HIGH PERFORMANCE
The nuts and bolds of running
by Tom Thekan/The Scugog Standard

Last week’s column touched on changing your ‘pace’ for distance races like the 5K, 10K, half marathon and even full marathon. This week, we get into the nuts and bolts of how to increase your pace and consequently improve your race time.

The truth is that most runners don’t know what their running pace is and don’t really care, either. They just run for the fun of it and for the personal challenge of completing the race. The problem with this is that the novelty of the challenge soon wears off and lack of improvement leads to frustration, which takes the fun out of the equation.

Some people will say that analyzing the mechanics of running and getting to the nuts and bolts of something as simple as running takes all the fun and enjoyment out of it. Quite the contrary.

Running faster is fun. Improving performance is fun. And winning is a whole lot more fun than losing.

You’ll need access to one of those boring 400m running tracks to determine what your pace is.

Here is a general rule: if your time is more than 50:00 for 10K, 25:00 for 5K; 5:00 for 1K and 2:00 for one lap (400m) then you are jogging. If your times are faster than the above, then you are running.

Running is more than just jogging faster. The mechanics of the stride and foot strike are different and jogging more or faster won’t make you a runner. However, working on the following three elements - flexibility, strength and ‘boing’ - will.

Flexibility. Stretch your hip flexors. The easiest way is in a long, deep lunge, with the knee of your back leg on the ground (soft grass is the best). Let your body weight push your hips forward and down. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat three times with each leg.

Strength. Nothing improves leg strength for running like hills or stairs and Port Perry has both. The fairgrounds have a 1K track and grandstand and the high school has a 400m track and adjacent hill. Run up and walk down. Push hard with the back leg.

Boing. Boing is simply ‘springiness’ of the foot, ankle and calf, which minimizes both heel strike and ground contact time, which equals faster running speed.

Simply bounce on your toes quickly 100 times. Go for quickness - not height. Rest, then try each leg separately for 50 quick bounces. Repeat several times.
Listen to your footstrike when running. Quieter = Faster.

You will never hear the cheetah before it pounces, but you will hear the elephant approaching. Run like the cheetah.

Tom Thekan is a strength and conditioning coach for the UOIT Ridgebacks varsity rowing and men’s soccer teams.

Never begin any exercise program without consulting your doctor.