Sunday, October 9, 2011

Running Form Analysis Part 1



I've been unlearning heel-striking for almost two-years now.  I'm finally down to zero-drop shoes!  I wish I'd done that from the beginning, transition shoes are not necessarily helpful -as I've had to relearn a few things repeatedly.

Anyway, this is me at marathon pace when I run to the left, and half marathon pace running to the right.  In the past year I have taken a minute off my mile time and ~7mins off Half marathon time, and 20mins off my marathon time.

Thanks to Crossfit, Crossfit Endurance, and my personal coach in 2010 was 'Running with Eric' (Orton).

Still have some work to do.  Things are coming together, just need to loosen up!

Update in 2013: That inward slant to my landing leg is considered a crossover gait.  I've worked to eliminate that component in my gait.  Now I no longer chafe in my inner thigh/groin area.  The crossover gait ends up loading joints in this way:  http://lowerextremityreview.com/article/knee-oa-in-obese-patients-a-cyclical-clinical-challenge
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

2 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 10, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    almost two years ago I begin trying to not heel strike. this is one of my early attempts:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMgSVHoIanc

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 11, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    some comments i've gotten.

    dr mike moses:

    By the way you're right foot is striking the ground I'll assume you have a tight hip capsule(causing decreased hip internal rotation) and overactive hip extensors and external rotators. Also looks like you are running with overactive traps/shoulders, but not sure...need to check them manually.

    jasonH:

    You can see the reach (straight front leg) and major push-off (straight back leg). I am impressed you do not have calf/ Achilles problems. Going with the 'theme' of this group I guess the
    advice is do what works for you. From my Pose point of view there is a lot of wasted effort, you could be much faster :)

    Fortunately you do not have any dorsiflexion so there is no heel striking.

    Yes I know everyone is going to say the legs should straighten out going 'that fast' but he is not going 'fast enough' to account for that level of straightening (you can also see his calf engage during push off).

    Not trying to be negative but we all have stuff to improve upon :)

    I would work on just letting the foot 'pop' off the ground via hamstring and stop driving with the legs.



    Si:

    I think you mostly look OK, a little tight perhaps, but take a look at your arm movements. They are not balanced and have a tendency to only pump back and forth making your form look somewhat robotic.

    Your foot strike looks good though. So I'd say, based on my experience and that I have learned from others here and elsewhere is: sort out everything above the waist and the rest will fall into place.

    Upright posture
    Nice arm carriage, relaxed and not crossing centre line.
    Look ahead.

    watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-SxTnqCmLA

    Pieds Nus:

    The good news is that you look more relax when barefooting. I usually have this issue when I was doing a speed workout I am worrying I won't be able to do at prescribed speed you can see I am strugling when I am getting stiffier.

    JZ:

    The only issue that I noticed is that your upper body seems a bit rigid.

    I found these articles helpful:
    http://balancedrunner.com/pdf/12Things-1.pdf
    http://balancedrunner.com/pdf/12Things-2.pdf

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)