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Got frustrated this morning with slowing down for the many slippery sand-covered concrete tight
corners I run over (this a.m. was a particularly dark moonless morning), and decided to push hard
through them and swing my arms like a banshee during the turns. It occurred to me that those 1st-
year physics demonstrations with the surprising lateral stability of a rotating bicycle wheel might
have some analogy to arm swing in running, and I thought I'd see if I could feel it keeping me on
track through the turns.
I think it makes a noticeable difference (I didn't slip and fall, anyway). The sprinters among
us who run 200's and longer must surely be knowledgable about this. I'm not really aware of
much commentary on it, and it seems most comments on arm swing focus on how it can help you
find your best "stride rate" -- and not on any gyroscopic effect -- but I did find a link to a
page on the Harvard Math Department website entitled "Running," apparently suthored by an
"Ultimate Frisbee" guy:
http://abel.math.harvard.edu/~lee/cvhrunning.html
There are 3 paragraphs well into the piece which discuss "lean angle," "acceleration" and "arm
swing," for those interested in this (admittedly somewhat arcane) subject. As for me, if I'm trying
to pinch seconds on the clock, I will now feel more confident keeping up my velocity on corners.
corners I run over (this a.m. was a particularly dark moonless morning), and decided to push hard
through them and swing my arms like a banshee during the turns. It occurred to me that those 1st-
year physics demonstrations with the surprising lateral stability of a rotating bicycle wheel might
have some analogy to arm swing in running, and I thought I'd see if I could feel it keeping me on
track through the turns.
I think it makes a noticeable difference (I didn't slip and fall, anyway). The sprinters among
us who run 200's and longer must surely be knowledgable about this. I'm not really aware of
much commentary on it, and it seems most comments on arm swing focus on how it can help you
find your best "stride rate" -- and not on any gyroscopic effect -- but I did find a link to a
page on the Harvard Math Department website entitled "Running," apparently suthored by an
"Ultimate Frisbee" guy:
http://abel.math.harvard.edu/~lee/cvhrunning.html
There are 3 paragraphs well into the piece which discuss "lean angle," "acceleration" and "arm
swing," for those interested in this (admittedly somewhat arcane) subject. As for me, if I'm trying
to pinch seconds on the clock, I will now feel more confident keeping up my velocity on corners.