Coming back from a weekend up in Snowshoe, WV for the Thanksgiving holiday, I got word that the scheduled Q for today’s Rabbit needed to switch days due to a scheduling conflict. No worries. One of the responsibilities of the Site Q is to be ready to step in at any time to lead. It was decided that next week (the week of December 4) would be designated as “Focus on Form” week throughout F3 Churham-land. The various Qs would demonstrate and discuss the importance of proper form and technique for performing exercises. This little scheduling shuffle actually turned out to be a good thing as I committed to do the Murphy Challenge with the Briar Chapel crew during next Tuesday’s Rabbit romp, and thus would have to miss the workout. I decided to get a jump on Form week and plan a little Trail Running 101 overview on basics, including a discussion on form and technique for this morning’s Rabbit. As such, 5 PAX and I got down to business in the gloom.
Trail Running 101: Basics
Injury Prevention
– Gear
– Nutrition, Hydration
– Warm Up, Stretching
– Strength Training
– Form, Technique
– Recovery
Due to time constraints, we didn’t discuss gear, nutrition, hydration, or recovery. All are important and fundamental. There are a couple channels on Slack, one called F3Equipage, and another called F3Wellness, that are helpful and informative. Take the time to invest in good gear. There is a ton of technology used in shoes these days. It is worthwhile to go to a local running store and try on several pairs of shoes and see what is right for you. Same goes for nutrition and hydration. What works for one person may not work for another. Talk with experts, trusted friends, other runners. Research. Read reviews. Experiment (Not on race day, though!).
Always make sure to include time for a proper recovery. We break down muscles during work out days and build them up during rest or recovery days.
Warm Up/Stretching
Many runners, including yours truly, do not take the time for a proper warm up or stretching routine before a run or even a race. Personally, I find that I perform optimally after a good warm up. Also, when the muscles don’t have the opportunity to get up to speed before the rigors of a workout, they are less likely to withstand the stresses or shocks that often come up during a run. YHC led PAX on the following sample warm up, dynamic stretching routine that hit most of the muscles used in trail running:
Heart/Cardio: SSH x20 IC.
Lower Back/Calves: Plank Stretch Series (Face Up, Back Up, Right Calf, Left Calf), 10 Count.
Hamstrings/Shoulders: Walking Straight Leg High Kicks. Come down with opposite arm and touch toe. 20 Yards.
Hips/Glutes: Walking Knee Ups. Reach down with same side hand and place on outer ankle, use opposite hand to pull knee up to chest with each step. 20 Yards.
Quads: Walking Quad Stretch. Step forward, reach back and bend leg up, pull up on ankle to get a good stretch on quad. 20 Yards.
Lower Back/Core: Lunge Walk With Twist. Lunge forward and twist toward the front leg. 20 Yards.
Ankles: Pigeon Walk. Walk on the inside edge of both feet. Duck Walk. Walk on the outside edge of both feet. 20 Yards each.
Hips: Leg Swings. Balance on one leg and swing the free leg forward and back. Try to remain upright and get full range of motion. SC x 10.
Strength Training
Strength training is key to building muscle toughness, resilience, and endurance. Runners often believe that simply going on runs day after day is all that is necessary to be successful. This may be true for the casual runner, but to truly reach one’s full potential, it is critical to build in a solid, consistent strength training plan. Another mistaken belief is that to be a stronger runner, one needs to only focus on leg strength. Again, false. The body is a complex machine and each movement is dependent on a network of primary and complementary muscles working together. To become a strong runner, one must implement a total body program that hits all major muscle groups. If your primary muscle groups are strong, but the neglected complementary muscles are weak, over time, this will lead to injury. For example, many runners have strong quads, hamstrings, and calves from consistent running, however, without a good strength training program that also focuses on their core and glutes, they will often develop issues with their lower back, knees, and hips. YHC led PAX through a quick sample of strength training exercises.
Legs: (1) Squats. Try to get into a deep seated position, back straight, upper leg parallel to ground. (2) Forward Lunge. Step forward, keep forward knee just behind ankle, shin straight. Opposite knee should touch the ground. Keep back straight. (3) Reverse Lunge. Once comfortable, add weights such as dumbbells. Other good exercises include: Jump squats, Step ups, Box jumps, Stair climbs, Hill repeats.
Hips/Lower Back: (1) Leg Raises, Back and Forth, and Side to Side. (2) Hip Raises. Stand next to a wall and extend arm out. Balance on outer leg, pull knee closest to wall up. Lift hip up to touch wall. 15-20 reps, both sides. (3) Superman.
