May 24th, 2010
As you guys know, I’m always trying to improve my running form, or at least, I go through periods where I pay concerted effort to certain things that bother me, usually after I see a new ugly race photo. Right now, the core work I’m doing is paying off – it seems like the corrections I make on my back while running are less A to Z, and now more like A to J. Getting closer anyway.
One thing that has always bugged me about the way I run is my gait, which I used to call my heel-striking, but to be honest, the heel strike itself isn’t the concern anymore, since many an Elite heel strikes and I don’t get any injuries from doing it. What does bother me greatly though, is this:
That straight leg is an constant irritation though I’ve tried a few methods to keep it from happening, like cadence training (maybe because I’m short, I can go 180 bpm and still have that stupid leg) or trying to run forefoot or at least more midfoot, but that’s something you can easily think you’re doing without actually succeeding.
This morning, however, I read a few things in a fantastic blog called The Science of Running that made me think about the issue in a different light. Specifically, in one article where he talks about running form and a cue to running more forefoot is to think of striking behind you. Another article had something fascinating about pawback, talking about the difference in how long a heel-striker’s foot will stay on the ground and that you really don’t want any pawback (I’d never heard it put this way). You want the leg to come down, touch and go again.
So I took it to the road this morning and discovered that these two ideas are a powerful combination and could be the key to me finally getting the gait I dream of, or least tamp down my current one.
I started with the idea of striking behind my body, which was major. That combined with the upright core was a new and different feeling, like I was running on hot coals, very quick and light. To contrast, I ran my usual way and boy, drag city!
I never realized how much ground time I have per step with my usual running gait. The feeling I got when reverting to the “normal” way, was that I was pulling myself forward or hoisting myself along a rope (land, pull, land, pull), whereas when I ran focusing on my feet behind me and no pawback, it was a thoroughly more vertical feeling, almost like Pose technique looks. Very exciting! This just might be the answer to my noob gait.
Doodads
Weekend running catchup – nothing wild, easy 9 and 13, bringing the week to 59.5 (I took Tuesday off).
Good stuff on the financial front! Got picked for 2 new medical voiceover projects (which means a few sessions each) and today I did a commercial in the morning and am on my way now to a medical VO…love those doubles. Plus, Google is finally giving some of my money sites some love, so that’s picking up too. I’m in a good mood today! 
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i’m a heel striker too and it’s interesting about the ground time idea. i’ve always tried to do the “hot coals” idea of running and i totally do feel a difference in the way it feels (definitely light and nice) but i always tend to revert back to my old ways. probably something that will just take focus and mindfulness but i like to zone out on my runs. i’ll try out the striking behind the body on my next run though
Oh I love it when you share how happy you are and all the excellent things going on in your life. Here is to making many more days like this one!
Interesting. Didn’t you attend that “You Should Run Pose” get together that one time? Should be interesting to see if you think it helps you long term. Running form and gait are probably the only things I don’t pay attention to. I am still trying to get a mental image of this “pawback” you speak of.
Great news on the gigs!
you sure seemed chipper today
Zab, I’m not at all into Pose technique but there was something about my stride today that felt more compact and reminiscent of it. Pawback is how your foot comes through to push back on the ground. Think about it next time you’re out, how your foot sticks to the pavement from landing to pushoff, it’s interesting to notice specifics like that.
Linds, I was, it was fun messing around with this “discovery”. I was also pleased as hell to finally identify the correct twin.
Great to hear everything is going good for you
Lin told me about the helmet differential lol it’s just that simple
That blog is great value Flo. I’ve been thinking about the elite runners that heel-strike, or at least touch heel first. I think it’s a ‘chicken thing’, rather than an ‘egg thing’. They’re running fast, so the ground contact time is small proportion of their stride. In spite of heel-striking, they still have a short contact time compared to slower runners who heel-strike. The very fastest runners usually mid or fore-foot strike, and their ground contact time is very short!
I think it’s worthwhile trying to improve your form (if you do it carefully, so as not to cause injuries). It could be worth 30 seconds over 5k. Doing uphill repeats might be useful. It’s hard to have a straight front leg and heel-strike when running up the right gradient of hill. Anyway, sorry to ramble on!
Interesting point, I could believe that. The study they did on Elites heel-striking started at some whopping percent out of 253 runners but when they narrowed it to the 50 fastest, that number dropped considerably. True about the uphill repeats, you can’t straighten your leg doing them. I was very pleased to feel the difference just by having those mental cues, so we’ll see if it begins to stick with some persistence.
Hey GIM -
Great blog as usual. (Sadly, I can’t think of any annoying questions today…)
I too have been changing my stride over the past 2 months (switching from heel to midfoot). I have developed a new set of niggles (none serious) and have felt like I’m pulling with my quads in a new way (pulling directly backward in the horizontal plane after pawing back) and so there is a new type of strength to develop.
Anyway, I feel faster, and I’m hoping this will get me past my plateau.
Magness’s blog is one of the best things out there isn’t it?
Cheers!
- rovatti
Cheers to you, too! Very cool to hear you’ve been working on form as well and having good results from it. I’m fully expecting some niggles since we’re putting the load in different places. Pooh on the plateau, hope this does the trick, sounds like it certainly will!
Excellent post, and it will be interesting to see how form changes affect your training & racing. You need to be careful about getting so efficient that you find yourself gravitating back to marathon training. Heaven forbid!
The day 3:05 is a shoe-in, I might reconsider.
I’m not going to say anything about your gait, POSE, heel striking or really anything productive. Just wanted to say “nice legs”! Keep it up Flo. Oh what the hell, actually it’s great to see that you are finding improvement in your mechanics, Google’s giving you some love and that you are in a good mood. You deserve it!
Hi Flo. I’m also a form-fiddler as you know, and I don’t visit that science blog nearly often enough. Thanks for the tip. I’ve often wondered about the difference between the way the foot-landing feels and the way it looks in photos. Perhaps quite a lot goes on in the last instant in terms of knee and ankle flex.
I was just thinking about that on my run today, about how you really can’t feel where you land (which was also confirmed on Magness’s blog, he says nobody really can tell). I think that might be due to the shoe cushioning and also because even if you do heel strike, it’s the forefoot that pulls through and gets the most “quality time” with the pavement. Then again, maybe a lot of folks appear to be heel-striking but as you mention about a lot going on, right themselves before actually doing it. That’s why I’m trying to think of it as less of a heel-striking problem than one of overstriding.