6. Are you a lifter or a pusher?

The answer could be the silver bullet your running needs

Last time we spoke about the forward lean & its contribution to an increased stride rate – a highly desirable component required to being an efficient runner. That forward lean is one component that increases stride rate; power application is the other. However an increased angle of attack does not guarantee increased stride rate in some cases, as habituated lifting of the knee, in an effort to increase/maintain stride length continues to access majority concentric muscle contraction of the hip flexors. This not only slows stride rate, but greatly increases the strength requirement & therefore an accelerated accumulation of fatigue from dealing with eccentric jarring from increased support phase weight bearing time. It also creates more fatigue because the stride falls more towards the forward sector relative to the center of mass, & thus increasing work to regain this lost inertia with each step. It is a common myth that in order to have that nice high knee lift when you run you have to fire your hip flexors – nothing could be further from the truth. By powerfully extending your leg downwards it subsequently is dragged rearward (because of forward momentum & the foot striking a stationary surface). The leg is not driven in an effort to push the body while it is on the surface – this would be counterproductive as tissue is supposed to be held semi rigid as connective tissue stretches/loads in anticipation for elastic release upon toe off. It is essential that the driving phase is seen as unloaded & with gravity. In this way the hip flexors are extended/loaded & pop back powerfully because of this, leading to that light, springy high knee lift so characteristic of great runners. Again, please make sure that you do not push while the foot is on the ground, but before this; it’s like throwing a pogo stick at the ground. If you push while the foot is on the surface you stop it from unloading elastically. Good running is 5 parts elastic return & only one part strength application – the more you lift your knees & try to power your body by driving the foot while it is on the ground, the greater the strength component, the slower the stride rate, the longer the stance time, the greater the rate of fatigue accumulation. Nuf said!
©Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports
www.BobbyMcGee.com

5. Lean your way to great running

A slight forward lean from the ankles, with the chest & pelvis squarely aligned is a great way to gain a mechanical advantage by utilizing gravity. A forward lean also increases cadence or stride rate, which is an extremely desirable asset to the distance runner. Please note the word slight – leaning too much can create over rotation & put pressure on the core muscles & increase loading in the hamstrings & hip flexors. Do NOT lean from the waist, this is a recipe for disaster. Keep the elbows bent 90* or less – the hallmark of all great distance runners is that bent elbow. Take smaller, but quicker steps & run lightly over the running surface. However do not chop your natural stride length down – allow the speed to determine stride length. The faster you run, the more you can lean. You are trying to reduce surface interaction time, but do not want to have to either lift the foot off the ground or get to the surface too soon & increase friction. If you are leaning too much, your foot strike becomes too loud & therefore heavy & you will have to lift your legs to clear the foot to stop it from scraping the surface – this lifting is a total no-no!
© Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports
www.BobbyMcGee.com

Get Connected

If you don’t contra rotate your torso when you run, you are disconnected & if you are disconnected your Center of Mass & your strength (concentric) component is high – therefore you are inefficient; so learn how to contra-rotate, but don’t do so cognitively!
Huh?
Yeah I felt the same way when 1st I started to figure this one out.
The world of Feldenkrais is an esoteric one to say the least & it draws the more “abstruse” of us to it & thus work from this field is often pooh-poohed. But of late there is some great stuff coming from certain members of this community who teach running – they really get “being connected” when you move. Check it out.
In swim/bike/run, all are equally dependant on good solid coordinated connectedness – try climbing on the bike & not pulling with the opposite arm! Or try swimming with only lats & pecs & not core – some of us can do this (yeah me!) & hoo boy, do we swim poorly!
Trouble is, in the run, if we were not connected from the start, or we fiddled around with some “technique” suggestions from a 2-dimensional model of bio-mechanical quackery, the unlearn (of the disconnected) & the relearning (through cognitive pathways) is a tough one.
The steps are:
1. Recognition – have an expert take a look
2. Correction – 1st through understanding & seeing (video), & then through presets & drills
3. Habituation – constant repetition till cognitive gives way to automatic
4. Confirmation - in races & hard training, especially when fatigued; should feel smoother & easier & be able to go longer & faster!
For more, check out my DVD, Triathlon, The Run, with explanations (understanding) & drills (learning)
Yours in connectedness!
Bobby McGee
http://www.bobbymcgee.com/

