Some of you might know that I just don't have good luck with race photographers -- they usually miss me.  So it took me a long time to figure out that this is actually true, and not just a trick of the camera...

It's not as obvious here as in some other pictures, but when I step forward with my right leg, my left elbow flies out.  The reverse isn't true (my right arm doesn't go crazy when I step forward with my left leg), and I don't feel like it's happening while I'm running, but apparently it is.  I'll spare you the photographic litany that would prove it.

This doesn't strike me as being very efficient.  If I pay attention to it, I can keep my left arm from flying out... by locking my elbow.  Which isn't very efficient, either.  Google isn't being too helpful, so I figured I'd ask here -- how do I fix this without screwing up somewhere else??

My DD does a drill for her XC team. They sit flat on their butts with their legs extended out in front of them. They slowly start swinging their arms forward and back, forward and back. Arms are at a 90 degree angle (give or take), and keep them going forward. Increase the speed until you are going just about as fast as you can. You might look and feel silly, but it's a drill to keep your arms going forward.

I can keep my left arm from flying out... by locking my elbow. 

Yeah you do not want to tense up in any way.

What you can do is work on is pumping your arms up and down in a straight line (gently), as opposed to the elbow out.  When it goes outward, it takes a slight twist of the back or spine to complete the movement, which could cause other problems as it is a repetitive action.

For me, pumping my arms is not really an exaggerated motion unless I am running really, really fast.  When I run easy, they do not move a lot at all.  Indeed, my arm motion is directly related to pace, so maybe you can make this adjustment a lot easier than you think.

I take it this was a race, so you may not be doing it when you run easy.  Still, anything you can do to use less energy to propel yourself forward will reflect in your race times.

Just do not over think it.  It should be natural thing, otherwise you may find yourself locking up.

If I were you, I wouldn't even attempt to change anything that comes naturally to you, unless it was a cause of injury, or pain. In this case, there is no pain and no proof it causes injury. One PT told me recently that I run too straight up, that my pelvis should be more forward and that my stride is probably too short. Yeah, right... Like after 5 years of running and 13 marathons, I'm going to change something like that...

+1

 

Every time I see her I think that her form looks terrible.  Arms going all over the place, feet flailing out to the side.  Then I have a little bit of panic..."As good as she is, if she looks that awkward how bad must I look?"

I don't think there is much you can actually tell about a person just by looking at their running form anymore than you can tell about the effectiveness of a batter by watching their batting stance.  Both are all over the place.

Oski -- that does make sense, actually, since I carry most of my tension in my shoulders/upper back.  And I am a very tense person!

happylily -- I'm not sure it isn't the cause of injury, though.  It's not like I never get hurt, but I can't see how this could possibly be related to any of that.  You never know, I guess.  What LRB says does make some sense -- that it causes a twist to the spine -- and I have had weird back problems that nobody seems to be able to figure out.  And it's not bilateral, either.

LTH -- I never noticed Jeptoo's arm swing, actually, because I was always so taken aback by the way her feet splay out like a duck's!  It's working for her, though; I'm not convinced this is working for me.

And D, of course I look focused; I WAS focused.  On, you know, not having my stitches burst and my face explode.  Or something.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback!!  I happen to have an appointment with my PT tomorrow, so I'll see what he has to say about it... provided I don't forget to bring it up.  (That happens more than you would think -- I forget what I most wanted to ask and then remember five minutes after I leave the clinic.  I have mental problems, I tell you.)

From looking at your pic, your hands look like they're balled up pretty tight.  One thing that works for me to stay relaxed is to keep my hands relaxed.  If I can keep my fingers and hands loose (almost to the point of flopping around), then my arms and shoulders tend to stay loose as well.  Any time I feel my shoulders getting tense (especially on long runs), I'll shake out my arms and then focus for a while on keeping my hands loose.

One thing that a tight mid back does supposedly is cause the lower back to take on more of the motion (and thereby stressing that area).   I also get a lot of back spasms right in the mid-back area.    That's really the only reason why the PT has me working on it - it seems to cause other things to go awry.   Doesn't really affecting my running directly.     I'm interested to hear what your PT says, you know, so we can compare injury notes lol

I remembered, I remembered!!  He says it's probably not as much of a big deal as I think it is, but there are a couple of things I can do to try and "train" my arm to stay down... the way it goes out would be straining my left upper back and my right lower back, and my right lower back is the spot that's disobedient, so maybe this is why.  If it was just that I look like a demented chicken, I wouldn't care, but ever since my back disabled me for a few weeks in the summer of 2011, I kind of freak out whenever I feel the tiniest twinge there!

Maybe I should hire a photographer to follow me around during an easy run so I can see whether I do this at slower paces, too.