Running Through My Head...

Recently, I was talking with two fellow triathletes separately about running techniques. Both are engineers like me so we tend to geek out on numbers and we tend to dwell on proper techniques. I had started writing this post a while ago but the two conversations helped me get this one done since I only needed to do some minor tweaks. After several of my morning runs, I would add notes of what was going through my head during the run. I do self-checks as I'm running on the items discussed below; that is, if I don't "zone out".

Side note: Anyone that runs with me knows how easily I tend to zone out! I usually don't hear or feel a thing since my mind is floating somewhere out in space - a runner's high I suppose. Perfect example: during a run on the neutral ground along St. Charles Avenue here in New Orleans, I was running head-on towards a street car that I did not even hear or see! Yes, I was playing chicken with the street car! The street car had to stop and wait for me to get out of the way. My run group had been yelling at me probably 4 or 5 times to get out of the way! As I moved out of the way, I waved to the driver who did NOT have a smile on his face! :) I tend to zone out a lot on the run and long bike rides so I'm always wearing my RoadID, "It's who I am"! For those of you not from New Orleans, the neutral ground is simply a median. 

The list below is how I understand things and I applied them to my running. The list is not in any order of importance because, to me, they are all important! Hopefully, all of the info is 100% correct. I'm not an expert by any means so just go do web searches or even go look up YouTube videos to get info from people far smarter than me!

• "Run proud!" Run having your chest out and your head up. Imagine a string attached to your chest pulling you forward and a string attached to the top of your head pulling up! Look forward down the street. As I start to get tired, I start to look down towards the ground closer to me. So I check myself every so often and start looking down the street. 
• Lean forward from your ankles. Don't bend or lean from your hips. I use to lean over at my hips since I didn't know any better. Leaning forward helps you speed up since gravity is helping you - free speed! It is easier for me to lean forward when I am running fast. As I get tired, I tend to run more vertical so I have to think about leaning forward.
• Keep your shoulders relaxed. This helps you to not waste energy. Obviously, this helps for very long runs. You'd be surprised how often you may find yourself shrugging your shoulders.
• Keep your arms up but relaxed. Swing them forward and backwards.  Do not swing them across your body. Keep your elbows at 90 degrees. Swing your arms to match your run cadence. When I start to get tired, my arms tend to drop where my hands swing closer to my hips.
• Try to run at a cadence of 90 RPM (that's 180 total steps per minutes or 90 steps per leg). Running at a high cadence helps reduce leg fatigue. As I get tired, my run cadence starts to slowly drop. Sometimes, I have to work hard at getting it back up to 90 RPM. Oddly, if I run at my 5K pace or when I'm doing speed work, I naturally run at a cadence of 95 without even having to think about it. Once I started to work on my cadence, I purchased a Garmin Foot Pod so I didn't have to count my steps to determine my cadence. Yes, I'm lazy! So now I only have to look at my Garmin running watch and not count. If you don't want to geek out and use a foot pod like me, just count how many times one of your feet touches the ground for 20 seconds.  Shoot for 30 steps in 20 minutes (that'll be 90 steps in minute).
• If you are currently running at a slow cadence, going to 90 RPM will feel like you are taking baby steps! Try to get up to 90 RPM regardless of the pace you are running. Last year, I was running at a cadence of 75 to 80 so going to 90 felt very weird. My bike cadence was also around 75 RPM. Your body starts to use the same cadence for both the bike and run. After working hard on this over the winter and spring, I now have both at roughly 90. I tend to average about 88 RPM on long bike rides and runs.
• As you get tired, your run cadence may start to slow down as it happens to me. So, just start to swing arms a little faster - your feet will follow!
• Do not heel strike! Heel striking is like hitting the brakes on your car. You slow down and lose momentum. Plus you have a higher chance of injury since your leg is usually straight so you get higher impact loading. I use to run this way and my knees and shins use to hurt often. If you are heel striking, your stride may be too long. High cadence helps shorten your stride length and makes mid-foot striking easier.
• Work on landing mid-foot. Your foot should land slightly in front of your body (or center of mass for us geeky engineers). I've also heard/read to land your foot directly underneath your body but I'm more comfortable at a hair in front of my body. Landing mid-foot helps keep your knee slightly bent so your leg acts like a shock absorber! Less impact loading so lower chance of injury!
• As your leg is swinging forward, pull your knee forward. This helps you have "high knees". This also helps me keep my cadence up - especially as I get tired. When swinging your leg forward, pay attention that your lower leg is horizontal. This uses less energy than if your foot is closer to ground (i.e., longer pendulum arm). I still don't do this well and I'm currently working on this! The idea here is that your legs look like the number 4! For me, this is easier at faster run paces. When I'm running at slower paces, it is hard for the legs to look like the number 4. At slower paces, I'm shuffling my feet more since I'm aiming for a 90 RPM cadence.
• Cut down on your vertical motion. Many runners tend to hop way too much. I worked on it by picking an object up ahead and try to keep my body/head from moving up and down too much. You will move up and down but minimizing it helps. Why waste energy going up and down when what you want to do is move forward! Toeing off helps with this.
• Push off your toes with your back foot. Toeing off helps me lift my back foot higher so when I pull my knee forward, my leg is higher. Plus, this helps propel you forward so your stride lengthens a little more. Also, it helps minimize your vertical motion.
• Run like a ninja! Listen to your footsteps. Try to be as quite as possible. If you are landing mid-foot, the sound will be low.
• During races or hard workouts, I check the pressure in my legs. Yeah, sounds silly doesn't it? What I mean is that when I'm running at 5K or 10K pace, I get this feeling in my legs as if they are tightening up (or pressured up). Once I get to a "comfortable uncomfortable" pace I can handle, I take note of the pain/pressure in my legs. As the race goes on, we all have a tendency to let up a little so we run at a comfy pace. So from time to time, I just check to see if I have the same uncomfortable feeling in my leg. If I don't, I just pick up the pace until I get it. This also helps me better maintain my pace in races or hard workouts.
• I visualize myself running like Craig "Crowie" Alexander. I like his running style. Go check out videos of Crowie and even Miranda "Rinny" Carfrae; both have excellent running form. I LOVE Rinny's running form! I DVR'd NBC's broadcast of the 2011 Ironman Kona World Championship - the year Rinny won her 1st world championship. They showed her running a lot! :) I kept rewinding the broadcast to study her form -- her running form that is... Oh, by the way, I still think she picked the wrong "T.O."!!! :)

Yes, I think about most, if not all, of these things during all of my runs. It is good to work on your running technique often so that it becomes habit. With proper running technique, your running form won't break down as much when you start getting tired during long runs or races. Now, go practice good running form!