It's some more words of wisdom from Bob Roncker. It was passed to me from him, and I pass it on to you grasshopper. Before we get to the words of wisdom I have some personal thoughts first. I've been consciously slowing down my my workout routine recently to take a bit of a break before I hit it hard in January. It has been weird and hard. As hard as it is for some people to start a workout routine and get going it seems to be just as hard to rest and take a break when you've been in a pretty steady routine for almost a year. I'm feeling a little edgy and everyday that I don't run, ride or workout I feel like I'm missing out. It's like unfinished business and I hate unfinished business. At the same time I can feel the pull of laziness. In the early morning when I would normally get up to run or go to the gym I roll over and think "I could get used to this." The truth is I couldn't get used to it. Even if I did let myself slide it would lead to some minor depression, the inevitable weight gain, junk food, self loathing, and general shittiness. So, let's skip all of that nonsense and try to relax and enjoy the break. I am excited about beginning some hardcore marathon and duathlon training, and that, my friends, is a good thing.
In the meantime let's get some learnin'... Review: (Lesson 1, Lesson 2)
In my mind one of the goals of the Running Form Session was for you to become more aware of your current running form and to understand what you can do to help you run more efficiently. Running more efficiently enables you to go farther or faster with the same effort and it helps reduce overuse injuries.
What does a running stride consist of? Here is a description that I recently read. “A running stride is a complete cycle of motion consisting of a period of weight-bearing or support on one foot, followed by a period of non-weight-bearing or ‘float,’ then a period of weight –bearing on the other foot and another period of float.”
As mentioned in the last letter, speed is a factor of:
a. Stride length
b. Stride turnover
Arms:
The arms certainly affect the rotation of the upper body. Since running is essentially a forward motion, we want to avoid anything that produces a side-to-side-sway. The arms affect each of the above components.
a. Sway reduces the forward thrust, thus reducing the stride length.
Visualization – Imagine the thrust of a jet plane as it takes off. I certainly would not want to be on a jet that was swaying back and forth down the runway.
To help maintain this forward propulsion the arms should freely swing at the shoulder. For many individuals it looks as if their upper body is in a cast. The following exercise helps reinforce the arm swinging at the shoulder.
Exercise - Stand up and let your arms hang straight down at your sides. Then, begin to alternately swing them without bending at the elbow. First, swing each of your hands above your head; then lower it to your forehead, next to neck height, finally, to chest level.
This gets you used to having the arms freely swinging from the shoulders. So many people look as if they are in a body cast. However, keeping the arms straight is fine for the above exercise, but that is not the way you want it to be when you run.
b. The legs move in unison with the arms. Speed up the arms and you increase the leg turnover.
The elbows should never be locked. This affects the speed of movement. The angle at the elbow should be constantly changing. Practice the following exercise, perhaps in front of a mirror before you go out for your next run.
Exercise – Imagine that your right hand is a hammer and you are pounding a nail that is sticking out from your left hand. Notice the movement of the arms at the elbow. That’s what you want to have happening as you run.
When you bend your elbow, you shorten the length of your arm. Your arm acts as a pendulum. A shorter pendulum is a faster pendulum. See what it feels like with a shorter pendulum and arms freely moving back and forth.
Take care.
Bob
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