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

3. Fatigued Focus on the Run

New research shows lowest O2 usage (highest efficiency) when focusing on the running experience or sensation itself; simply competing or running. Staying in this less than fully conscious flow state can easily be interrupted by fatigue or any other loss of focus. When teaching runners to stay most efficient I have always advised them to focus on mood words in the beginning – words like strong, relaxed, fit, capable, ready, racer, smooth, relaxed, fun, racing, etc. Once fatigue sets in & they start to lose rhythm & their mechanics become disrupted & uncoordinated, (as they most often are right off the bike in triathlon), then flow & that type of ideal focus is lost & the runner must resort to a new tactic. That tactic is focusing on process. Focusing on fatigue or performance, especially outcome, is dissociative & has been shown to be the least efficient. Focusing on process can often return rhythm & flow. The skilled look for that beat of foot strike. A set of skills, like shortening the stride to return or maintain rhythm, can be taught/learned & can be ways back into the run.
So in summary: Focusing on anything other than that which can propel you forward faster during fatigued running can be called lost focus. Focusing on fatigue, or trying to think dissociatively, i.e. of something else to get your mind off the task at hand, when racing or running hard, leads to reduced access to fitness & ability. Focusing on how you are running (the mechanical movements) is also ineffectual, as this is a cognitive process that occurs so much slower (it is chemical), than the natural (electrical) flow of a reflex (unconscious) action. Thoughts on getting limbs & body into optimal position to gain maximum benefit from power application & elastic return are excellent ways to focus. Focusing on a feeling or image is also very powerful, especially when fresh. At the start of an endurance race, focus on mood words like, easy, smooth, powerful, relaxed, will help you to not interfere cognitively with your body’s natural ability to perform. In triathlon this would be relevant mostly in the swim & on the bike if a draft legal event. However, when fatigue sets in, it becomes useful to think objectively about what to do, especially if your form has deteriorated.

Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports
http://www.bobbymcgee.com/

How to Lay it on the Line when it Counts

On the 30th of July as an added part of my regular sport psychology & run mechanics & run training lectures to USA Triathlon level 1 candidate coaches, I will be presenting a mental skills training CEU. This time it takes place in New Jersey. These are designed for USAT coaches to keep up with what’s relevant to triathlon today & remain current with their coaching certification. These are also open to any triathlete, triathlon coach or interested party.

Unlike my (& most others) lecture in the course, this 3 hour event is designed to be highly practical & as individualized as a group setting will allow. The majority of the session is participatory & I have received very positive feedback in terms of the workshop’s effectiveness.

Most triathletes know that effective mental skills like self confidence & dealing with the sensations of effort are essential for race performances to match fitness expectations. The reason why triathletes do little about it though may be due in some large part to the lack of access to practice. There are a number of GREAT books out there, but we all know how hard it is putting good ideas on paper into practice, especially under the pressures of competition! One-on-one work with a skilled teacher of mental skills for triathlon are few & far between & expensive – I get about 1 client requesting mental skills training to every 7 that want training or run mechanical skills training.

If you live in that part of the world & could use some extra mojo, here’s an opportunity. If not, then remind yourself, as an athlete, that self confidence & full access to fitness under pressure are skills that can be learned & this may be the edge you have been looking for.

Click here to sign up & get more info: http://www.active.com/running/weehawken-nj/quest-to-be-your-best-specific-customized-mental-skills-training-plan-design-2010

Below is a copy of the letter that goes out to participants in the CEU. Use it as a guideline to set some of the details as you prepare for your next race. Are you considering all these & would it be useful to do so?

Stay or get mentally strong! It’s how you show up fully on D Day!

Bobby McGee
http://www.bobbymcgee.com/

PS: Remember my book, Magical Running, A Unique Path to Running Fulfillment, is all about mental skills training & is set up as a workbook to support you as you habituate a killer mindset for race day. Available from http://www.bobbymcgee.com/

Dear Participant

I would like to extend the opportunity once again to make this Mental Skills CEU as practical & as customized as possible. With this email, to you as registrant (thank you), I am including 4 questionnaires:

1. Creating the Perfect Race
2. Mental Skills Assessment
3. Psychological Performance Inventory – please note that the spreadsheets have multiple tabs
4. Sport Psychological Training Evaluation – please note that the spreadsheets have multiple tabs

Feel free to make copies of these & have athletes that you work with, or yourself, complete them. If you are using them with athletes, I strongly advise you to number them & have the corresponding name kept confidential. Of course this implies a confidentiality agreement between you & your athlete that would imply a desire to participate in such exercises.

Bring the completed forms along to the seminar & we will spend time creating effective strategies to enhance the performance of these athletes.

Please bring along a hard copy, (or have it electronically), of the relevant course maps that either you or your athletes will be peaking for as key events coming up.

I look forward to working with you.

Best wishes,

Bobby McGee

2. Dynamic Warm up Drills: How to give you your best shot at an optimal event

In my previous post I spoke about the deleterious effects of passive stretching before exercise. So what are you supposed to do before exercise or competition? The answer is a series of progressively more intense activities that bring the body to a point where it is ready for peak performance. These activities include:
1. Mobility exercises – these increase the range of motion of a joint, so that it can manage the requirements of the activity safely & effectively. An example of such an activity are increasingly aggressive arm circles for a swimmer
2. Facilitation exercises – these exercises mimic the activity about to be performed in an ever increasing range of motion & intensity. An example of this might be a high knee drill before a quality run work out
3. Recruitment exercises – these exercises are careful repetitions of the movement required in an overloaded fashion. This ensures that enough muscle fibers are recruited to not only perform safely, but competitively. An example of this might be swinging a baseball bat with a weighted doughnut attached prior to batting practice

Attached is a picture of Shelia Burrell, world championship bronze medalist heptathlete & 4th in Olympics, performing a dynamic warm up drill. Below is a video of Carrie Messner-Vickers, world champs steeplechase finalist & US record holder performing a grapevine or karaoke dynamic warm up drill.

Some examples of effective dynamic warm up procedures can be found in Run Workouts for Runners & Triathletes, or The DVD, Triathlon, The Run, both by Bobby McGee. Available from www.BobbyMcGee.com