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More efficient running style

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GlennR Apr 2013 11:14am, 26 Apr 2013 7,218 posts	Quote Pin GlennR Probably why gazelles don't usually run for 26 miles...
Canute Apr 2013 5:02pm, 26 Apr 2013 616 posts	Quote Pin Canute The video showed a short clip of some gazelles on the way to a pretty fast NY marathon.
richh Apr 2013 4:52pm, 27 Apr 2013 633 posts	Quote Pin richh I suspect strength:body mass ratio goes a long way to predicting who is a gazelle and who is a glider.
Canute Apr 2013 7:18pm, 27 Apr 2013 618 posts	Quote Pin Canute Richh That appears reasonable, but I wonder if maybe lesser ability to capture elastic energy at foot fall also leads to gliding. I was aware that I have more of a glider as I have grown older. My cadence has increased (typically around 190 but often over 200 steps per minute I try to increase pace) while my elevation per step has decreased. At first I put this down to loss of strength. In an attempt to remedy this I undertook a systematic program of leg and core strength development in the final four month of 2012. This went very well and achieved increased my 5 rep maximum for squats of a little over 230 lbs. This is actually better than Mo Farah achieved in his strength development program prior to the Olympics. Since I am lighter than Mo and substantially more than twice his age, I felt quite pleased with progress However, it appears to have contributed little to my perhaps unrealistic goal of becoming a gazelle (whereas Mo is still a wonderful gazelle). I can no longer blame my atrophied muscles for my serious loss of speed However, age has taken its toll on the elasticity in my legs. My hopping performance had decreased seriously in recent years. It did not recover even after the recovery of strength. So at this stage I think it is the loss of elasticity that is turning me into a glider. As for why Chrissie Wellington is a glider, I have little idea but I suspect that it might be a non-conscious mental strategy to minimise risk of injury when tired. There is little doubt that her style is a bit less efficient than Mirinda Carfrae (the gazelle). It is noteworthy that on the two occasions when Wellington and Carfrae went head-to-head in the world ironman championship, on each occasion Wellington won the overall event but on both occasions Carfrae ran the faster marathon. In my opinion Wellington is/was the greatest female triathlete ever but Carfrae is the more efficient (and faster) marathon runner.
richh Apr 2013 7:44pm, 27 Apr 2013 634 posts	Quote Pin richh Canute, That is a bit discouraging that your strength training did not pay off. Do you have a plan to regain elasticity?
Canute Apr 2013 9:38pm, 27 Apr 2013 619 posts	Quote Pin Canute Richh, I have not given up yet. I have several plans. The approach with the greatest likelihood of short term success would be systematic program of plyometrics. However this creates a risk of injury unless done very carefully. Furthermore, I am concerned that in the long term the repeated microscopic tearing of muscles incurred during plyometrics might actually lead to long term loss of elasticity. (I sometimes wonder whether extensive amounts of running also ultimately impairs elasticity by a similar process. In general, the elite veterans (eg Ed Whitlock) had a long period of not running in their late 30’s and 40’s.). The second option is trampolining: This might be regarded as a gentler form of plyometrics. I tried it last year before I did the program of lifting but without much evidence of benefit. I am about to recommence trampolining again to see if is more successful now that I have recovered strength. The third option is power lifting. So far in my lifting program I have concentrated on strength by lifting heavy weights slowly. Lifting moderate weight faster would be more likely to develop power (the ability to move a load quickly). However I think the risk of injury is greater with power lifting so I will work on my lifting technique a bit more before trying serious power lifting. The fourth thing to consider is more stretching. In principle, this might improve the alignment of the collagen fibres in my tendons, but I do not know of any evidence that it makes you into a gazelle. Nonetheless, I think for elderly athletes, a moderate amount of stretching is good for tendon health and I am therefore increasing the amount of stretching I do. The final thing is drills to improve neuromuscular coordination. Last year, near the end of my preparation for the Robin Hood HM I was dismayed by how much I am regressed to slow plodding during a period of relatively high volume training. During the taper, I focussed mainly on hopping and skipping drills, primarily to improve neuromuscular coordination, though these might also be described as a form of gentle plyometrics. The drills produced a quite dramatic improvement in my stride. In the photo that I submitted to the awesome face thread you can see that I am still more like a glider than a gazelle. (http://www.fetcheveryone.com/userprofile.php?id=13360&show=pictures) In fact, I look more like a deranged bison than either a glider or a gazelle. However considering that at this stage of the race (the final few hundred metres) I was utterly exhausted, I was pleased to see that I was at least getting airborne So in summary, trampolining will be my main focus in the near future supported by some stretching and some skipping & hopping drills, but if this proves inadequate, I will probably introduce additional plyometrics and power lifting.
SPR Apr 2013 9:59pm, 27 Apr 2013 18,339 posts	Quote Pin SPR Powerlifting is pretty much what you do now Canute (the name is misleading). Olympic weightlifting is what you want to do. Arm swings are also good.
Canute Apr 2013 10:46pm, 27 Apr 2013 620 posts	Quote Pin Canute SPR yes, I agree. I was using the terminology of a physicist or perhaps an English language pedant, but not the terminology by used by lifters, so to avoid confusion I should say that Olympic lifting is what I need to do. However, I think Olympic lifts require a bit more skill than the heavy lifts I have been doing. I am working on improving my form with cleans. Perhaps even more of an issue is the fact that I cannot drop my cast irons weights to the floor, so I need to control the descent. I am not sure what you mean by arm swings. I am inclined to think that use of the hams and glutes to drive the lift is likely to be the most useful thing for a runner, and therefore I intend to work on hang clean technique next. What do you think of hang cleans for the development of the power need for running fast?
SPR Apr 2013 11:23pm, 27 Apr 2013 18,340 posts	Quote Pin SPR Canute - Arm swings refer to this: exrx.net I do them with dumbbells. Another misleading name as the power comes from the hips/legs. The hang clean should be pretty good as it starts from the acceleration point in the normal clean and it would be good for developing the skill for the full clean. Controlling descents would make cleans very hard. I do the full clean & jerk but can drop the weight as the gym floor can take it + the weights are proper Olympic weightlifting weights.
Canute Apr 2013 11:54pm, 27 Apr 2013 621 posts	Quote Pin Canute SPR, thanks for the link to the arm swings. I will look into that further. Thanks also for your thoughts on the hang clean. In fact I had been working on clean technique (with only a few Kg on the Olympic bar) as a step towards doing hang cleans. In light of the problems with doing clean and jerk without the proper Olympic plates, I think I will see what hang cleans do for me before considering getting some proper Oly plates. But I also have the other things on my list, as described above, and will actually be focussing more emphasiis on trampolining etc in the near future