The Art of Running

When it comes to running, there are a few different classifications of athlete. You have your long distance athletes who enjoy settling into the continuous locomotion for up to hours at a time.

Then you have your middle distance runners who thrive in their “pain cave” and love to feel like their lungs have been transplanted from their body and put on a hot stove to see how long they can hold them there.

And finally, you have your moving Greek statues of chiseled muscular perfection blazing trails down the track in their sprinting spikes for distances that take less than a minute to run.

We understand all three of these athletes to be “runners”, with “sprinters” indeed getting their own label, but aren’t we all runners?

First You Crawled, Then You Walked, Then You Ran

Running is at it’s core one of the most primal movements we all have in our repertoire; yet, over time it feels like something that causes athletes to get injured on an expected basis.

You or your running buddies have likely complained of nagging achilles or plantar fascia pain, a tender IT band, hip or knee, stress fractures, or those awful debilitating shin splints. Yale Medicine estimates that over 50% of runners get injured each year, with improper footwear and lack of cross training being at the source of this disheartening statistic.

Part of what has created this interesting contradiction of our most primal movement turning into a recipe for chronic pain, is how our footwear has evolved through the years. More insight into this fascinating topic can be found in the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

To summarize for you, the big ol’ fatty heel on running shoes has trained us to run on our heels. This is completely counter to how our bodies were designed to run, which is midfoot first, then transitioning to our heel, and following through off the midfoot again. Going for a long run with heel strike mechanics is equivalent to taking the shocks out of your car and taking it for a long drive off-road. As you’d imagine, that will eventually become an intolerably uncomfortable ride and cause a lot of damage to your car.

Your midfoot is intended to absorb the shock of each step with the added benefit of also providing natural forward propulsion. Contrarily, striking heel first is like pumping the brakes with every step and the compression experienced on impact then travels up through your joints.

Is It Worth the Time to Retrain My Running Mechanics?

Now armed with the knowledge of what part of running can be problematic, how do we fix it and is it worth it? While the cure is simple, the discipline to change is not. However, we think most folks can get behind the reality that you can become faster and less prone to injury without actually having to train harder, you just need to train smarter.

First, it’s better to retrain barefoot, so consider buying barefoot or minimalist shoes so that your feet have some protection from the ground. This is not a plug for the company, but this author personally likes Vivobarefoot. If you’d rather support an American company, New Balance has some great options as well.

Next, you will need to start the training process slowly.

There are many ways and recommendations out there, and I would pull from as many resources as possible when developing a training plan. The most important advice I can give you, having been through this process myself, is to listen to your body and meet yourself where you’re at.

At the time of my retraining, I was playing collegiate basketball and in excellent shape, but could only start out running barefoot for one lap around the track at a time. Week over week I was able to build on that distance and by the end of summer had worked back into my normal training volume with better form. It was 100% worth the patience as I literally became a faster runner by just fixing my mechanics alone.

Final piece of advice, you will feel sore in muscles you haven’t before, particularly your calves and potentially the little muscles in your feet as well. Consider this a good sign, as you are now utilizing muscles that have otherwise been dormant with your old man/lady heel running form. Trust the process, and gradually build up distance or time with each workout.

Bonus Tips to Avoid Detraining and How to Train Smarter in the Winter

A frequently asked question during this transition period is: “Well, how do I keep from detraining while retraining myself to run better?” and the answer is, you can maintain your required mileage with your old form once your limit for midfoot running has been met or you can cross-train.

Cross-training would look like hopping in the pool or on a rower or bike to supplement the training stimulus you’d be missing during your transition phase. I’m a fan of option two mostly because your old man/lady running form is going to lead to problems eventually and continuing to run with this less than desirable form is also continuing to cement bad habits.

Another question, is winter a good time to be working on this? While certainly less ideal than in warmer temperatures and clear paths or tracks (a flat reliable surface is going to be better to run for proprioceptive purposes), ask yourself, can better form honestly wait till spring or summer? Get on a treadmill if you have to, or better yet, get on on an Assault Runner or Woodway. We have one at the Sweat Lab if you’d like to come try it out.

These curved self-propelled treadmills are nearly impossible to continue running with the old man/lady form.

If the sacrifice of that fresh air and sunshine is not worth it for you, here is some sage advice from Alaskan running legend Kristi (Klinnert) Waythomas:

“The hardest part of running for runners in the winter seems to be the first few minutes … and once they get started the warm up is so important. Always, always warmup slowly and if tired, I always do the 10 min rule: you have to run for at least 10 min before deciding to not go … 99.9% of the time I personally keep going … if it’s not happening after 10 min it’s time to take a day off.”

Using the 10 Minute Rule is a brilliant way to not only trick your brain out of it’s comfort zone so you actually go do the thing, but to also truly prepare your body properly and further prevent risk of injury. Like during your retraining phase, start slow!

We also asked Kristi what one of her favorite running mantras is, you know, for when times inevitably get tough, and she gave us this gem:

“Strength grows in the moments when you think you can’t go on, but you keep going anyway.”

A good mantra for the cold or hard days, indeed, and for the when your mind is winning the war with your body in tough training sessions.

Below are some drills that we do at the Sweat Lab on sprinting days to help - mostly for our young athletes - hit better positions on sprints, but we are strong believers that these are valuable at any age and before any length of run!