Here’s a simple trick you can do to pick up the pace, especially when you want to run faster but your body just somehow isn’t responding. I’m not a big fan of tricks and hacks. I want you to learn deeply and be transformed. But tricks do have their place, especially for a runner committed … Read more
Conventional wisdom says an upper body strength program helps runners hold their posture and have a better arm carriage. But if you do it right, the benefits go way beyond that. There’s a way to do an upper body workout that actually makes your legs work better, giving you a distinct pop of energy from … Read more
The idea that distance runners should regularly do strength work to avoid injury has become pretty popular in recent years. It can indeed be very helpful for performing your best, and as a human being your fitness needs include other things besides running. But there are some significant potential pitfalls to be aware of if … Read more
Whether or not listening to music while you run is a good idea depends on why you want to do it. Let’s look at the specifics so you can find the best answer for your situation. To Tune Out Pain and Discomfort Some research suggests music effectively does this. But it doesn’t report how the … Read more
What a joy to watch a marathon again. Let’s just dive right in and look at the different movement strategies the runners used and how this related to their performances. As interesting as it is to watch any individual athlete, it’s in comparing athletes that you really see how they’re running. Brigid Kosgei and Ruth … Read more
Running faster means running differently. Form changes with speed. Some of those changes will happen automatically. Sometimes, though, runners don’t know how to let them happen, and make extra effort fighting themselves or trying to keep running with the same form regardless of speed. This week in my Stuck-at-Home Running Form Tips I’ve been looking … Read more
Plantar fasciitis or fasciosis, achilles problems, runner’s knee, lower back pain… improving your form by working to change your footstrike is supposed to help with these problems and also make running feel better. But your footstrike is only part of the story, and trying to change it without making a few other key changes generally … Read more
Have you ever tried to go for a run after getting off a plane? Your feet probably hit the ground twice as hard as usual, your legs felt heavy and stiff and your lower back got sore. Even the following day running can still feel lousy, especially if your flight was long. This is a … Read more
Making significant changes in your running technique is deep work. It means changing not only the way you run, but the movement habits you have all the time. However, small simple factors you never even think of can have a large effect on your running and are a good place to start changing your gait for the … Read more
While there were lots of interesting comparisons to make between runners in the 2016 NYC marathon, what really jumped out at me was the unusual thing both Molly Huddle (3rd place woman) and Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (1st place man) were doing with their legs. Here are screenshots of Huddle: And here are screenshots of Ghebreslassie: As you can see, the space between both runners’ knees … Read more
Jemima Sumgong, the winner of the Rio Olympics women’s marathon, did something unusual for a Kenyan woman: she didn’t move her torso side-to-side much. It appeared as if her sides from armpits to hips stayed basically the same length throughout her gait cycle. Her arm movement also looked increasingly unusal as she grew more fatigued. … Read more
In my analysis of the Olympic men’s 10,000 I wrote how Galen Rupp’s technique reminded me in some ways of Usain Bolt’s, with his use of the frontal plane (side-to-side motion, basically) more than rotation. In this race it became evident he also has this in common with Eliud Kipchoge, the winner. Like Bolt, Kipchoge uses … Read more
Okay, let’s talk some more about heads bobbing forwards and backwards. I expect to mention this when writing about Mo Farah, the winner, but in the whole Olympic Men’s 5000 field in Rio it was practically an epidemic. When I wrote about this phenomenon in my post about the women’s 10,000, I said that one way to think about … Read more
Watching Galen Rupp and Mo Farah running side by side is endlessly fascinating. They are the Odd Couple of men’s track. Rupp channels his height into a clean lean, moving primarily in the frontal plane (bending/shifting side-to-side) and using very little rotation of his pelvis or upper body. In fact I’m always amazed at how … Read more
