On 25 Jan 2004 04:54:08 GMT,
[email protected] (Lyndon) wrote:
>Here's a reference for you: "Better Training For Distance Runners," p. 26. This is a photo of Steve
>Cram beating Coe in a 1500, but with Cram's leg turned SIDEWAYS. Cram had so much talent that a few
>years ago he "jogged" the London Marathon in 2:35--while chatting away on a headphone doing live
>interviews for the BBC! If he had Coe's injury history, El Guerrouj might still be trying to break
>Cram's WR. But Cram's biomechanics impacted his training and probably shortened his career. He had
>many injury problems. So form IS an issue at the international level.
I didn't say never, I said rarely.
If you're going to hark back to that era, take look at a picutre of Cram next to Ovett. Ovett,
belive me, was a big guy at his racing weight. Cram was even bigger. I belive that Cram's injury
record - which wasn't too bad - was more related to his sheer physical size than to his technique.
He was actually quite a smooth runner on track, and made far less noise than Ovett did when he
thundered past you..
>In many cases, injury prevention IS the reason to change running style....If you're a heel striker.
>AT, PF, ITB, shinsplints and others can all have origins in heel striking or uncorrected
>overpronation.
All may be corrected by methods other than changing the basic running style. Look, I'm not saying
NEVER attempt to change your running style. There are lots of ways - and you've mentioned some below
- where style can be improved, I'm saying that for recreational runners to chase after the holy
grail of an 'idealised' running style is to miss the whole point of why they're running.
>But the key is to NOT consciously adjust one's form. It should be done as part of training. Going
>back to the original work by Cavanaugh, it has long been known that direct manipulation of cadence
>and stride length is counterproductive. But there are a series of drills, such as high knees, butt-
>kicks, quick feet, and bounding that encourage one to run on the midfoot/forefoot (which will
>correct overpronation problems in many runners). Also running strides (50 meter smooth acceleration
>to roughly mile speed, then 30-50 meters at that speed) will help improve biomechanics, speed, and
>injury problems.
Most of these techniques introduce a greater range of motion than normal into the areas affected
by running. It has been argued that increasing the range of motion in a joint can, in itself, be
protective in terms of reducing its susceptibility to overuse injury. However, I will concede
that the use of simple high knee and botty kick drills can turn most folk into a much nicer
runners to watch.