Forums >General Running>Cadence Training
How To Run a Marathon: Step 1 - start running. There is no Step 2.
Professional Noob
Roads were made for journeys...
I am a solid believer in stride rate drills. While distance is very dependent on "getting in miles" (i.e., building endurance), improving your running form will allow you to run faster (and safer) while using the same effort. I'm not qualified to give a full explanation, but the published evidence is out there (both Pfitzinger and Daniels have written on the subject, if I recall correctly). Besides, whats seems strange about stride rate being an important component of running efficiency? Surely its not a coincidence that virtually every elite runner happens to run at the same stride rate. And if you trust Pfitz to help you improve your "lactate threshold" and your "v dot", why would you think he's wrong about stride rate?
Abs of Flabs
I'm also curious as to how your physical makeup relates to cadence - won't the 6'4" guy taking 180 steps/minute go way faster and farther than 5'1" me unless I'm taking gigantanormous strides?
Again, the science is somewhat beyond me, but the following pae may give some insight -- http://mysite.verizon.net/jim2wr/id109.html.
Again, the science is somewhat beyond me, but the following pae may give some insight -- http://mysite.verizon.net/jim2wr/id109.html. In summary, leg length (i.e., height) has a smaller kinetic impact on stride length than you might assume. In addition, any advantage that height might add to stride length is offset by the disadvantage of increased weight of the taller runner.
Form is not cadence. They may be related, but they are not the same. I have done form drills, I have done striders. Improvement of your overall form will of course make you more efficient, allowing you to maintain speed over a greater period of time. But you cadence is not QUITE the same thing.
Besides that, those are specific workouts designed with that specific purpose. Additionally, I don't think that Pfitzinger et al. specifically tell you to run with a metronome to work on cadence during your regular runs (I could be wrong, though, feel free to correct if I am). I know the math involved, the physics. I don't think the science behind it is voodoo, just the methodologies that some people are using.
Additionally, people are missing the other gains that could be made, mostly be increasing stride length along with it.
I was joking about the stride length action, btw... though I used to be a gymnast and I had to do split leaps across the floor. I do need to work some drills into my runs though. I will say that when I worked on my cadence in cycling I did get faster - I had a series of cadence-based workouts I used in conjunction with a cadence meter on my bike. It led to a much more efficient pedal stroke for me, and thus, less energy being wasted. I used to be a masher. Again, not the same as running, but I do think about sometimes. I'm not sure if upping my run cadence would yield similar effects as my current run cadence is near the "optimal" rate, though it would be interesting to experiment with.
Now that was a bath...
I was looking to see if anyone specifically tried to hit a desired number or if they did some level of workout that has a specific goal of increasing stride rate. I'm not trying to spark a distinct argument, more of a lively debate.