Saturday, July 5, 2008

My run form video..


This is a video of me last October about 10 days after the Denver marathon (2:30). This is my run form, not necessarily the correct run form. But I like it.
Arm carriage- I taught myself to carry my arms higher than most. The old rule of thumb (literally) was to scrape your thumbs on your waist band.. I don't feel that is efficient. Arm drive doesn't need to be low and strong if your core is strong. Arm swing helps to counter the weight of your legs swinging, but a strong and stable core will also do this. I like to tell my athletes to "swing your elbows" not your arms.
Spine alignment- Is fairly neutral, you don't want to lean forward, and you don't want your lower back arched either. The key is balance. Sit in to your pelvis and balance the weight of your upper body.
Cadence- Beth listen up.. In the video my cadence is falling in the 94-96 step range. Count your cadence and if you're below 90 then you may want to make an effort to speed it up.
Foot plant- It's tough to see in the video but I am landing very nearly flat footed with almost no heel strike. My body comes forward over my foot and I land midfoot. Heel striking certainly isn't incorrect, it may be perfect for you and for longer races it's good to heel strike a little bit. Landing midfoot does allow for more return energy with out the braking action of the heel strike. If you over stride (low cadence) then your heel can strike out in front of you slowing forward progress. You should try to have your foot land perfectly underneath your body weight.

This was an 8 mile tempo run averaging 5:24 pace. Not a flat route.

4 comments:

Matt said...

Wow. Beth's got clout! Good request nonetheless. Great look at someone flying. HR probably 155.

Educational as usual.

Tea said...

I'm glad I found this post when I did. After years of running, I've trying to find my own more efficient style.
Thanks!

Wayne said...

Hey Lucho, A question about your cadence. I spent a little time working on my cadence some time ago after reading somewhere about 90(ish) being around about "right". Anyway, I went form running at about 70 (I know...a surefire reason why I was destroying my shins) up to about 85-86ish now.

My question is that basically whenever I attempt to hit the 90+ mark, my HR rockets above my typical training limits. So what's more important, keeping my HR within limits or increasing my cadence, or it is possible to do both? I haven't found a way for both as yet...

Lucho said...

Dante-
Nice work in the improvement of your cadence. I think you just need more time until your HR stays down. I would suggest just incorporating small bouts at 90 spm until your HR nears your limit, then relax and back down. 86 steps isn't bad though! Very gradually work on bringing it up but do stick within your HR goals for the run. As you progress to the next period where you are allowed a higher HR it will work better.