Core/Back/Upper Body: (1) Regular and 4 Point Plank. Hold regular plank position. Focus on keeping a straight line from shoulders down to ankles, keeping butt in alignment. For 4 Point, raise each limb in succession and hold up for a 3-5 count. Try to maintain a straight plank position, don’t allow the body to twist or shift to compensate. Make the core work to keep straight. This is important when running as you want to maintain an solid, upright position with the core engaged to prevent slumping over, twisting, or sagging. (2) BW Man Makers. Another good core and upper body exercise taken from the Navy Seal workout. Squat down like you are initiating a burpee. Kick both feet back and get into a plank position. Do a merkin, but as you come up, do a one handed row. Do another merkin and as you come up do a one handed row with the other arm. Do another merkin, and this time complete the burpee by pulling back to a squat position, and execute a thruster, jump. That is one rep. Again, try not to twist or shift the body to compensate. Make the core work to keep the body straight as you execute the one arm rows. Once comfortable, add dumbbells.
Form and Technique Fundamentals
Posture/Efficiency
Just like any other type of exercise, there is an ideal body positioning when it comes to running. You want to maintain a “strong, upright” posture when out on the trails. This means stand tall, head up, back straight, core engaged, shoulders back, and allow your chest to lead. You also want to maintain a slight forward lean – not from the waist, but from the ankles. Chi Running offers a good exercise that helps encourage this ideal body posture. You start in a tall, upright standing position, then slowly, allow your body to fall forward, leading with your head and bending only at the ankles. As gravity pulls you forward, take a step and continue moving forward, maintaining this body position. It may be awkward at first, but eventually, it will begin to feel more natural. This technique also allows you to develop running economy, or efficiency, as it allows gravity to provide momentum to propel you forward.
As mentioned earlier, many runners tend to forget about the upper body when running. However, arms play a major role in maintaining good running form. Many recreational runners will barely use their arms, tucking them way up near their chest, or cross them at the chest as they come forward. Any movement that is not forward will reduce efficiency. The ideal position is to have your arms in a 90 degree angle, swinging smoothly, straight back and forth, not too high. Arms can also help power you forward by swinging them more aggressively when you up the pace or attack hills. When tackling more technical terrain or running downhill, the arms can be held out like rudders to help maintain balance and control, and steer you along a winding path. In trail running, it is good form to get the arms involved.
Although a good arm swing will improve your running, what you want to avoid is any type of hip swing or dip, or any type of body twisting. You should aim to keep your hips strong and stable. Often times, you will see lazy or fatigued runners that plod along and allow their hips to swing and dip, sort of like a less exaggerated version of those Olympic walk racers. This is poor form which will lead to hip and knee problems. In fact, hips that sag or dip is often the root cause for IT band issues, or outer knee pain, in addition to lower back issues. Hip strengthening exercises like the hip raises discussed above will help prevent this type of problem. Similarly, you want to keep the shoulders straight ahead and your body upright and straight. You don’t want to allow you body to twist with each step as it puts undue stress and tension on the lower back and rob you of your forward momentum.
Foot Fall/Leg Motion
Run light, like you are running on eggshells! Keep your steps nice and light, don’t allow your feet to come down hard, pounding the pavement. One piece of advice I tell my son who is starting cross country in middle school is if you can hear your steps as you run, you are running too “heavy.” Try to run silently. This prevents coming down and putting too much weight or force into each step, which is the primary reason why trail runners injure their ankles. By keeping your steps light, you are more nimble and agile, and as a result, better able to react to, tackle, and anticipate uneven terrain or obstacles on the trail. YHC led the PAX through a couple agility drills that help keep the gait light and protect ankles, such as the side to side ski shuffle (hopping side to side, quickly from foot to foot), suicides, and weave running.
A current trend these days is this idea that you should try to prevent heel striking at all costs in favor of mid foot or fore foot landings. I am not 100% sold on this concept. First, there have been many studies that show that the vast majority of top, elite runners actually heel strike. Second, there are many folks who actually end up hurting themselves worse by forcing their natural run gait and form in order to get their foot to always land mid foot. The bigger issue, in my opinion, is over-striding. Now, I know what you are thinking…don’t these two things go hand in hand? Well, yes and no. See, I believe over-striding almost always leads to heel striking, however, heel striking does not necessarily mean you are over-striding. So, what is over-striding? And why is it the devil? Over-striding is when you are extending your front leg so that it comes down in front of your center of mass. Many new runners who want to push their pace will often do this as they think the way to go faster is to take longer steps or strides, so they end up reaching forward with their front leg. The problem with over-striding is that with each step you are coming down at a backwards angle, with a straight leg and locked knees, which actually halts forward progress for a moment until you are able to force your weight through it. You are in essence using your legs like pole vaults as you roll through each step. I described this sort of motion as driving on the highway with one foot on the gas and the other on the brakes. No bueno.
