To Change or Not to Change

When I first started running, I didn’t give much thought to “proper” running form. I didn’t even know there was such a thing, I just put one foot in front of the other and ran.

Later, when I really got into running as my sport, I listened to a podcast about running form and that we should basically not worry about it. The point was that trying to change how we naturally run can lead to injury.

I took that to heart, and didn’t try to change anything about my form and just ran how I ran.

I do think that for the majority of us (regular runners) we don’t need to obsess over our form.

But I no longer think there is zero work to be done. I’ve been experimenting a bit with tweaking my form, and I am finding that it IS helping my running.

For me, it’s been trying to up my cadence by turning my legs over more quickly. I have found that I have generally gotten faster and my legs don’t tire as fast on a long run.

I’ve also changed my stride by keeping my leg under my hips, instead of stretching out my leg in front of me.

Do You Need a Change

If you find that you are successful in your running…you are hitting paces, generally improving, you aren’t overly fatigued during or after a run and you aren’t getting injured…then don’t mess up a good thing!

While some improvements can probably be made, don’t focus too much on trying to make huge alterations.

Those of you who may be finding that you’re sore or injury prone, testing out a few changes to your form may help you. You may also learn to run a little more efficiently, which can help you expend less energy and therefore feel a bit less fatigued during or after a run.

Areas to Look At-

Breathing

An area that is often overlooked when talking about form is breathing. In coaching my husband, I have to tell him to relax all the time.

He sometimes has a hard time getting enough oxygen, which then causes his form to suffer and he ends up running really tense.

How you breathe is a very personal thing. There are different patterns that are recommended, but if you have to think about breathing too much then other things can break down.

The best advice I can give is to relax. Breathe all the way in and relax your muscles as you breathe out.

If you want to try some breathing patterns, you can do a 2:2- in through the mouth and nose for 2 steps, out through the mouth and nose for 2 steps…a 3:2 pattern- breathing in for 3 steps and out for 2 or the flip side of that, a 2:3…in for 2, out for 3.

If you find a particular pattern feels good to you, practice that until it becomes 2nd nature.

Cadence

What about cadence….cadence being how many times your feet hit the ground in a minute?

A common number used for cadence is 180. The claim is that elite runners are usually in this neighborhood and if you want to get faster you need to try and hit this number.

The data comes from an observation Jack Daniels (the running coach and exercise scientist) made during the 1984 Olympics.

He counted the steps of the competitors. Most of them ran in the 180 steps per minute neighborhood.

For those of us mere mortals, our cadence has been shown to be between 150-170.

So If you have a running watch (such as an Apple Watch or Garmin) you can see your cadence after a run.

If you don’t have a watch, you can count how many times your right foot hits the ground in a minute and double that to find your number.

There is a lot of discussion among coaches and others that cadence doesn’t matter so much,…and some that say it does.

I find that a lot in researching running. There are differences of opinion with almost any topic. What that says to me is everyone is different. While we can hone in on trends or pieces of wisdom, not everything is going to apply to every body.

Most fall in the middle and the conclusion seems to be that upping your cadence can improve your speed and decrease injuries.

According to the Runners Connect website, runners whose cadence is less than 160 are problaby over-striding.

Which means their front foot is landing ahead of them. This forces the body to put on the brakes before being able to get moving again. Doing that over and over can lead to injuries.

So all that being said, what if you want to see if you can up your cadence?

Upping Your Cadence

There are a few things you can do to train your feet to move and turnover faster.

First off, try some strides at the end of a run. Speed up for about 20 seconds and go fast, while keeping the front leg slightly bent and under your center of gravity.

Don’t lock out your leg in front of you as you run. Swing your arms quicker, keeping your elbow closer to your body. Practice having your hands brush the top of whatever you are wearing on your lower body.

During a regular training run, concentrate on your feet and try to make them turn over faster while counting. If your cadence is at 150, don’t try to get to 180!

Go for just a few more steps, like between 155-158 per minute, and up the steps when you reach a cadence of 158, which will take as long as it takes.

I am finding that as I train myself at a higher cadence I am definitely getting an increase in speed.

One note on beginners, if you are just starting out, your body will naturally work out form so don’t spend a ton of time trying to get it perfect.

Just learn the basics of running and try to improve from there. You will know after a bit if you need to tweak any form issues.

Good Running Posture

Since we all do a lot of sitting, we tend to be hunched.

I know myself from years of hunching that trying to execute good posture actually hurts.

I try to run with better posture than what I exibit in normal life. I find that I feel more energized when I am trying to run tall.

I’ve heard it described as thinking of a thread on the top of your head that is connected to the sky. You should be leaning into the run from the hips a bit, though, not stick straight. Be sure you are hinged at the hips, not hunched from the shoulders.

One thing that I can not do is look forward when I run, which is probably to my detriment. But since I have been looking at the ground when I walk or run for almost 54 years, when I try to look ahead or around me I will invariably trip.

I once fell over a twig on the sidewalk.

Now, this means I have run and walked into poles, but I’ll take that over breaking a leg or arm from falling.

My husband always looks around him as he walks and runs, and so he is really good at keeping his eyes forward, which is what is recommended.

He also notices a lot more on a run!

Loose Hands

The one thing I can do that he struggles with is keeping the hands loose.

In my RRCA coaches training, they likened it to holding a single potato chip or a bag of chips in your hand that you are not supposed to crush.

I am able to keep my hands loose, Dave clenches his fists for dear life. I’m always telling him to relax his hands. If your hands are relaxed, you are less likely to be running with tensed shoulders, jaws and neck.

Don’t Obsess to Injury

There is a lot more to running form correction, but most of us recreational runners are better off running naturally and tweaking or correcting some form issues as we notice deficiencies when we have been running for a bit.

Trying to change everything about our form, especially all at once, can lead to injuries.

For starters, notice if you are running with your front foot landing in front of you and work on getting that foot closer to underneath you with your knee bent, not locked out. That will go a long way to helping prevent injuries.

If you have any specific questions about your running form, email me at sherry@wrinkledrunner.com and lets see what we can do.