If you want to run efficiently, faster and with lesser impact on your body, you MUST learn to improve your running form. Over the course of several months, I’ve studied my own running form by looking at nearby window mirrors to check my form. Although I must admit I look like an idiot while looking at building’s reflective images here at the Fort, it actually gave me a glimpse of my own form while running. I know my running form is still a work in progress as I still commit newbie mistakes especially when fatigue comes in. However, I try to improve this by doing some drills and strengthening my core.

Follow these tips and start improving your form.

Head Movement
When I started running, I have this habit of tilting my head downward to check my feet or my cadence. I realize that this is actually bad in two ways. First, by looking downward you become too conscious of your stride and in doing so you won’t notice your breathing pattern changes immediately- making it harder for you to breathe deeply. So you switch to “shallow” breathing (taking in a small volume of air with each breath, using only a small portion of the total lung capacity) causing side stitch. I understand that there are several causes of side stitch when running and this is just one of the causes. Secondly, you are also using a negative posture, which can have an effect on your running ability as well as your general mood. To correct this, simply hold your head high while looking straight ahead. Elongate the back of the neck so you don’t slouch.

Shoulders
I remember many weeks before my Milo Marathon when I met Coach Ige and commented when he saw me run “you need to improve your form, para kang kuba kung tumakbo eh ”. Since then, I studied, researched and practiced correct running form to improve my running economy. In a nutshell, your shoulders should be relaxed, away from your ears, square or facing forward and not curved over. Rounding the shoulders too far forward tends to tighten the chest and restrict breathing. If you check elite runners during their run in race mode, you will notice that their shoulders show almost no apparent extraneous movement and both always remains parallel to the running surface. I know this because I always observe the running form of fellow townmates and elite runners Cris Sabal and Tolentino sisters at the Oval.

Arms
If you saw Cristine Reyes during Globe Run, you would have noticed how she sway her arms across her chest and sometimes in her belly button. This is bad and you should not follow it (you can still watch her movies though) because it waste a lot of energy as it creates a superfluous lateral movement that rides against your primary objective of moving forward. To correct this, try running with your thumbs out and pointed up for a few runs. This will give you a visual indicator of your hand movements. Personally, I like to run in such a way that my thumbs lightly brush the threaded side-seams of my running shorts. This will ensure that my arms are not moving across my chest. Additionally, keep your arms at 90 degree angle.

Hands
During my newbie days, I love to run in such a way my hand is positioned like its ready to punch unmanageable runners. The main idea here is don’t clench your fists, because it can lead to tightness in the arms, shoulders, and neck. Run with your hands as relaxed as possible. If you want to improve yours, you may want to run while holding a glass or better yet, run as if you are holding an egg (not a hard-boiled egg) and you try not to break it.

Land Midfoot
It still mystifies me when I hear some experienced runners running down hills on their heels. I tried asking heel-strikers why they do it and they gave me several reasons such as “so that I have control when I run downhills, so I don’t fall over, etc”. But in reality, if you heel-strike, you are stopping your forward momentum and causing undue stress on your joints and knees (plus: your ankle is not a shock absorber!). You also tend to over-stride when you heel-strike so avoid this especially for newbie runners. Furthermore, if you land on your toes, you are causing your calves to do too much work, which can lead to shin splints. If possible, try to land on the middle (ball) of your foot, and away from your toes.

Posture
Runners tend to slouch over a bit especially when exhausted. They’ll often look down to a point just a few feet ahead of them causing changes in their breathing pattern. This will increase contact time with the ground and put more impact on your joints. I must admit this is something I’m still working on. Try to develop strong core muscles and try to engage your deep abdominals when running to prevent slouching towards the end of long runs.  The latter is something I always hear from Coach Ige even during drills and stretching. You can also try core work-out exercise from renowned hurdler Lolo Jones below:

Lolo Jones Core work-out from Runner’s World Website
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263–13030-3-1X2X3X4-5,00.html

I hope post helps. Let’s keep on running and improve!

