Running Form (and pasta!)

I haven't felt like I had anything helpful or inspiring to post recently. After today's run though I would like to talk about running form. If you ran on a team you probably had some coaching on this. I've never been in a running club (hopefully one day I will) but I would hope they help their runners with things like this.

Today I did a 4 mile run on the treadmill. Its a great time to check your form for a few reasons:

1) Come on. Its a treadmill. You're bored and staring at the same thing (for me a wall). There's a TV but even when its on somehow I never look at it much.
2) You don't have to worry about where you are going.
3) You don't have to watch out for cars (I'm always running along the road and have to be on the lookout).
4) You can do precise adjustments of your pace to see how your form changes as you go faster (can be done outside too obviously).

My run was somewhat of a tempo run, which is basically where you start easy, then run hard (a little slower than race pace) then slow at the end. I ran my first mile easy in 10:20, my second mile medium 9:11, then my third mile fast at an 8:23 pace. My fourth mile was easy again in 10:23. Monday I did a 4 mile run with negative splits (each mile faster than the previous mile) so this was a little easier but still a good workout.

I really try to concentrate on my form when I'm on the treadmill. Starting with your hands, make sure you do not clench your fists tight. This just uses energy that your legs need. When I was in high school, our track coach would have us practice sometimes while carrying potato chips. We couldn't let them break. I swear even now when I run my hand looks as if I'm holding imaginary chips. It is a great way to learn to relax your hands some. Just don't have them all flopping around either!

Next is your arms. Do not swing across in front of your body. It doesn't help with the forward motion you are doing, so again its wasted energy. I catch myself doing this every once in a while and need to correct it. Something I am not very good at is actually using my arms. Don't just let them swing with the momentum from your movement. If you physically pump your arms back and forth, it helps your legs to move. When I actually remember to do it, I feel like it almost give my legs a little relief. I really need to work on doing it more, it will help especially during my long runs.

My back is another area I'm not perfect with my form. I don't slouch like you would when in a chair, but rather my hips seem to go forward, arching my back. I have to correct this all the time so my back is straight. It changes how my running feels alot.

Today's run was a great time for checking form. I ran slow and could check it, then with the next two progressively faster miles I could see if I was still keeping my form at that pace. The last easy mile when I was super tired is when my form started getting a little sketchy. I'm glad it was my focus today and I realized I probably get worse form all the time when I'm tired. Good to know for my future runs.

I hope this was helpful to some of you in improving your running form. With good form you will waste less energy and can focus it where it needs to be and help your speed! Who doesn't want that?

As a bonus, here is the pasta I made tonight. Runners love pasta!

I usually do this with spaghetti, but this is whole grain rotini with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic salt, parsley, and bread crumbs on it. Sorry I don't have measurements. But lightly coat with olive oil, add lemon juice to taste (I actually like tasting it a little so I add what I would guess is about a tsp), then a light sprinkling of garlic salt and parsley, then lightly coated in bread crumbs. I always put some on, stir it, and if it doesn't seem like enough add a little more. It is healthy and delicious!! My two year old Kylie ate all of hers and a little more. I made enough so that I will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Super yummy!