22 Replies to “Proper Running Form and the Freakshow Running Circus”

  1. Oh goodness, I am fearful to watch any kind of recording of me in motion, whether I am running or even walking. My malady is probably oh, everything. But maybe I need to work on my core strength to help hold myself up, I tend to twist a bit sometimes when I am running, hence the yoga classes this year.
    My sign that I’m tired, I start slowing down and I become more of a shuffler.
    Very classy….

    • aww, u need to not be so hard on urself…i’m sure u’re an awesome sight out there!! 🙂 even a sloppy formed runner is better than couch potato. 😛

  2. I’m not gonna lie – I have pretty good form, and I’m proud of it! There is always room for improvement though. I would definitely be the “tenser” and you can totally see it in my hands. I also need to work on staying relaxed with my arms!! I tend to carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and neck in general so I think that is the reason!

    • well, jealous of u a very many runners should be!! hey, but that’s AWESOME if u have stellar form to begin with…we’ll call u a natural harrier. 🙂

  3. LOLL yes, I totally judge other people on their forms. I’m even more judgemental about it when I’m injured and feeling mean and bitter hahaa. You hit the nail right on the head with “run tall” – I read that Greg McMillan article in RT over the summer, and that’s mainly what I try to do. I don’t know what my form was like before, but just repeating the phrase “run tall” to myself has really helped – my shoulders, back, and hips are more aligned, my arms swing much more front-to-back ( I used to cross in front of my body a lot), and my stride is shorter/my feet fall more under my body. It does still take a conscious reminder every now and then! Now, after I’ve had all that PT and core/strength/glute “remodeling”, I’m using different muscles than I was before – it’s a good thing, but it still feels a little weird for me to run haha.

    • run tall is a great mantra. and after all of ur PT and core work u should look at that injury time as PROACTIVE time spent correcting things that will help u in the long run. 🙂

  4. I know I used to have REALLY bad form. Like arms swinging, tense, and overstriding. I’ve been correcting it for the past year or so and I’ve gotten a lot better. During the summer my one friend I was running with commented on how good my form was.
    But still when I’m super tired at the end of a race or something my arms start to swing like crazy!

  5. ahhhh i totally struggle with running tense. running is a great stress reliever to me…but i always start tense with the stress and if i run long enough it leaves…i am starting to think its a double edged sword for me. running relieves stress for me but if the stress wins out…i end up injured. its a vicious cycle you know!?!

    oh. and that first paragraph about runner’s envy. yeah. got that too!

    • i thought u may relate to runner envy!! yes, that stress is one vicious cycle…when we feel it creep up in life and running, gotta take a deep breath and shake those arms out! 🙂

  6. Ha I think I am guilty of all these! Especially the flightless bird. My arms do weird things of their own accord when I run.

    I had no idea that 180 steps / minute was the magic number. I’m definitely going to count on my next run!

    • haha…i used to get called hummingbird arms. 🙂 ya, that steps/min is really interesting to try and hit…it also helps to focus on counting if u’re in the middle of a tough run as it’s a bit of a distraction. 😛

  7. Pingback: Is What You See Really What You Get? The paradox of your reality versus actuality and being a ‘skinny’ runnerchick |

  8. Pingback: Diversify to Improve Your Running – Don’t limit yourself due to type-casting |

  9. Pingback: Hip Flexibility Drills: Why runners should channel those Latin dancers (Also the Road ID Winner) |

  10. Pingback: Don’t Try So Hard: Trying to Force Your Running Won’t Work…Relax |

    • imagine really lifting those knees up when you’re running…in your mind you’ll probably think you’re over-doing it and feeling like you’re doing some high knee drills but in reality you’re feet will prolly just be clearing a wee bit more ground. 🙂

  11. Pingback: The Leg that Looked Like a Fish: When muscle weaknesses cause inefficiencies in your running |

  12. Pingback: Fix Your Form, Drop Your Shoulder: The ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ runners should clean-up their form (ie: get faster) |

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*