Running Form Revamp

Image of Clip Art Runner

Last week, I carefully revamped my running form. I am apprehensive since my last form change resulted in injury, ultimately sidelining me for two weeks. Therefore, I have been incorporating these changes slowly and sparingly.

I have been lifting my legs higher as I run. I watched YouTube videos from James Dunne, who suggests lifting your legs higher to increase cadence. I realize my cadence doesn’t need to be 180 steps per minute, but I average in the upper 150s for long runs and would benefit from an increased cadence. He also recently uploaded a video analyzing running form and showed that the lower leading leg should be parallel to the trailing leg at push-off. This causes you to land with a flexing knee with your foot under your body to prevent overstriding. This reduces ground contact time (GCT). According to the running dynamics on my Garmin, I could use some improvement to reduce my GCT. Reducing GCT makes you a faster, more efficient runner; there is less time for the ground to slow you down.

Holly Martin recently released a video on shin splints and included a tip from an earlier video that I forgot about. She recommends that runners practice by running in place, lifting their feet straight up, and extending their knees forward to make a number 4 shape with their legs. When you are ready to run, you should lean your body forward from your ankles and push your hips forward like someone is pushing you from your hips. (You might remember that I worked on driving my hips forward at the start of 2024.) When you follow Holly’s advice, your leading leg calf is suddenly parallel to your trailing leg calf at push-off. Your foot lands underneath you, preventing overstriding and reducing the load on your shin.

Lifting my legs higher increases my cadence, consequently increasing my heart rate. Since I am utilizing low heart rate training, I must train my body to be accustomed to the increased movement at a lower heart rate. I’ll keep peppering in these form checks and look for improvements in GCT and cadence at a lower heart rate.

Have you ever studied your running form? Let me know in the comments below.

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