My sprint practice has taken a backseat over the last month because I’ve been feeling some fatigue around the lower core and to the right of my groin. Back in 2012 I strained something in there and I had to stop running for three months; so I’m very wary of that happening again especially as I’m now over a decade older. I have thrown a couple of sessions in but not been able to video them, so no piccies to show!
Nonetheless I’m still training every day and running longer intervals of 400m to a mile but not as all-out sprints. One day I was out on a typical training session and I’d planned to run 10x400m intervals. Somewhere around the 7th or 8th I became aware of how I was applying force. My leg would swing backwards from its high knee, my foot would hit the ground and then I’d stopped putting in effort and coast over the stationary foot. I immediately knew what I was doing wrong.
Last month I wrote about the mental image of how skateboarders paw the ground to push themselves forward. While I was referring to that in terms of sprint technique and, while on these 400s I wasn’t flat out sprinting, I realised I was doing the equivalent of the skateboarder bringing their foot down to the ground and then half-heartedly pushing through. In effect, creating friction and drag rather than adding energy to the stride.
I’ve written previously about hip extension and how elite runners push their foot back using the glutes until the leg is behind them. Yet it was only in this moment that I actually felt myself not doing this. A moment where I gained the awareness that as soon as my foot hit the ground, I let the ground slow me rather than put in effort to push through with the glute and attack back at the tarmac.
A few days later, on an easy jog, I noticed I was deliberately trying not to put in too much effort. My foot barely left the ground and to push all the way through with the glute felt like I was putting in more effort than I wanted for an easy run. It seems this had become a bad habit that had carried through to faster running.
While I haven’t been able to work on my sprinting, I have been able to focus on this during long intervals by being aware that I’m getting full hip extension and driving the leg through forcefully. It doesn’t always happen because tiredness sets in and those muscles aren’t necessarily used to applying effort all the time for longer periods but it does seem to be happening more regularly.
What I’m finding is that I’m naturally staying up on my toes more and and my glutes are beginning to burn. That’s a surefire sign that the correct muscles are firing.
When I arrived home and uploaded my run, I noticed my cadence graph is looking much smoother. There’s a couple of aberrations in there which happens as I navigate corners and slopes but otherwise it looks unusually smooth.
I went back to the start of October and compared it to what the graph looked liked then. Notably less smooth.
Overall I’m sure this is a good sign for my running. I suspect it may be the first time in my life where I’ve run with a mechanically advantageous stride. And lately I’ve noticed my running is getting quieter. I’m skimming over the ground more than pounding into it which is indicated by what the improved cadence smoothness shows.
Big Red Running 