress fractures and quit BFR.
I'm not saying that everyone has to spend 6 months screwing around with form and trying very very minor tweaks to the way they run like I did, but I do think that some advice on how to land and absorb the shock of the landing is helpful to most beginners, right? Otherwise we get Keith Olbermann as our advocate to the masses after he stomps out the front door in VFFs.
http://birthdayshoes.com/keith-olbermann-has-stress-fracture-running-in-fivefingers
Hrmm, weird. It won't let me upload my other .pdf to go along with it. Oh well. I was introduced to these articles in one of my undergraduate biomechanics classes. During one of the labs everyone ran on a treadmill and we measured their stride rate and stride length. I as a BFR had the shortest SL and quickest SR 
Thanks, and I do appreciate the camaraderie of this forum, the only one I participate in (although I also like to post comments on Jason's blog). But I think I'd like to work on things a bit more before opening myself up to public scrutiny. If I continue to make progress, I should be in decent shape by the end of the summer. I started getting back into shape in 2010 when I returned from six and a half years doing fieldwork in Mozambique, where I got pretty out of shape for the first time in my life. (The last two years were spent mostly driving around to villages and sitting for interviews while eating fried starch and drinking sickly sweet tea.) I've only been exercising consistently since last fall, and have only begun to be able to push it a bit since March. Right now I'm running 10-minute miles, up to 5-6 miles. At that pace, my legs barely kick up. But when I try the knee drive, I get going too fast and get winded, even though it feels like better form. So I don't think I've yet achieved a good, fundamental base from which to improve. I'm still working to establish a decent base. Once I have that, I'm going to work on running form, for the first time in my life. If you think it's a mistake to hold off though, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.
I'd love to Erik. I was a Personal Trainer for many years and gait assessment was a big part of what I did.
Hah, just read the rest of those. I'll throw on a button cam so he doesn't know I'm filming
Cool, I could run at my current pace/gait, and then at the pace/gait I think is better form (but which I'm currently unable to sustain), and see what you think.
I did once years ago when I first started running barefoot, but that was it. It's really a useless piece of information to dwell on actually, and once you start making running into a math project it sucks the joy right out of running, which is the simplest form of movement that a human can do.
I find knowing cadence valuable information for a runner. Especially injured ones or those just beginning to do the activity. Of course anything taken out of context of intended purpose could suck the joy out of running for someone.
I use a metronome periodically, which I match to my existing cadence (to see what it is) and then use as an auditory guide to increase it and get my brain to remember what that number feels like -so that I don't have to run with a loud beeping thing and annoying everyone around me. Lol.
Support Your Club
Forum statistics
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
Get Your 2024 Wildwood Barefoot Country Music Fest Tickets Here- Latest: stjohnthegambler