11. “Core” specifics for Runners & Triathletes

The term “core” has become so ingrained in the psyche of the exercise community as an end, in & of itself, that the implications for the need to stabilize the pelvis as a platform off of which we then drive and elastically release our legs during running, has been somewhat lost. Even this is simplified – the pelvic set & hips are key “rebounders” & the joints need to be positioned so that we can accelerate the foot to the ground with the glutes & quads & then drive & hold to bounce/release to toe off with as little leakage/dissipation as possible.


It is essential that when we do stabilization exercises as runners we see them as improving the “hold” & thus anchor points off which the hip, then knee, then ankle & plantar fascia accelerate & bounce off. So often we wish for things to be black & white & there are some populist models that would have us believe that there is no push in running. Clearly there is; muscle myography has proved this time & again.

A case can then be made for doing the majority of this “core” work while standing or balancing on both & preferably one leg, (& balancing on the mid foot to boot!). Even then there will be a need to graduate to a more plyometric approach where the pelvis is put under pressure with hopping, jumping & bounding & having the stabilizers deal with those drops & torques as a functional conditioning response.

For this reason these exercises should not only be considered as those for our abdominal muscles (obliques, rectus and most importantly transverse abs), but also the back stabilizers – most importantly the quadratus lumborum (QL) and multifidus. Also include hip flexors, glutes, groin and even knee stabilizers. And last but not least, in order to remain “stacked” through the gait cycle our upper back muscles & our thoracic spine stabilizers must be equally conditioned & trained.

Consider also the Spiderman suit that is our fascia – this needs to be released & balanced – no amount of strength or conscious effort will overcome stooped shoulders, a kyphotic (rounded upper) back & lack of extension ability/mobility with our hip flexors. We need this handled so that a lifetime of desk work & poor posture does not hold us back from our most efficient running ability

The more taught the pelvis is held dynamically, the less the loss of elastic energy (dissipation) and the greater the elastic return – so that you can SPRING forward.

Stay stacked, short in all the right places & “bouncy”!

Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports

www.BobbyMcGee.com

10. How should my foot interact with the running surface?

This has been a subject of great debate lately, as the book; Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall has brought the concept of bare foot running sharply to the fore. There are also shoe companies designing footwear to force changes in foot strike & individual methodologies being marketed on how to run properly & a lot has to do with the nature of how the foot hits the surface/should hit the surface. Most runners who started running as a fitness activity simply extended their walking gait, which is a heel first strike, into running & were allowed to get away with this because of modern running footwear with well cushioned heels. “Natural” runners gravitated to the sport prior to the 1970's running boom & tended to be smaller, lighter, which is part of the self-selection process for running if NOT helped by footwear.

In running the foot should land as close to underneath the center of mass as possible, landing on the outside (lateral) edge of the bottom of the mid foot (just on & behind the pad behind the little toe). The heel will then roll down towards the surface & either lightly touch (load) as in distance running, or not, as in sprinting. The foot then rolls inward over the strong part of the outside edge, loads the arch (connective tissue/fascia & some muscle) as a spring & a shock absorber & then onto the ball of the foot before coming off the ground with the middle to big toe leaving last. Equally suitable is landing slightly further back with the “whole” outside ridge of the foot, i.e. mid foot proper – pad behind little toe, extending to just in front of the heel.

However, if you DON’T naturally run like this, be very careful & gradual with the process of doing so if you decide to change, as your plantar fascia & achilles tendon could no doubt become injured if you are too hasty, (as well as possible foot stress fractures). If you do strike heel 1st, try to have the forefoot follow VERY quickly & consider the sole of your shoe as curved like a partial car tire & rolling from the microsecond the outside of the heel hits the surface till the inside toes leave the ground. This is similar to the fore foot strike, but starts at the heel, rolls across the outside of the foot & then inwards (also loading the arch) towards & onto the ball of the foot & off the middle to big toe. Some elastic return is lost from the achilles & plantar fascia in this manner I suspect, but it is still an effective way to run & many top runners do so, albeit being more reliant on the footwear for some initial cushioning & not the achilles, plantar fascia & calf muscle complex.

