Hope you all had a good Christmas. I certainly did, and New Year and Serbian Christmas (7th January!) are yet to come!

Will update some more soon on my winter battle against the bulge, but whilst out running the last few weeks, I have been reminded that although running is the easiest activity to just “pick up” and do (you can burn a lot of calories in half and hour), and it can be done in just about any weather, there are some things to remember about running technique which will make the whole exercise (sic) more worthwhile. I don’t speak as an expert, but I did do a bit of running in my time and I want to pass on some tips to fellow cyclists.

I came across this video from RealBuzz.com, which you might want to watch and where you will see a lot of the points I want to mention, and then I will add some of my own below.

Running technique for cyclists (and anyone else)

I often see people out running whose “technique” I would politely describe as inefficient, not to mention possibly damaging. Here are a few things to remember about running, some of which is echoed in the video above:

Avoid the heat: This is obviously more applicable to summertime than now, but I am constantly amazed to see people out running in the midday sun, sweating, in agony, close to collapse..! It’s sheer lunacy! There is nothing to be gained from this - you are putting unnecessary strain on your body this way, and risking dehydration. There is far more sense in waiting for things to cool down in the evening and then having a proper and more meaningful run.

Warm up first: Most muscle inflammation (i.e. not being able to walk the following day) can be avoided by doing simple warm-up exercises beforehand, and then warming down again after. Look up some stretching exercises around the net and make sure you do them, don’t be lazy! You can and should also stop during your run and stretch a few times, but more about that another time.

Build it up: if you decide to go the running route, for goodness’ sakes, don’t go out and run 10 miles the first day, you will regret it the day after and it will do you no real good. Start out with a few miles a day and gradually build up. It’s unlikely you will feel very comfortable with doing more anyway, even if you are reasonably fit in other disciplines like cycling.

Check your technique: right, this is a major bugbear of mine - I see an awful lot of dodgy running technique around, usually comprising of the runner dragging their feet along and barely raising them from the ground, arms practically dangling by their sides, and more or less relying on gravity alone to “fall” from one step to the next. Check out the video above if you haven’t already. You need to:

• keep your head up
• keep your shoulders back and your upper body relaxed
• USE your arms to run with as well as your legs, pump them back and forth (not across the body) with your elbow at 90 degrees and do not clench your fists. In fact I like to keep my hands almost straight. When your arms are pumping, they are helping you run and you will really feel the difference (unlike when they are dangling uselessly by your sides!)
• and last but not least, your legs should actually be doing some work! Your knees should come up to a good height and your feet should actually propel you forward with a good push of the toes as you roll off the back foot, not merely stopping you falling on your face before you plonk the next foot down!

Start working on your running technique and you will actually start to feel as though you are achieving something, rather than just enduring the agony. There’s more to be said about the actual training itself, but I will leave that for another time. In the meanwhile, let us know how you are coping with the cold season and fending off that spare tyre.

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Posted on December 30th, 2007 by markowe
Filed under: Biking - general, MTB Serbia (All)