Secret Sauce

[Richard7]

So after my weekend run and watching the athletics I sat down with a spreadsheet. Sounds crazy but I started looking at pace based upon stride length and cadence. My usual stride length is around 85cm with a recently improved cadence of around 165 (This gives 7:07/km)

What I found interesting was that a small increase in stride length could have a significant difference on overall pace when the cadence was kept the same. Was this the secret sauce.

Watching the athletes you cannot help but notice how smooth their running is yet how fast they are going. Watching their strides they clearly have much longer strides than me, but the key is not reaching out in front of them but rather pushing off and reaching out behind them.

[Note : reaching out in front is a bad idea as it puts a lot of weight onto your knees and slows you down because you are effectively braking in every step]

So armed with this information I headed out this morning on what was meant to be a steady paced run.

Itching to give it a go I started off with a gentle cadence, I had set my watch to keep an eye on pace, cadence and stride length.

I found that it was tough pushing off even just that little bit. Normally I plod and this extra exertion was something I was going to have to practice!

After 4k of gentle running at the end of a looped run with 1k to home I decided to see how I would fair giving my theory a proper test to see if I could run the remaining 1k home with 165 cadence and 1m stride (6:03/km). What resulted was a 170 cadence and 1.04m stride length resulting in a new 1k PB of 5:32.

I was delighted. Could I run a whole 5k like this - NO (not yet).

Clearly there is a difference in exertion when pushing forward to increase stride vs my usual bounding running style. I will have to work on this and see where it takes me.

In the meantime, happy running everyone.

[Tbae]

Very interesting Richard.

So well done on your PB.

Good luck with bedding it in.

👊💥🏃‍♂️⭐️👏👏

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to Tbae]

It was tougher than I thought it would be so we will see. But at least I understand the principles better!!

[51mc Graduate10]

Well, after many minutes trying to work out the maths of how to incorporate all the variables and get to change kms/hour into mins/km, I gave up and found an on line calculator to do it for me!! Very interesting, I simply need to have a longer stride, (or legs)!

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to 51mc]

It was actually pretty straightforward to do but great that you found a website to do it. I did consider a slide rule on my run this morning 😉

[51mc Graduate10 in reply to Richard7]

It s still bugging me that I couldn't work out how to do it. I am going to try again this p.m.after I have experimented with the stride lengthening technique on my run.

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to 51mc]

I basically added my stride length in meters and my steps per minute to a spreadsheet. Then calculated the number of steps per km by dividing 1000 by my stride length. Then took that number and divided by the steps per minute to give me pace/km in minutes. Of course something like 7.5 means 7 minutes and half a minute so to convert that bit multiple 60 by the decimal in this case 0.5 to get 30 seconds

Have fun 😉

[51mc Graduate10 in reply to Richard7]

Thanks to your detailed explanation, I have managed to work it out. I think I forgot a decimal point in my stride length as well! . I am going to print your instructions as I'm sure , come tomorrow, I will have forgotten.

[HeavyFoot Graduate10]

Very interesting R7. There have been occasional warnings on the forum about doing yourself a mischief by extending your stride. Do report back on how it’s going.

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to HeavyFoot]

Hence the note above I inserted. The key is to not extend it to the front but to the rear so you push yourself forward with your front foot still beneath you. If you extend to the front you end up hurting yourself and actually slowing down through braking!!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

Great work... and fascinating report. You could interval this into a 5k and build the longer stride sections until you’re covering the distance all at the new stride. Most athletes run pretty even cadence, Kipchoge is a human metronome. I find it much easier to change stride length than cadence, and it makes an interval run much more comfortable.

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

I have just finished a training program and part of that was looking at things like my cadence. I used to have cadence around 158/159 but have managed to increase it nicely. Probably by shortening my stride length. Now I am looking at lengthening it but not the way I had it previously. We will see where this goes 😀👍

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10 in reply to Richard7]

There’s a optimum balance for individual runners... most elite athletes work on 180 steps, but taller ones a little less.

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Yeah way off 180 surprised with 170 this morning to be honest

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10 in reply to Richard7]

I used to do the 180 thing as a teen, but I can’t get there now... maybe one day! Im usually around the 160 mark at the moment. My happy rhythm is doing just fine for the time being, but is something I’ll work on over the winter I think when I reduce my long runs a little. 170 is bloody good if you ask me.

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

I am normally happy with 165

[Fabulous450 Graduate10]

Hi Richard, I'm not able to follow the technical bits that well, but I might try the slight increase in stride. I have noticed that I do have a very short stride while running.

Sounds like you did a great job. Well done on the new discovery and thanks for sharing. Every little helps. 😁❤️

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to Fabulous450]

Just make sure that you lengthen your stride by pushing behind you a bit more not reaching out in front! Being more of a plodder I found it is using muscles I have neglected!! Going to try and introduce the more "push off style" over time - next run will be back to plodding - but I hope to get more "pushy" as I get stronger!! Good luck

[Fabulous450 Graduate10 in reply to Richard7]

Thank you Richard!! 🤗 I tried it today. Even though I had to focus a bit on doing it, I felt I was more upright and leading/pushing more from the rear area (if you know what I mean). It was actually more comfortable in a way. Less of a constant shuffle. My amateur descriptions are pants, but hopefully you get what I mean. I went further in less time than my previous run, but I guess that always varies. Let’s see how it goes. 😁❤️

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate10]

Ouch...my brain hurts...

a spread sheet? now that is serious Richard7 !! I know exactly what you mean though...those athletes stride looks so long but yet they don't land miles in front of themselves so that's what it must be about!! and I just thought they had extra long legs?!! 😉

[Richard7 Graduate10 in reply to Mummycav]

Ha ha - funny - I used to think the same - long legged athletes - must be the short shorts!!

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Richard7]

Must be 🤔