A better run...

[sfb350]

I've been reading a book by Julian Goater "The Art of Running Faster". It's a very well written book with some good advice. I joined some running club friends for a "Cup Cake Run" yesterday (yes, it ended up in a tea shop with a wide choice of cup cakes !) and we covered about 6 miles.

I tried some of the advice in the book - one was just slightly changing my gait , he says to keep your hips and chest forward, feet under your body, not reaching forwards and that you should feel as if you'd topple forwards if you didn't move your feet. It's hard to describe - it wasn't a huge change and it felt as if I was closer to a mid-strike than a heel-strike. It didn't make me hugely faster but I felt as it would be easier to work on speeding up.

I also tried his technique for running up hills - same cadence but shorter steps. That seemed to work very well - a couple of friends commented that I was racing up the hills ! I was still having short walk breaks, as I have done during my past couple of months of health problems/low blood iron/extreme tiredness, but I felt stronger and I tried two or three sprints as well. I suppose I was doing my version of fartlek training at times. I enjoyed it so I'll try and do it more often.

Julian Goater also says to let your arms drive your legs - since being told my shoulders looked too tense, I've been concentrating on keeping them relaxed so yesterday I was trying to use my arms to drive myself forward while still keeping relaxed. It seemed to work !

My legs felt tired towards the end but after a short rest I felt as if I could set off again - but a had a pot of Earl Grey instead !

The book also suggests running twice in a day if you're wanting to increase mileage - it's easier to fit in and still gives you time for rest days. I'm thinking of heading for the gym & the treadmill on Tuesday & Thursday mornings, maybe to try the C25k+ podcasts or just 30 minutes of intervals, then going to running club in the evenings. Then one longer run at the weekend. Am I mad ?

[totalbeginner Graduate]

no - you just sound very keen and motivated! well done you

book sounds interesting - did you come by it from recommendation?

[Oldgirl Graduate]

I don't think your mad at all I think you have become dedicated to your running and want to improve on it, thats commendable.

I was interested in what you descibed for some of his techniques because having been a sporty person most of my life I'm a great believer in listening to your body and I think I'm into trying out my own technigues as I go along. The stride thing is something I have worked on for some months now without having read any books. I too have found that I get up the hills better when I shorten my stride also if I plant my feet in more of a toe/mid foot first fashion. The arms are something I have also worked on too. I find if my shoulders start to creep up to my ears I let my hands drop down and give them a good shake out then return them to the 90 degrees.

I'm sure everyone finds their own comfort zone but its interesting to hear what the experts are saying. Will have a look on Amazon for this books, thanks for the heads up.

[sfb350 Graduate]

I got an email from Amazon with book recommendations. This wasn't one of them but I ended up looking at it by following the trail of amazon links - it has very good reviews.

[Gridlet Graduate]

I love the idea of a cup cake run! It's addictive this running lark isn't it?

[Greg_M Graduate]

I don't know, what happens to us all?

It's not normal is it

[TJFlute]

I remember mentioning 'my hands, whilst running' once in a blog about 18 months ago and everyone panicked.... How far has this forum moved on

[sfb350 Graduate in reply to TJFlute]

You're just ahead of everyone else !

To be fair, there's a baffling amount of information out there - books, magazines, internet etc - and a lot of it is conflicting information, it's not always obvious which advice to follow. I'm taking the view that, while I'm not feeling up to covering great distances without walk breaks, I'm going to experiment with different things and find out what works for me. It feels quite liberating in a way I've got a hospital referral in a months time and will hopefully get fixed soon after that - so in the meantime I can play with new techniques, speed and hills etc

As an example of conflicting information - Jeff Galloway thinks stretching just before a run can often be a cause of injury so he doesn't advise it at all, Julian Goater recommends it. They both make convincing arguments for their own opinion, they've both got a wealth of experience and they both have good reputations. So who's right ?

[suki_007 Graduate]

I really love this book and it's helped a huge amount with visualising what I should be doing - it really helped with my speed too.