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Relaxation--key to good running (Read 1420 times)

    http://blip.tv/chasingkimbiacom-video-blog/hill-sprints-1389339

     

    Is this guy really Hudson coaching this skinny dude?  If so, I'm disappointed.  This is the exactly reason why I personally don't like short sharp hill sprint too early in the season or even a workout like Tabata sprints when they are not quite ready for it (meaning, you start building nice and easy at first before you can handle this kind of workout).  This skinny dude is clearly starting to struggle.  I see this all the time in the fall when some unfit football players try to "get in shape" by sprinting up the short hill as fast as they can.  This is what they look like.  The objective is to get up there fast--or "seemingly" fast.  As the result, they tense up and, in effect, they actually slow down.  This is NOT the way to teach yourself to run fast.  You have to learn to run like a ballet dancer; not like a bodybuilder.  You want supple muscles like a deer, not like a bull.

     

    I'd be really curious to see those Kenyan runners Canova coaches, using this short sharp hill sprints--if they look as tensed up as this guy is.

    DanMoriarity


      I agree, Nobby. This guy is really tense in the upper body, not what I'd like to see from a distance runner, or any runner for that matter. He'd be better off to take the intensity down a notch or two and run with a more fluid, relaxed motion.

       

      I liked your comment, " ... run like a ballet dancer, not a bodybuilder." I couldn't agree more.

        I agree, Nobby. This guy is really tense in the upper body, not what I'd like to see from a distance runner, or any runner for that matter. He'd be better off to take the intensity down a notch or two and run with a more fluid, relaxed motion.

         

        I liked your comment, " ... run like a ballet dancer, not a bodybuilder." I couldn't agree more.

        Not just the upper body.  You can see this guy is pointing his right foot way out.  Now, he MAY run like this to begin with (probably because of what he does and how he does it!) but you can tell his knee-lift is gone and, on the top of that, he's struggling to run up fast and he's trying to move his feet forward as much as he could and this is usually what you see--your toes pointing way out.

         

        I'm glad you liked that comment.  Of course, all I did was to re-phrase what Arthur Lydiard said back in the early 1960s.  You go to letsrun.com and a whole bunch of people (well, actually probably a few under many different names...) trash Lydiard saying he's outdated.  Yet, I just copy what he had said and someone like you, who probably had no idea what someone like Lydiard had said, agrees.  What does that tell you?  It still works.  After 50 years, it still holds the truth.

         

        The famous line here at RA is "run easy run lots..."  What it does is not just work on your heart and lungs.  It gradually and surely strengthen your tendons and ligaments--by going the distance.  You also learn to run relaxed.  Once it's done, you work on hills AT SLOW FORWARD MOMENTUM to strengthen your legs further.  THEN you run fast.  By then, you should be able to run fast relaxed.

          Hmm yea he does seem pretty tense.

           

          Wonder if the length had anything to do with it? I seem to remember (could be wrong) that Canova liked them to be like 6-8 seconds in length, and many of them in this video appear to be around 15 seconds or so.

          They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. "If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a Board and knock me down, because that means I didn't run hard enough" If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. "Don't fear moving slowly forward...fear standing still."

          stadjak


          Interval Junkie --Nobby

            You get a better idea of the white guy's stride in the 10xMile video.

             

            http://blip.tv/chasingkimbiacom-video-blog/10-x-mile-1417681

             

            It's interesting to see his form; you don't see the form of a lot of very tall runners.  And you certainly don't see them with a forefoot strike and a huge back-kick.  By necessity there's a lot more leg motion going on to carry that foot around at the end of that long pole.

             

            Relaxed or not a 4:47 mile in 10x repeats is nothing to sneeze at.

            2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

            BeeRunB


              Interesting video. I know hill repeats are for building strength, but I thought you were to keep your form as well.

               

               

              The second video, he looks pretty good. 

                It is interesting to see how relaxed the shorter guy looks, much less arm motion, he simply looks more efficient running at the same pace.

                PBs since age 60:  5k- 24:36, 10k - 47:17. Half Marathon- 1:42:41.

                                                    10 miles (unofficial) 1:16:44.

                 

                  "In training, I would practice threshold runs with a heart rate monitor and, once I was going at maximum, I would scout for areas of tension in my body and see if I could relax them.  Most often I could increase my pace by a few seconds without any increase in heart rate just by letting go.  We think that faster means more effort.  My intention was to go faster with less effort."

                   

                  Lorraine Moller

                  "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

                  -- Dick LeBeau


                  Why is it sideways?

                    I totally agree that relaxation is a key to good running, but some runners struggle with relaxation. It seems like this guy struggles with it. I am not so sure that we can draw any conclusions about the effectiveness of Hudson or Canova's hill sprints from the fact that this guy is struggling with relaxation. For all we know, he is working on relaxation at high intensities in the very video that we are watching!!


                    12-week layoff

                      I teach my distance runners to run with "Rafiki hands."  We all sit in the grass and hold our hands out to the side like Rafiki in The Lion King, with index fingers and thumbs lightly touching.  We all say "Ommmmm" and close our eyes and meditate for a minute.  Then I get them to stand up in a running stance, but keep "Rafiki hands" with the thumb and forefinger lightly touching (making a sort of O with the two fingers).  No balled-up fists.  If I notice a kid with high shoulders and a tense back, all I say is "Rafiki hands," and the kid visibly relaxes.  It's better to say what to do (Rafiki hands) than what not to do (don't tense up!  No balled up fists!).

                        I teach my distance runners to run with "Rafiki hands."  We all sit in the grass and hold our hands out to the side like Rafiki in The Lion King, with index fingers and thumbs lightly touching.  We all say "Ommmmm" and close our eyes and meditate for a minute.  Then I get them to stand up in a running stance, but keep "Rafiki hands" with the thumb and forefinger lightly touching (making a sort of O with the two fingers).  No balled-up fists.  If I notice a kid with high shoulders and a tense back, all I say is "Rafiki hands," and the kid visibly relaxes.  It's better to say what to do (Rafiki hands) than what not to do (don't tense up!  No balled up fists!).

                         

                        that's a great idea!  Any advice on what to do if a kids hands are flopping... hands wide open and there's a lot of swivel of the hands at the wrist.

                        Perhaps the same thing... keep the thumb and forefinger lightly touching...

                          It's better to say what to do than what not to do.

                           

                          +1

                           

                           

                           

                           


                          12-week layoff

                            Yep, same thing.  We do a whole bit with the Rafiki hands, then I tell them the arms should move from the shoulders.

                            that's a great idea!  Any advice on what to do if a kids hands are flopping... hands wide open and there's a lot of swivel of the hands at the wrist.

                            Perhaps the same thing... keep the thumb and forefinger lightly touching...

                            bhearn


                              You have to learn to run like a ballet dancer; not like a bodybuilder. 

                               

                              Which explains how this guy always gets to Boston.

                               

                               

                                Heh yep I got tutu-ed by that guy last year while I was death-marching down Beacon St. He seemed like he was having a lot more fun than I was. I was not running relaxed just then.

                                A list of my PRs in a misguided attempt to impress people that do not care.

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