Hi All.
I have just started to run again after 8 months of not doing so. Before that I was a jogger with more enthusiasm than style.On tonights run I was very aware of some things that seem wrong but I don`t know how to fix.
1. How much should I be rolling through my feet and pushing off with my toes? I seem to hold my feet very stiffly and my foot comes off the ground at a very sharp angle (toes pointing sort of upwards). I also feel that I hit the ground very hard.Is this all wrong? When I try to roll through my toes it seems very tiring but is that just `cause I am not used to it, and could this be why I sometimes get sore knees and a sore back?Does it also slow me down?( my PB is 10k in 60.10 )
2. Also is there a breathing formula I should use. I seem naturally to breath on every 3rd stride( 3 in 3 out) at a comfortable pace and every 2 when working harder, throwing in a 3 or even 4 when I feel I need extra oxygen. I have heard however that I should be doing 2 as the norm, That 3 means I am not working hard enough and that the breathing pattern is very relevant to performance. Is that the case and what do you find best?
Sorry there seem to be a lot of questions in that section. Hope some one can help.
Thanks.
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Comments
to get into a natural running stride try walking fast, then naturally increasing your pace. as for the breathing, i do the 2/2 breathing for any speed, because the breathing is slower with slower footfalls, and gets more rapid if i'm sprinting. i think it's a case of whatever works for you, but make sure your breathing deeply and correctly (belly breathing) and maybe someone else will have some additional advice...
good luck, anyway!
2)With the breathing, just forget about it.
Realy, your body will try & take as much oxygen as it can by breathing from your nose & mouth at the same time. So just try not to think about it, look at the world around you & enjoy your running.
If your worried about how hard you're training maybe get a heart rate monitor or try the same circuit once a week & timimg yourself. This should give you an idea of how your fitness is coming along.
Best of luck
PM
Once you get the hang of it it wil come naturally and you won't have to think about it continuously, but ignore it at your peril.
All the best
jenks
For the first time ever, I paid attention to my breathing last night. Now bear in mind, even though I have run a marathon in the past, I'm actually still pretty much a novice to this.
I ran the 2-strides-per-breath method, and found I actually had some spare juice left in the last half-mile for the first time ever.
But I think it's probably right to go with what works for you. I'll certainly be paying closer attention to my breathing in future....
foot action I've never thought of, but it seems I should. I find that i'm lucky enough to have a fairly natural heel strike at a good distance pace and then can rise onto my toes when sprinting/ascending steep hills. mind you my stride length isn't much to write home about.
BTW SP all the above do not apply when tackling your nemesis, then its gasp pant stagger.
I have a neutral gait/foot strike but when I started running (about 2 years ago) I used to hit the ground very, very hard with my heels and the first few miles of any run (even when doing 20 miles) hurt like hell. You could here me coming a mile off as my feet thwacked the pavement - slap,slap,slap, ouch, ouch, slap etc.
Things are a lot easier now - no pain and no heavy heel strike. Partly I think due to being fitter and stronger, but I also make a conscious effort to try to run "quietly". If I think softly, softly, I don't hit the ground as hard, which equals no pain. I also think it helps that I run about 1 minute per mile faster on most runs. If I try to run real slow, it can start to muck things up again!
Blimey, what a ramble!
Neil
Neilruns...Thanks for the info about footstrike. I did try to run softly yesterday and although it was a big mental effort to remember it, it wasn`t so painful and I seemed to run through my foot more than before. I`ll keep trying.