More important currently in my mind is the angle of the shin – it should be vertical upon contact & not leaning rearward. This is a purer indication of not over striding & indicates well the relative position of the impact point to the dynamic center of mass (inside the pelvis) & is the point of least braking & friction.

This process is far more multi-dimensional than I have described & surmized here, but should serve as a guide to the reasoning of runners wishing to observe & experiment. 

©Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports

www.BobbyMcGee.com

THE ATHENS CLASSIC MARATHON

I asked my fine running friend & Master Statistician Riel Hauman if I could use this great article of his for this post. It is all about the origin of the classic Athens race as we know it today:

By Riel Hauman - Editor of Distance Running Results

This year marks the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon on 12 September, 490 BC – the event that spurred the birth of the marathon footrace in 1896. The race is run on the same course from Marathon to Athens used for the 1896 and 2004 Olympic marathons (although it is probably not the route followed by the legendary messenger Pheidippides in 490 BC). The first Athens Marathon was held in 1955, and thereafter it was run every second year until 1967 when it became an annual event. Before 1955, however, other marathons were held on the course, such as the 1906 Intercalated Games Marathon and seven editions of the Balkan Games Championships.

Although men such as Abebe Bikila and Buddy Edelen won the race between 1955 and 1968, the marathon really attracted international attention only in 1969 when Bill Adcocks (GBR) ran his brilliant time of 2:11:07.2. Over the next thirty-odd years some of the world’s best marathoners – Ian Thompson, Rodolfo Gomez, Gerard Nijboer, Douglas Wakiihuri and Abel Anton among them – would win the race, but Adcocks’ record stood untouched. It was only with the return of the Olympics to Athens in 2004 that Stefano Baldini (ITA) succeeded in finally wiping the record from the books when he clocked 2:10:55 to win the gold medal.

The ten fastest times in the Athens Classic Marathon are:

2:10:55 Stefano Baldini (ITA) 2004

2:11:07.2 Bill Adcocks (GBR) 1969

2:11:29 Mebrahtom Keflezighi (USA) 2004

2:11:49 Rodolfo Gomez (MEX) 1982

2:12:01 Douglas Wakiihuri (KEN) 1995

2:11:11 Vanderlei de Lima (BRA) 2004

2:12:26 Jon Brown (GBR) 2004

2:12:42 Paul Lekuraa (KEN) 2008

2:13:11 Shigeru Aburaya (JPN) 2004

2:13:16 Abel Anton (ESP) 1997

The picture, from The Guinness Book of the Marathon, shows Adcocks (5) in his record race with Huseyin Aktas (TUR, 6) and Kenji Kimihara (JPN, 2).

9. Correct arm usage for runners

The arms are closer to the brain than the legs. Your arms are “cleverer” than your legs as a result. Fatigued limbs have a hard time responding to cognitive commands, making “access” easier through reflex, rhythm pathways. Part of this also occurs when synapses are used repeatedly – they start to lose choline & struggle to relay messages. These facts make it possible through the intricately integrated connection between all limbs, called the kinetic chain, to use your arms effectively to run better. One key component of effective running is to have your feet be on the ground for the briefest period possible for any given foot strike. This is called stride rate & if the arms & legs MUST move in unison (left knee to right elbow in front for example), it stands to reason that the quicker the arm is punched rearward & then automatically swung forward on the opposite side, the quicker the legs must move – effective running is often measured by how rapidly the foot can return for the next foot fall from toe off. (Of course stride length is the other half of the equation, but that’s another matter all together.)


