Back to Basics

Today's run outside in the heat, with LOTS of other people on the W&OD Trail, had me wondering how some of the people I was seeing were actually running in the manner they were. So many people seem to have bad form in at least one respect. And it's possible there are some parts that are not even visible to the casual observer. (This one break in form is something I'm often guilty of.) 

• Keep arms bent at elbows (approximately 90-degree bend). 
• Don't have them flopping by your side, nor angled so sharply that you're in danger of punching/slapping yourself in face.
• Keep your shoulders loose/fluid.
• Don't tense up much. This will not only soak up more of your energy, but it will wind up making your shoulders and back ache a lot.
• Keep your torso vertical and square to the direction you are running
• On moderate hills, leaning forward a little bit helps
• On steep downhills, avoid sitting back on your heels too much
• Don't twist your torso with your arm swing
• Keep your hands as extensions of your arms.
• Don't have your hands flopping around, limp at the wrist. This will wind up hurting after a while.
• Don't make tight fists. Rather, keep your hands lightly open (unless you are carrying a water bottle or something else, of course)
• Try to use a cadence = 175 (i.e., 175 footsteps per minute)
• Breathe in a regular cadence -- ideally matched to the cadence of your footsteps
• I typically will think of songs with a 3/4 time signature (or modify ones with 4/4 to be 3/4) and match my breathing to that -- each downbeat is either an inhale or exhale
• Keep your toes extended; don't curl your toes inward/downward
• Often, if you curl your toes down while running, you can hurt your feet a little and/or get blood blisters under your toenails.

For the runners out there, let me know if you agree/disagree with some of these points. Or if there are other things you think that people should keep in mind regarding their form while running.

[Late addition] Oops, there were a couple of other things I had wanted to include in the list above:

• Keep your feet only a few inches off the ground within your stride.
• While everyone knows not to simply shuffle/slide your feet on the ground, potentially less intuitive is the fact that you shouldn't lift your feet up TOO high. After all, the point of the exercise if the forward movement. Keep the vast majority of the energy you are expending used in the forward motion rather than bringing your legs up. (In the extreme example, if you simply did "high knees," you wouldn't be moving anywhere, despite the cardio you'd be undertaking.)
• Keep your head up and your eyes focused in the distance. Having a perpetually updated goal of what you are running towards can be very motivating.
• Exception: During the Marine Corps Marathon, when running of the bridge to "Beat the Bridge," unless you have something else going on to distract you from the difficulty at that portion of the course, keep your eyes focused more on the painted line in the near- to medium-distance. Why? Because that bridge just goes on forever and a day, and by that point of the race, you are very overheated and tired. There is nothing in the further distance that is a motivator until you are pretty much at the end. (Think of the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the knight is charging the castle in the swamp and never seems to make progress until he is finally on top of the guards.)