Paul Petch

Coaching – running technique

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had my first meeting with Karen Muller a few weeks back and it was really positive and all about running technique. To be honest, I’ve never really thought about what constitutes the “best” or “optimum” technique, which is silly really seeing as I’ve been riding bikes for many years now and most of what I do naturally is all about technique. All of this stuff you are reading is based on advice and years of experience from Karen Muller so all credit to goes to her fantastic work. If you like what you read and want some advice- visit her website and give her a call.

Ankle strength

Toe tapping improves the range of motion and strengthen ankles. Such strength is important important for the cocking of the foot during recovery and flexing the foot during push off. Another good way to work on these areas is to balance on one foot with your eyes closed……it sounds alot easier than it is. Try it! I’ve also done a bit of Googling and found this great page that explains several other ways to strengthen the ankles. I’m super keen on a wobble board!

Core Strength

I hear more and more about the core as the years go on and it seems that using your core for everything is a good idea. I mean it makes sense as its not only another muscle resource to call upon but engaging the lower abdominal muscles whilst running improves stability and  helps maintain correct posture too.

The tip that Karen passed onto me to build these core muscles is to lie on your back with the knees bent and feet together. With the bottom just off the ground straighten one leg at a time and hold for three seconds whilst keeping hips level throughout. Once this has been mastered you can progress to feet hip width distance apart, and then do 15 lifts per leg with good form.

Thankfully I’m already doing a bit of core work as part of my weekly routine- but I’m keen to do more as it really does help.

Posture

When running these aspects are important to optimise forward momentum as well as conserving energy.

Key points:

• Feet pointing forward in line with knees, hip width apart.
• Hips aligned so you can see your shoe laces.
• Level pelvis by engaging lower abdominals (imagine a fishbowl down there and you want to stop it from spilling).
• Think tall, straight spine, open the chest (like a puppet on a string).
• Level chin & eyes looking ahead approx 10m (prevents lean from waist).

Arm Swing

Arms determine your Running Rhythm.

Key points:

• Relaxed shoulders.
• Arms bent at approximately 90 degrees.
• The bodyline acts as the center. Arms swing forward until your elbow reaches your body & then swing backward until your hands reach your body.
• Relax the hands.
• Arms swing forward in a straight (ish) line, they should not cross over past the nipples.

I must avoid:

• Just swinging the arms forward, this will result in torso leaning backwards.
• Arms swinging across the body, this will cause torso rotation that will lead to energy losses & sore shoulders.
• Clenched Fists – results in a tight body that will hamper your rhythm.

Foot Strike

After watching me run for a while Karen declared that I’m a forefoot striker. It seems that there are two types of runners – like me- a forefoot striker or a heel striker. Forefoot runners often find it tough to fire the Gluteal muscles which are the largest and most effective muscles a runner has. It could also explain alot of the muscle and knee aches and pains that have shown their ugly faces.

I’d been led to believe that heel striking was BAD and I had gone out of my way to not make contact with the heel in my stride. Karen recommended that I adopt a shallow heel strike where I would aim to get my weight onto the forefoot as quickly as possible to utilise the power from elastic recoil in the tendons. I started to think of the contact area of my feet as a ball & transferring the weight via a heel roll action.

Another tip was to avoid lifting the heel high off the ground at the push off point. This will reduce the amount of calf contraction and decreasing tight calf muscles.

Foot Strike Placement

Ideally the feet should land underneath my hips (under your center of gravity) and be moving backwards prior to striking the ground. This will result in light feet that make little noise when they strike the ground.

Cadence

My cadence is 94 steps / minute and we were aiming for around 90 steps per foot at any running speed. Once I start using more of the power in my Gluteal muscles this should settle down to about 90 so currently things are good.

Key points:

• I must focus on short, quick strides.
• Feet should land under my hips.
• Gluteal muscles are powerful hip extensors and good at propelling runners forward.
• Must aim for slight knee bent at foot strike through to push off.
• Having a sore bum after a run IS A GOOD SIGN :)
• Think GLUTES when driving forward

Glutes

I must activate Glutes prior to running using a step up drill (drive up onto a step using Glutes) or a  Glute scuff drill – by walking with a slight knee bend and driving forwards using the Glutes of the support leg, and then progress to a jog. A good idea is to keep the heel on the ground to during this drill to minimize overuse of the calf/achillies.

Key Points:

• Practice firing the Glutes every time you walk up steps.

I must avoid:

• Using the quads to extend the knee.

A few weeks in

So there you have it, my very first coaching session with Karen and what a difference it has made already! Minimising rotation through running with correct arm action has eased a lot of aches and has made me move forward faster.

As for the knee pain- that has decreased to just a niggle now that I’m rolling in on my feet and focusing on placing them inline with my body as they hit the ground. What really stands out though is the last week….which has been my best week yet with nearly 60KM clocked up on my feet….so something is working!

Tomorrow I’m meeting with Karen to discuss my training plan and can’t wait.

Related posts:

1. Running is rather humbling….
2. Taking back control of my running
3. Those aches and pains & how I’m fixing them
4. Trail running in the Port Hills – lessons learnt
5. Downhill running technique

This entry was posted on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 7:17 pm and is filed under Thoughts & Training and tagged with coach, karen muller, kepler challenge, ultra trail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.