I’ve been a distance runner for a while now. I grew up as a competitive swimmer, but I didn’t take running seriously throughout pretty much all of high school. I fell in love with distance running after running the 2015 TCS NYC Marathon, which was my first Marathon. I ran the course in 3 hours and 48 minutes without proper training, neglecting structured training for the race in addition to strength training. YIKES!
A few races later, I wound up with piriformis syndrome and a quad strain in my right leg. My running gait was completely off once I was finally coming back from my injury too. I didn’t use the ground properly to propel myself forward during during my runs!
At the same time, I didn’t care much about my form because I ran to relieve stress. After working with various DPTs and specialists to help me address this issue. By doing so, I was able to address and fix my form, landing under my hips while running, leaning from my ankles while running too, just to name a couple! I became a more efficient runner!
In addition to the 4 points I’ve mentioned in the video above, here’s more about how I fine-tuned my running form.
1. I fixed my running form, my running gait and my running technique
Postural self assessments, such as keeping my shoulder blades high giving each other, landing with my feet under my hips, during the propulsion phase on the gait cycle, leaning from my ankles rather than from my hips, controlling my arm swing by eliminating any cross-body movement going on, keeping my chest, hips and shoulders facing forwards and landing on the mid-foot. Game changers for me.
2. I developed my cross training method, which included strength training 2x/week as a part of my overall run program
I incorporated a mixture of HIIT low-impact workouts on the days I didn’t run. I also heavily focused on getting my body as symmetrical as possible through mobility work and then strength work 2x/week. What a game changer!
3. I focused my training blocks on areas that I needed to work at
Everything for a Marathon runner needs to be customizable to the individual that it’s for! Instead of progressing myself using the standard one-size-fits all 10% rule, I focused my training blocks on areas that I personally needed work on. These included two important variables: 1) my anaerobic threshold, to allow my body to hold a higher percentage of my maximal oxygen uptake aka my VO2 Max, and 2) working on building my lactate threshold by increasing overall training volumes at slow, steady and progressive rate while being careful to refuel my body properly after workouts pushing my threshold. Thanks to UCAN, i have a new go-to snack! Grab your newest FIT FUEL right here.
By the way, I still am working on both of the to achieve my Sub 3 Hour Marathon goal.
Leave your comments and thoughts on this topic below! I’m always open to learning more and starting up a conversation!
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