whatever it is, i've been trying to pay more attention to form, and in particular stride rate. there's a pretty steady stream of conversation about how both stride length and stride rate affect overall run speed ... with most pundits agreeing that the majority of recreational runners overstride in an effort to increase speed while putting forward too little turnover.
as a result, i've worked on increasing my stride rate (although i haven't yet taken an accurate count, so it could all be in my head) and found correspondingly that i'm able to run faster - particularly during intervals and tempo runs - with less perceived effort.
even though i feel like i've stumbled onto something here, i realize that stride rate and stride length are just some of the simpler parts of the running form equation. just today i was pointed to this great video that outlines some of the finer points of running form - it's definitely worth a watch:
now i'm going to do some active isolation stretches till i'm gumby-like.
It's worth actually measuring your cadence. I do this one of 3 ways.
ReplyDelete1) Run carrying a metronome set to 180bpm. Only practical for short runs, but it's very instructive.
2) subscribe to http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html - you can get a 1-hour music set at the precise BPM you want to run at. Very convenient.
but usually I just do
3) Keep an eye on my watch and count my strides over 30 seconds or a minute.
(and on the topic of form, I think you still run with your arms too low.)
thanks trevor! i will probably try to perform a cadence count this weekend to get a more accurate read on where i'm at (don't have a metronome, so i'll have to just try it your way).
Deleteand it might encourage you to know that i've adapted my arm carriage so that now it's less ryan hall-like and more feyisa lilesa-like (i'm a visual kind of guy).