Ensure that the arms remain bent at the elbow at 90* or even more closed; I often use a little pebble, held in the crook of the elbow & not to be dropped while running, to drill this component. The lowest part of the arm, at any point during the swing must be the elbow; the shorter the lever the quicker it can be swung. If there are no deficiencies elsewhere, the arms should be swung symmetrically under the shoulder – i.e. when the thighs are parallel during the running gait, the forearms should be parallel with each other & the surface & the middle of the forearm should be directly underneath the armpit/shoulder. Keep the hand above the short line. When viewed from the front the hand should be inside (or nearer the body than the elbow). If possible keep each arm on the outside of the sternum & try not to cross the center line. Some good runners do however do this & it is not a deal-breaker. What is a deal-breaker though is rotating the upper body across the line of travel where clearly there is a “disconnect” between the torso & the legs.

Good runners even close the elbow angle when the arm is swung to the front & open it somewhat when swung to the rear. Keep the hands loose & the wrists firm, with the thumb on the forefinger as a general rule of, um, thumb!

Relaxed, bent, coordinated, quick, rearward punching arms will help you be a more effective runner.

Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports


www.BobbyMcGee.com

Apologies!

The previous post is clearly NOT Chrissie Wellington's quad, but her biceps!!!

Sorry she did not race, but a marvelous men's & women's race anyway.

Good luck to all of you in 70.3 World Champs in Clearwater this weekend.

I hope Gebrs has NOT retired as he said after NY....

New info post to follow soon!

8. Muscle recruitment – the way to improved running performances

The picture of Chrissie Wellington's quadThat's loaded I'd say!

Ever wondered why sprinters do those high powerful vertical leaps just when they get called to the blocks? Or why baseball players use a heavy donut on their bats while warming up? The answer is muscle recruitment. You may have noticed even when you are fit that if in the course of a day you run up a flight of steps you get to the top winded with some quad burn going on. This is because you have used a small amount of muscle fibers to an intense degree to do something safely. If you had warmed up dynamically (like with my Dynamic Warm Up routine) before you ran up this flight of stairs, you would have reached the top with less effort, no discomfort & a much lower breath & heart rate – something you need to do before training & racing!
The body is a safety mechanism & only recruits sufficient muscle fibers to do things safely – it is not interested in performance unless your life is in danger, then the hormones released as a result of a fight or flight response ensure that you are optimally primed to meet this threat – a little how you feel just before the start of a race. Specific muscle recruitment activities before training & racing therefore are essential to turn your body from a safety mechanism, into a performance mechanism by recruiting more muscle than the body needs for safe execution alone. This is part of the reason why you might feel sore 48 hours after a hard workout for which you failed to warm up (read recruit) properly. IT IS BETTER TO USE YOUR LIMITED TIME BY CUTTING BACK ON THE BODY OF YOUR WORKOUT TO ENSURE CORRECT PREPARATION, THAN TO CUT THE Warm Up SHORT & RUSH THE SESSION. YOU WILL GAIN MORE BENEFIT FROM LESS WORK DONE WITH AN OPTIMALLY PRIMED BODY. Potentiate those muscles for success.
Little hops, bounds, harness work or light, short hill reps are a great way to potentiate before races & quality run workouts.
©Bobby McGee – Bobby McGee Endurance Sports
www.BobbyMcGee.com

WoW IM WC Hawaii 2010!!!

What a men's & women's race. The run times superb - Craig Alexander runs 2:42 for 4th & still doesn't have the fastest run split! Rinny goes 2:53 in 40*C!! The game has changed again, but the run still wins it. Boy did they ever run this year. Well done Macca - the mouth put his money there; that running around 8-15km was Special with a capital; when Andreas caught him, who'd have thunk that Macca would out duel & out think him. Stride rates were telling & again the higher rates, while still connected, won the day. Those that blew, like poor Mr. Lieto (whaddabike!!), saved total meltdown through maintaining rhythm. Even with her huge power to weight advantage & short stature Carfrae still has a power run at 92 steps per leg per minute. Class acts all around. Nice to see Timmy O there at the end to meet Marinda & gutsy finishes from friends Justin, Andy P, Sam & TJ; well done, the hearts are great, even though the legs departed sooner than you may have liked.

Bobby

www.BobbyMcGee.com