4. Stride rate is the key to successful running

The forward lean in running is free speed, but the high stride rate, turnover or cadence really is the most important aspect of successful running. The less the amount of time, per foot strike, your foot can be on the ground, the less strength is required, the less fatigue is accumulated & the less eccentric micro tearing in the leg muscles takes place. A hallmark of champion distance runners is a stride rate of over 180 steps per minute – some as high as 208! Count your cadence by counting the number of foot strikes you achieve with one foot in 15sec & then multiply that by 4. This will give you a single leg turnover. The minimum number you are striving for is 23 (or 92 steps per foot per minute, which is 184 for both feet). Your length, leg length or gender is irrelevant. Lastly, do not simply try to move up your cadence by moving your legs faster; this may lead to injury & may not improve performance. Do this by leaning slightly forward from the ankle, staying tall through the hips, bending your elbows 90*, (till you could hold a pebble in the crook of your elbow & not drop it for the duration of the run), punching your elbows rearward slightly &, most importantly, pushing your foot to the ground, (but NOT while on the ground). Do this rather than launching up into the air (pushing off) & dropping to the ground – a recipe for injury, fatigue & poor performance.

Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports
www.BobbyMcGee.com

Mastering downhill running

Been in Tucson helping with run mechanics & sport psychology for age group triathletes & doing some sagging up Mount Lemmon – now that’s a cool ride & probably a monster run. Camps are the way to go if you come from colder winter climes to jumpstart your season. Tucson is literally swamped with athletes of every kind at this time of year & besides opportunities to train swim, bike & run, there’s tons to do & GREAT places to eat. This year the weather has not played ball – cold & wet, but after what’s been going on weather-wise in Boulder & back east, there are no complaints.
Then we have a new world champion! Simon Martin, a friend & regular who attends drills & with whom I work on some scheduling & advice, won the world masters cross country title in Canada recently & made the final in both the 3000m & the 1500m – indoors. Congrats Simon!
Then we have another client/friend, who dived into BFR sans boots-and-all & then owned up to getting a stress fracture shortly afterwards! There were however some extenuating circumstances, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt…; speedy recovery Simon (another Simon).
This week I am delving into downhill running. There’s so much to say about this topic & so many struggle to gain the full advantage of gravity in races. 1stly I used to agree that “letting go” was a good idea in short races, but now I think down hills need to be “run” to gain full advantage. It helps to push the arms out a little wider during descents for balance & stability & also to open the elbow angle somewhat, lengthening the arm lever to keep the kinetic chain intact while taking longer strides. BUT I THINK A HIGHER STRIDE RATE IS THE ANSWER – this provides more control & less fatigue.
Lean off the line of gravity as the vertical, rather than off 90* being vertical on the level.
Mid foot strikers are able to brake with the foot & shoe, while heel strikers have to control descents with the shin (decelerating the lowering of the forefoot) & quad. This accelerated eccentric contraction massively fatigues the legs & does micro damage as well. Some studies have shown for example that some 70% of quad power is lost in the 1st 6 miles of the Boston Marathon due to the extreme nature of that descent. Heel strikers tend to step out from a slope & therefore “fall” much further to impact, while a good mid foot runner (still putting the heel down after the mid foot or at the same time), steps down the hill, a more kinesthetic move, with far less quad demand & dissipation requirements.
I remember in the 90s when I was running altitude camps for Olympic hopefuls in South Africa how we used to encourage the athletes to keep their heart rates up on descents by running down as hard as they could. Just this weekend some top long course triathlon pros were telling me how high they got their heart rates when descending on the bike – working against resistance down the hills to attain maximum speed.
Now, unlike the bike, bad form/lack of skill when running down can be ruinous to back, knees, shins & quads. To become a master runner on the downs requires an assessment of your current ability – do others kick your butt on the downs & are you really uncomfortable when running down & are you really beat up afterwards? If so assess your foot strike, body alignment & the other factors I have mentioned. Then practice in a number of ways – strengthen your legs through progressively building eccentric strength with lunges, squats, static & then linear plyometrics like hops & bounds. Then gradually, with short duration, shallow, well-cushioned (read grass) hills slowly develop both your technique & functional strength. Add one progressively longer run per week on a course that goes predominantly up on the way out & down on the way back. Eventually run some unidirectional runs; some faster & others longer, downhill. Progression rates with this skill & conditioning will be slower than for normal running as is indicated by the fact that a taper for a race with a lot of downhill running requires about a week longer to taper effectively.
So learn to actually run downhill rather than hang on & survive – turn descents into a weapon in your arsenal.
Till next time.
Bobby McGee
http://www.bobbymcgee.com/

PS: My new DVD on running form & run drills (with plenty of extras) is now available, either order from my website (www.BobbyMcGee.com) or from Endurance Films at www.endurancefilms.com

Cracking the tough nuts who CANNOT get their cadence up

Those of you that know my mechanics methodology will recall that I insist that an increased cadence should not be sought as a primary objective, but should rather be a result of the forward lean & the unloaded downward application of force, until the foot hits the surface. Thereafter loading takes place as momentum causes the pelvis to continue forward, but the foot is grounded & the psoas, hip & soleus, & associated tendons & ligaments load elastically. While this is still completely correct in my estimation – I have the hardest time teaching athletes to fire the glutes & not the psoas concentrically. Today I had something of a breakthrough – while working with an older marathon runner (not the lady in the pic - she is a pro IM athlete!) for about the 6th or 7th session, who has a very slow stride rate: Despite doing the intermittent application of resistance across the pelvis from the rear with a harness which, as usual, increased his power application correctly, as soon as I backed off, he again engaged the psoas & started lifting again.
So I went against my better judgment & ran next to him & told him to match my cadence no matter what – i.e. move up stride rate as a primary objective. He popped upright, lost power, but looked great & the level of dissipation (& consequent reduced impact sound) decreased dramatically & all I had to do was have him reinstitute the lean & voila he was a racing machine!
Conclusion: Metronomes work as cadence guides, as long as the forward lean aspect is addressed & upward oscillation is limited/eradicated.

Stride Rate - The Rhythm of the Run

Stride rate clearly is a wonderful indicator of performance. In any given race it is interesting to note that the runners with the higher stride rates are the most likely to be the fastest. They will definitely be better kickers & have less drop off of in pace in the closing stages, especially in the longer races. In discussions with elite African runners it becomes clear that what they tune into during a race is rhythm—not effort, breathing, heart rate or even pace. The cadence is the underlying drum beat of the run. When going slowly the stride length is shorter, when running uphill it is shorter, when running down hill it is longer, when running on soft surfaces it is shorter , when running faster it is longer – but the stride rate stays the same