not bad for mile 25
Hi BeeFers!
I'm hoping to become a fully fledged BF runner, and thanks to your excellent advice, I've done a couple of BF miles, and tonight a mileandahalfer, all with no problem. They felt great, in fact. My question now is, how best to improve my pace, since it's like two minutes off my shod pace. I'm doing what feels like a fast cadence (no tools to actually check, though). Should I continue to try to make it faster, should I lengthen my stride a bit, or a bit of both?
Hi BeeFers! I'm hoping to become a fully fledged BF runner, and thanks to your excellent advice, I've done a couple of BF miles, and tonight a mileandahalfer, all with no problem. They felt great, in fact. My question now is, how best to improve my pace, since it's like two minutes off my shod pace. I'm doing what feels like a fast cadence (no tools to actually check, though). Should I continue to try to make it faster, should I lengthen my stride a bit, or a bit of both?
My recommendation is to keep a steady quick cadence (85-95) and shorten/lengthen your stride to run slower/faster.
Um, are your cadence numbers referring to two steps per count? Jason Robillard, for example, recommends a cadence of 180-210.
Yup, the 180 - 210 cadence seems to be the magic number. I recommend playing around with even faster cadences every once in a while too.
To learn how to pick up the pace, first be PATIENT. It can take a while to figure out how to generate speed without the aid of shoes.
1. lead with the hips. Pretend there's a rope around your waist pulling you.
2. Don't lengthen your stride. Make the wheel bigger. Your feet should always land underneath you, never in front of you.
3. Hills. Especially descents. Relax into it, focusing on matching the speed of the ground passing underneath with your feet.. If your feet are too slow, you'll skid. Too fast, you'll push off. Both result in blisters.
4. Relax, relax, relax.
5. Lift the feet, don't land them.
6. Let gravity do the work. Running = falling. All your legs are doing is keeping your torso from crashing to the ground.
Good luck with all that. I'm no expert when it comes to speed, but I'm working on it.
Oh, yes, of course. I always think of cadence as revolutions per minute (like spinning the pedals on a bike one full round). Sorry for not making that clear!
1. lead with the hips. Pretend there's a rope around your waist pulling you. 2. Don't lengthen your stride. Make the wheel bigger. Your feet should always land underneath you, never in front of you. 3. Hills. Especially descents. Relax into it, focusing on matching the speed of the ground passing underneath with your feet.. If your feet are too slow, you'll skid. Too fast, you'll push off. Both result in blisters. 4. Relax, relax, relax. 5. Lift the feet, don't land them. 6. Let gravity do the work. Running = falling. All your legs are doing is keeping your torso from crashing to the ground. Good luck with all that. I'm no expert when it comes to speed, but I'm working on it.
Great tips!
Another tip is to check out Chi Running (www.chirunning.com) if you haven't already, it's a great approach to running.