Three weeks ago, I joined the Mizuno Run Clinic to help me improve my running form, make friends with other runners and learn new drills from Coach Ige. As I haven’t owned any Mizuno pair before, I was glad and excited when Ms. Jai Cortez, marketing officer at Mizuno gave me the opportunity to review their product. I asked for a stability shoes and so I got this Mizuno Wave Inspire 4. What makes Mizuno running shoes different from other running shoes is its “wave plate technology” .

That gray plastic looking insert in the midsole is what Mizuno calls their "wave plate technology"

The thermoplastic plate (see above) inserted into the midsole allows compression stiffness to be controlled. In theory, controlling this “stiffness” can be achieved by adding variation in its material properties, thickness, amplitude, and wave length of the WAVE plate insert. Cushioning and Stability feature of any Mizuno shoes can be achieved by playing around this bending stiffness. Hence if you check any Mizuno shoes (this feature is also available in its baseball, volleyball, golf, and other kinds of sport shoes), you will notice that each of their running shoes category (stability, neutral, cushion) has different wave plate design and composition.

Now as for this particular pair I’m going to review, Mizuno Wave Inspire 4, it offers better stability than my Adidas Response Stability (I use this pair for races 21km and above) however I felt like the cushioning needs to be improved. When I checked the foam (insole) under the foot, it looks too thin, hence its not as soft as compared to my other running shoes. Another thing I noticed is that it has a unique heel fit.  I’ve heard from several runners that it can take awhile to get used to the Mizuno heel.  Thus, I was expecting the heel to feel odd and I did notice a difference but at no time has it ever bothered me. In fact it feels comfortable when you get used to it. From my experience, I can’t use this for road races as I felt its too heavy for me, my speed might suffer. However,  I would recommend this trainer for runners with medium to low arches to use this one for their longrun especially if training for 21km or 42km.

It looks like the lace can easily be removed during run so make sure they are properly tied.

Insole

Mizuno Insole

I bought a pair of Adidas Response Stability weeks ago to take advantage of the 30% discount that Runnr store gave to some runner-bloggers. When I had another gait analysis, Julius of Runnr noticed that my right foot overpronates from time to time. So he suggested a couple of stability-cushion shoes but with more emphasis on the cushioning part. My eyes were fixed on New Balance 1225 then, however he mentioned that the shoes I should purchase must weight more on the cushion side to straighten my right foot. Additionally with my “heavier” built, I was hoping a cushion shoes will help soften the impact on my knees plus hopefully avoid any incidents of a painful butt.

To help me with my choices, he had me ran on my barefoot, Nike Vomero and then Adidas Response Stability and compared video captures of my foot strike on each. Adidas Response Stability seems to improve pronation on my right foot, so I purchased one on the spot. Julius wants me to try other shoes but with tight budget, I knew that what he recommended is the cheapest but reliable shoes within the cushion-stability range.

I tried this at the oval track and in a fun run I joined weeks ago. Here are my observations:

• Witha very thick cushion, I’m surprised it feels very light and its cushion softer than any shoes I have so far.
• Very durable, I will use this on 21km and marathon races in the future. But then no one can stop using me using this pair on lower distances as well
• It may lack that “kick-ass” look/style, but it made it up with its great traction and comfort even on wet roads.
• Excellent arch support.
• The only thing I don’t like about this shoe is its too wide for my feet.

So if you’re looking for cheap running shoes with good joint/impact cushioning, long lasting, lightweight and fair elastic rebound sole, Adidas Response Stability might be for you.

Available at:Runnr Store
Cost: Php 4,495

For geeks, check the specs:

• Air mesh upper
• Mesh tongue for maximum ventilation
• Lace-up front
• Nonslip lining
• Anatomically molded EVA insole
• Dual-density midsole for pronation control
• FORMOTION(R) for motion control and ground adaptability
• adiWEAR(R) outsole for durability in high wear areas
• Blown rubber outsole

It was during Globe’s Run for Home race that I finally got to wear this pricey brand of tights from CW-X. When Runnr store gave me the opportunity to own one, I immediately went to the store to check it out and was surprised to find several design of tights to choose from. Some tips if you’re planning to buy one:

1. Identify what kind of support you need. I sweat a lot when I run so when I asked Julius which one suits me best, he easily suggested CW-X Ventilator tights. And as luck would have it, this one offers a lot of support to my knees which I would notice would feel painful after a 21km run, probably due to my weight which I’m still working on. Update: I’m now 144lbs, 9 lbs to go and I’ll be on my ideal running weight

2. Get the right size. I first took a medium size one only to find out later that what I really need is a small one. A guide on the package itself (which I failed to read) will help you decide if you need a small, medium or large size tights – the deciding variables would be your weight and height.

