Tuesday, July 27, 2010

New Running Form?

Hey everyone! I am training for the St George marathon on October 2nd (which I hope to see many of there!). I was sick most of last year, so in some ways I feel like I am just coming back to running. My training is going well and I am feeling pretty good. This last week I spent some time with a good friend of mine who happens to also be an amazing runner. She has run Boston a few times and also cut a lot of time off her marathon by changing her running form. I am a running coach, but I do not focus on form because I have always thought you should just run how your body is comfortable. Well, today on my run, I tried to run the way Shauna suggested. It felt awkward at first but I noticed my breathing felt more effortless, but my quads and hamstrings were getting worked more. I guess that is the point. When you run with your feet more under your body, you are using your legs more to push off, which is where your power comes from.

My question to all of you amazing ladies is, have you changed your form before? Was it worth it? Should I do this with 10 weeks left or am I crazy?!

Thanks!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd be careful. I changed my form at one point (not with the same help you had, however) and ended up with injuries. Then a coach told me to run the way that was natural to me and so I did. After the marathon might be a better time to experiment.

Sarah said...

I have, I read ChiRunning a few years ago and have never looked back! I keep it out to reference from time to time and it's been quite the running tool throughout the years.

Elizabeth said...

Probably not the best to do before a race, I didn't really change my form but I became more aware of it by making sure my arms are not swinging across my body and I have a good posture, made a difference.

Sarai said...

I've read Chi Running too. It is one of those books where you find yourself going "OOOHHH...AAAAHH....WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?" the whole time. I do notice the difference when I try to keep my posture, even though I never know if I am doing it right. I mostly remember to check my posture when going uphill, it helps A LOT. I don't think it would hurt to try.

Kelly(M&M) said...

Thanks for all the responses. I just read Born to Run which I really enjoyed and it talked about the same running form. (It also mentioned Chi running which I need to read now!) I realized that the form isn't too different from how I already run, so now I just try to be a little more aware. I especially use it when I go uphills. We will see how it goes in my race on Saturday! Thanks again!