Once my clients feel happy with their running it sometimes dawns on them that they don’t know how to walk properly. Trying to apply what they’ve learned about running to walking just confuses them as what felt so right in running ends up feeling strange and wrong for walking. That’s because there are some significant … Read more
Here are The Keys to Becoming a Balanced Runner, the 10 interrelating elements of healthy, flowing, free running. I wrote one or two blog posts about each of them over the past year, but here they are all in one place for you to read through and experiment with during the holidays. Over the next few weeks I’ll be … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. A while back I wrote about how to reduce asymmetries in your gait and improve your endurance by alternating which foot you breathe out on. I teach this to my clients and in my online running camp, and some runners tell me they absolutely love … Read more
The magazines, your coach or physio, a multitude of books and, yes, even bloggers are telling you your problems will be solved by improving your running technique. You’ll be faster, you won’t be injured as much, and you’ll become the runner you dream of being. Maybe you feel yourself moving in the right direction, slow … Read more
One of the generally accepted elements of good running technique these days is cultivating a stride rate of 180 or above (meaning your feet touch the ground 180 or more times per minute). For a number of years I have recommended this as well. However a few clues have recently begun to suggest something different to me, and this month … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. One of the first questions I ask a client before seeing them run is this: “Is there anything you’ve been trying to do with your running form?” About half say yes, and maybe mention something about their arms or not slouching or picking up … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. You’re probably reading this blog because you want to learn the right way to run. You may have very pressing reasons for that — perhaps you’re hurt, or you feel like running is really taking a toll on your body, or you feel there’s … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. Today I’m zigzagging back to Balanced Runner Key #7: aim for a cadence of 170 steps per minute or higher. If you’ve worked on transitioning to more minimalist footwear or barefoot running, or have sought to learn from the natural running movement, you’ve encountered … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. Last week, I explained the first part of Balanced Runner Key #8, Breathe downward, taking an odd number of steps per breath cycle. This week I’ll tackle the second half, that stumper of an instruction regarding steps per breath cycle. By “breath cycle” I mean one … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. Many runners feel instinctively that breathing is at the crux of their struggles with running and have pressing questions about how to do it. This instinct is right on the mark: how you breathe when you run affects your ability to find a flowing … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. In my previous posts on The Balanced Runner Keys I started with the feet and worked my way up through the legs, torso, and arms. Today we reach the head, which may seem remote from the main business of running but in fact determines … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. Distance running arm swing tends to be an afterthought — you probably think of it after your footstrike, your core, your posture, your cadence, and so forth. That’s a mistake, since your running form is a whole-body cycle of events driven by your relationship … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. If you’ve given even a moment’s thought to your running form in the past two decades, it was probably either to your footstrike or to your core. My previous two posts in this series on The Balanced Runner Keys addressed the issue of footstrike; now it’s … Read more
This post is part of the The Balanced Runner Keys series. In my previous post in this series I explained how our footstrike obsession interferes with developing better running form and why we must move beyond it. Balanced Runner Key, land with a supple leg, is one alternative sensation to pay attention to that will lead you … Read more
