Cadence

[Tasha99]

I have a really low cadence of 150-157. I have tried to increase it and get to about 160 but it feels so unnatural and I slip back into my normal stride. I know the ideal is supposedly 180 and I’m nowhere near. I’m quite tall at 5’10-11 and gave long legs so would that affect it? I feel like my technique is pants. Any ideas?

[Sqkr Half Marathon]

I think it probably is affected quite a lot by height and leg length—I'm 5'5 and I suspect I have short legs, and my average cadence during a slowish training run is about 165-170, but at race pace I usually average about 178.

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Sqkr]

I’m thinking of booking a session or two with a coach

[andystev in reply to Tasha99]

WeRun do a "Runners MOT" that might help:

we-run.co.uk/running-analys...

[Lordi Marathon]

Tasha - I played around with cadence last springtime and found it can be tweaked to great effect. I used be be glued to around 160-170 whether I ran fast or slow (I adjusted stride my stride length on increased speed). After some cadence workouts I managed to raise my standard run cadence to 175-177ish. Only my super slow jog cadence is around 169-170 these days.

What I did was find a route where I could experiment with every cadence I could possibly achieve (without feeling too silly!) Start by running with the shortest possible stride length (almost a comedy pitter patter). At very (crazy) short stride length you will have to achieve about 180 to avoid falling over forwards! You should be able to get to 177-180 within a short period, then extend you stride length to something less comical (but without losing the high cadence). That's how I did it. I then ran a few 180 cadence 5k runs to train my legs. Then later when I relaxed the somewhat artificial cadence target of 180 I found my new " natural" cadence was now much higher than before.

I think I wrote a post about it, so I'll find that and add a link below with an edit later.

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Lordi]

Oh thank you! That’s interesting. I’ll have to have a play about.

[Lordi Marathon in reply to Tasha99]

Found it. Quite a good set of thread responses too..

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Lordi]

Great thanks! I think a coach could help! I think a higher cadence would help me.

[pianoteacher Marathon Half Marathon]

No idea Tasha! For what it's worth I'm a short arse (5'3") and my cadence is usually 180 but my stride length is longer when I'm running at race pace.

Having watched GB athlete Adam Clarke run past me 3 times at parkrun a couple of weeks ago I would say most people's technique isn't that great. His stride length and the way he was using his legs was unlike anything I've ever seen and was really powering him forward at an unbelievable speed. There's a couple of videos of him breaking the course record on the Hastings parkrun Facebook page but I'm not sure they truly do it justice.

I would say run as you feel comfortable running rather than trying to do something that feels unnatural x

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to pianoteacher]

Thanks Marie! I wish I’d never heard of cadence! Yours is the ideal though - lucky you!

[pianoteacher Marathon Half Marathon in reply to Tasha99]

By accident not design - doesn't make me any faster 😂 When I sprint (I use that term loosely) it's well over 200 and I definitely couldn't keep that up for 5k x

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to pianoteacher]

Dreamy!

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

That figure of 180 spm is an average. As a tall person with long legs you are an outlier - your stride is long so your cadence is lower. If you are not over-striding (i.e. stepping your feet out far in front of your body), and are not experiencing undue discomfort at your normal stride it shouldn't be a problem for you. So don't worry about it!

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to roseabi]

But I do 😂 I’ve booked a coach for a couple of hours. Thank you!

[Ripcurlrana71 Half Marathon 10 Miles]

Hey I’m a short arse at 5’2 and my average cadence is about 180 and can go up to 200! Don’t know why - not especially fast and doesnt really change much whatever distance. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’d say your progress has been fantastic and agree with pianoteacher - unless something feels wrong when you run don’t change it. You’ve definetly been doing something right to progress so well. Sometimes all these stats/comparisons can have a negative impact on us.

Will be interesting though to see what a coach says. 🤔😊

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Ripcurlrana71]

Thanks alka! As if you’re as so high! I’m so envious. Maybe there is something in height then. I’ll keep you posted Xx

[Ripcurlrana71 Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to Tasha99]

Short arses rule!! 🤣🤣 xx

[pianoteacher Marathon Half Marathon in reply to Ripcurlrana71]

😂🤣😂

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Ripcurlrana71]

I hate being tall!

[Oldfloss Administrator]

Just run Tasha... if it works, if it's comfy... just run?

The only thing I have done to ..change.... anything .. is practice the glute, bum squeezing exercise that Bluebirdrunner flagged up...it made a difference to my speed..but I don't do it all the time...My happy pace... 165

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

Ok thank you. Your cadence is significantly higher than mine. I’ll post updates on what the coach says. Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself.

[Ripcurlrana71 Half Marathon 10 Miles in reply to Tasha99]

Yes you are Tasha. 😊 x

[UpTheStanley Half Marathon]

One way of playing around with cadence is on the dreadmill. With the speed set to something constant and comfortable, it’s easy to try different cadence / stride length combinations. When you’re happy, wind the speed up a bit and see which one increases.......

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to UpTheStanley]

Good idea 👌🏽

[Whatsapp Half Marathon]

I tried lookng at my cadence last year, but got bored of counting steps, so I havent given it another thought. As a keen amatuer I don't think its really that important. Just getting out there and running regularly is key. I would say just don't worry about it.

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Whatsapp]

A year on and I'm still thinking about cadence from time to time. Just found my old post. I think I need to forget about it 🤣

[Whatsapp Half Marathon in reply to Tasha99]

I imagine you will be a much happier runner if you do 😉

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Whatsapp]

You're right

[MutleyShuffle Half Marathon]

I have never taken any notice of my cadence - now you have peaked my curiosity I'll have to go and have a look on Strava! I'm pretty sure I will not want to bother changing it though (not on purpose) - as others have said, if it feels comfy, don't worry 😊

[MutleyShuffle Half Marathon]

Just checked my average cadence for my 5 run mile last night - 155! Now I could feel inadequate but I refuse! 😁

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to MutleyShuffle]

I do though! 😂

[MutleyShuffle Half Marathon in reply to Tasha99]

Be interesting to see what your coach says - keep us posted!

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to MutleyShuffle]

Will do 👍🏽