As with the tights itself, I’ve found it very comfortable during my 21km run at Globe’s Run for Home race. Yes you’ll get those strange/surprised looks from other runners because of felix bakat its cool design but what I like most from this particular tights is its mesh panels strategically located on my quads and calves which are like built-in air conditioners for my legs and helps lessen heat fatigue from those areas. I believe it is made up of lighter weight material overall which helps to dissipate heat further. As for my knees, their patented Conditioning Web technology helps provide support to my muscles and ligaments around my knee and to the medial and lateral head of the gastrocnemius in my calf. The Conditioning Web runs along the ITB, the knee, lower back, inside of the leg and then through the calf. I have already used these tights on both long and short runs and they carry out very well, though I find that the true gain of the technology really comes through after a long run or after more than 15km. I find that my legs remain fresh and my workout remains strong to the end. The other real benefit is that the following day my legs still feel good, sometimes fatigued but never to the point where they impact the next workout.

CW-X tights are available in Runnr Store. Picture of me wearing this tights can be found here.

My quest for a structured training method led me to do some research on Arthur Lydiard’s methodology. I’m not going to copy and paste any contents from the said training program but rather, I encourage you to print and read it yourself during your rest days. Check it out here. As his method is based on balanced combination of aerobic and anaerobic running, you will most likely find this very useful if you have a heart rate monitor watch.

However be very careful when reading it. His training plans are optimal plans, so if your body can handle it then try to follow his program to achieve your full potential. To give you a sample of his training guide, he suggested running with a total mileage of 165 km weekly ? Obviously, he is a huge advocate of running a lot of base miles/kilometers. This meant lower intensity for long times. He said that this running should be done for as long as time permits before getting into any other stages. While you can use it as your base if you want to be a podium finisher, I suggest that you do your own adjustments based on your level of fitness and age. Sometimes it is more important to listen to your body then a plan written down on paper. After reading his plan, I’ve concluded that Lydiard training was more for pretty highly motivated and competitive athletes who really care about achieving their best.

I will try to come out with my “modified” version of his training method and will post it later with the intention of helping myself and my runner-readers improve their performance.

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I was running with Cris Sabal (one of our Athletics representative for Laos-South East Asia games on December) around DLSU-D campus and asked him his training schedule. I was surprised to learn that he and Tolentino sisters trains twice a day every day (not sure if Saturday and Sunday is included). He also told me that they run with a total mileage of at LEAST 150km a week. I didn’t ask him about AL training method but obviously, 150km base mileage a week will help you land in podium! He’s a good and humble man and even offered me to join him in his training so he could dish more tips to me. After his offer, while looking at my body he blurted out “pero mukhang marami kpang tatakbuhin ah, hahahahaha!” I’ll be lost in translation if I translate this to English but what he was saying was that I’m not yet physically fit or not yet in my optimal running weight.

I can only agree with him. I just started running last February and lose 28lbs (from 181 lbs to 153 lbs) in two months as detailed from my previous post. While that particular blog post encouraged a LOT of coach potatoes to take up running to shed some pounds, I have to admit that my weight loss plateau at 153 lbs for two months. Currently, my weight ranges from 146 lbs. to 149 lbs. depending on several factors. My optimal running weight based from my research should be anywhere between 130lbs to 135lbs.

And so, my newest project would be to get rid of extra 10 lbs in one month. Yep, 10 lbs. in one month. I shall post my current weight for the next blog post and hopefully after a month, I should be at least 135lbs.If this becomes successful, I’ll make another blogpost on how I did it. And yes, I’m not going to starve myself to death, do fasting or take ridiculously expensive diet pills advertised on our TV.

Can the Running Ninja do it? Let’s see.