12/16 - 12/17/2006 Analysis of Running Form & Long Run

12/16/2006 Analysis of Running Form

I had an excellent opportunity to attend a running form clinic on Saturday. With the beginning of my marathon training coming on very quickly and my duathlon goals next year this clinic couldn't have come at a better time. We spent some time talking about aspects of breathing, balance, running form, and stride during the clinic. We also had our running videotaped, and we followed up with a look at the video. It was so helpful in terms of getting new information, and getting some excellent reminders of simple tips that I had forgotten. (The legs and arms work together, so when you want to pick up the leg speed use your arms to get them moving) As follow up Bob Roncker will be sending us emails with some of the information and tips from the class. I will be re-printing that information in this blog, so that I can find it easily, and most of all not lose it! Everything below in bold are the words of Bob Roncker of Bob Roncker's Running Spot.

Belly breathing as you run. Blow out the candle. Try doing it at different rates - fast and slow. Get accustomed to breathing this way.

Balancing on one leg. Many of you could do it easily on one of your legs. Gradually get to the point whereby you can handily do it for 2:00-3:00 minutes on each leg. You want to feel in control with your balance and you want to experience no strain on your lower leg or hips. This is a great exercise both for developing strength and balance.

After doing this on a flat surface 2:00-3:00, move to something uneven, like a pillow. When you can do it on an uneven surface, go back to the even surface and try it now with your eyes closed. A person who can do this for 2:00 with their eyes closed (flat or uneven surface) will have excellent proprioception and lower leg strength.

12/17/2006 Long Run

With a head full of breathing and form tips I headed out on my run Sunday morning long run. I decided to keep it simple and concentrate on breathing and keeping my upper body in good form. This meant working on the belly breathing, as it says above. This came pretty easy for me. I've been working on my breathing for a while. I find that when I get tired the first thing that goes is my breathing. It becomes ragged and a lot less effective. I'm hoping that the core work and really being aware of the breathing technique will help that out. I thought I had the upper body thing under control, but what I didn't realize was that as I get tired my arms start to flail a bit from side to side. Flail may be a bit of an overstatement, but any side to side movement isn't going to be good especially as I start to put on more miles. I'll need to stay aware and be as efficient as possible in my running if I expect to reach my goals, and more importantly not injure myself. The keys are going to be to keep my arms moving front to back with no side to side motion and keep my shoulders relaxed. I need to keep my hands gripped lightly "like letting a handful of sand fall out of the bottom of your hand" and either turned thumbs up or even slightly out to keep my elbows in tight. I think that is where my problem started as I was getting tired. My right hand started to turn in throwing my elbow out and causing that cross motion.

As for the run? It was unbelievable weather for December. I was in a short sleeve shirt and shorts on a 55 degree morning. It felt so good to get out and run on a morning like this; in fact it felt like a late summer or early fall morning...just outstanding. I ran a great 8.4 mile run.

Avg HR: 165
Peak HR: 240
Min HR: 69
Total Cal: 1083
Time: 1:04.23