Regardless of whether you are heel or mid foot striking, the key is to make sure your foot hits right under your center of mass. This is what will provide stability and even distribution of force that is not going to concentrate in the hinge joints, like the knees or hips, or your shins. This also goes hand in hand with the Chi Running posture, where you maintain forward momentum by landing under, rather than in front, of your body. YHC led the PAX through a couple exercises that help encourage proper leg motion. One is the high knees with a stomp. You perform high knees, but try not to lean backwards like a drum major, but instead stay upright or forward and come down with a shuffle hop/stomp. This exercise actually gets the body into the proper position and encourages the right foot fall. Another good exercise to encourage proper leg turnover is the butt kicker. This can be done by lifting the leg up and back with every step, or every every 3rd or 4th step. Again, the focus is trying to get the foot to land under your center of mass.
Cadence
No running form discussion is complete without mentioning cadence. In fact, in my opinion, cadence may be the single most important factor in improving one’s running form.
There are two factors that govern running speed. One is stride length, the other is cadence. Stride length is pretty straight forward – it is the distance traveled with each step. Cadence is the basically the number of times your foot hits the ground each minute. Everyday runners usually have a cadence that hovers around 155 to 170 steps per minute, whereas more experienced and elite runners strike the ground around 180 steps or more per minute. Why is this important? The higher your cadence, the faster you are moving your feet through the gait cycle and the less force you are experiencing with each step. Also, when you up your cadence, you are spending less time in an up and down motion, and more time moving forward. This in turn increases running economy as there is less wasted energy.
I remember a discussion I had with a friend who was frustrated with his pace. He felt he had decent endurance, but wanted to get faster. He felt that the answer was to elongate his stride. Now, it is true, many elite runners have very impressive stride lengths. Average stride length for elite marathon runners can range from 1.4 to almost 2 meters (about 5 to 7 feet). However, they also have many years of hard core training which has allowed them to perfect their running form. In other words, their stride length may be huge, but if you watch them, they employ a very rapid leg turnover and every step still falls right under their center of mass. If you calculate their cadence, it is likely above 180 steps per minute. In comparison, when the casual, inexperienced runner deliberately tries to elongate their stride, chances are their steps will be slow and lumbering, at a much lower cadence, and they will likely over-stride. Ironically, the best way for my friend, and most average runners, to increase pace is to shorten their stride length and up their cadence.
A couple good ways to practice increasing cadence is to download and install a metronome app on your phone, set it to 180 beats per minute and practice stepping down with every beat. Another option is to find and download songs that are 180 beats per minute or more and again, try to match each step to each beat. At first, it may seem or feel odd, but the more you practice, again, the more natural it will feel. This single exercise alone will dramatically improve your overall running form, leading to less injuries, and more enjoyable running experience.
Breathing
A quick note about breathing. This is another thing that many folks don’t really pay any attention to, however, the body is an engine that relies on oxygen. Employing a good breathing pattern will help supply the muscles with fresh oxygen and nutrients to keep you running longer and stronger. One technique I like to use is the “In-In-Out” method, where you time your breaths in and out with each step. This helps as your exhale will alternate from foot to foot so that it doesn’t always land on the same side.
Lesson Over – Now Time To Get Out And Run!
YHC led PAX from the AO down Great Ridge to the gravel road. We entered the walking trail by the water retention pond at the end of Great Ridge. Right before the bridge, there is a steep descent. YHC briefly discussed proper downhill running form. You want to maintain an upright stance, making sure you land in the center of your mass. Envision quickly tribblng down a set of stairs, taking short, quick steps. We then ran then length of Pokeberry to the Bennett Mountain bridge. Just after the bridge, we stopped at the base of the Catullo Run hill climb, right after the bridge. YHC discussed proper uphill running form. Maintain an upright body position and use arms to propel you forward. Attack the hill by engaging your core and using your quads and glutes to climb. Avoid bending over or slumping at the waist. Strange Brew added that you should also shorten the stride length and increase cadence while moving up the hill. We then ran up the hill all the way to the top and circled around the back end of the trail down to Catullo Run crossing/lot. The group continued a little ways further, just passed the bridges to the powerline section when YHC looked at the time. We decided to turn around and retrace our steps back to the AO, using Briar Chapel Parkway after the Bennett Mountain bridge. Total distance: 3 Miles.
COT/BOM
Due to the forms and technique discussion, we had a bit of a shortened trail run, and the workout went a bit over time. The PAX gathered around for a quick COT Name-o-Rama, then YHC closed the session out with a brief wrap up about the importance of maintaining form and preventing injuries, especially as we enter into the dark, cold winter months. YHC also discussed the importance of maintaining proper form in our mind, body, and spirit during the holidays, by being mindful, being thankful, and being respectful to all of our brothers and sisters. Be well and have a great Tuesday. Aye!