I have often heard this inner dialogue in my head, and know that probably everyone else has also had it as well:  “I just want to run, why do I have to do anything else?”  Are we spoiled or what?

All runners need to be strong in their core, all runners need stability, and all runners need to realize that if they don’t take care of these other aspects of the sport then they aren’t going to be running into their old age.  More likely they’ll be limping.

Think of what it takes to be a good runner like this:  You own a business where you employ at least six other people.  For the purpose of this analogy we will call them:  Mr. Leftleg, Ms. Rightleg, Mr. Core, Ms. Rightarm, Mr. Leftarm, and Mr. Potato Head.

You not only have to tell these employees what to do each day, you also have to schedule them, keep them on task, and also help them enjoy what they are being paid to do (otherwise they go on strike).  If you ignore them for long periods of time then chaos starts to reign.

Mr. Leftleg and Ms. Rightleg decide that they are just going to spend the day sitting around watching tv, surfing the net, or driving through town for hours at end.  In the meantime Mr. Potato Head starts to spend more time looking down, napping or also staring at his computer monitor.  Mr. Leftarm and Ms. Rightarm are along for the ride, and as time goes on they start to look like popsicle sticks.  Then there is the Mr. Core.  He’s just turning into mush.

In the meantime your business is going to hell.  You’re running your business (so you think), but your employees are miserable.  You limp on each day, and each day just gets worse.  You contact a consultant to find out why this is happening.   They look around and see nothing wrong, or they may tell you that your employees are unhappy (and how to fix this), but you ignore them as well.  After all, you’ve been running this business for years, and the employees were always happy before.

I know that this is a long drawn out account of what happens to your body when all you do is run, but sometimes these analogies will hit home more effectively.

There are two issues that I want to deal first before I can correct someone’s run form because unless you have the (1) Stability, (2) Range of Motion, you will not be able to recruit the muscles needed to perform the correct movement.

Issue #1 – Stability

I want you to take your shoes off.  Yes, now, and you might as well take your socks off too.

Now put your hands at your sides, pick up one foot about 3-6 inches off the ground, and see how long you can stand there without using your arms to balance you or at least not fall over.

Can you hold it for 30 seconds?  Yes?  Well, now do it with your eyes closed.  Whoa….right?

So what does this mean?  Well, it means that you don’t know how to recruit your big toe, you don’t have the strength in your gluteus medius to help stabilize you, and your core is most likely like mashed potatoes.

To fix this you should do the following whenever possible:

1.  Take your shoes off or at least buy a pair of shoes that are flat (no heel counter).  Whenever possible stand on one foot, squeeze your glute medius, and press the big toe into the ground.  Occasionally close your eyes to test yourself.
2. Do these clamshell exercises at least 1x a day, and see if you can build up to 100 on each side.
3. Take off your shoes and do Toe Yoga – if your big toe is inflexible, then there is no way you will ever be stable.

Issue #2 – Range of Motion

Today I’m just going to direct your attention to hip extension, as this is probably the biggest issue I see with athletes on a daily basis.  In order for your leg to swing back once the foot leaves the ground you need to have the range of motion in your hips to accomplish this action.  If you spend your life sitting in front of a computer, in a car, a desk, or generally do no core strength or stretching, chances are that your hip extension is like that of an 80 year old.

The test of this is simple, but to be most effective it is good to have a partner here, and to also make sure you’re wearing a pair of comfortable shorts that won’t dig into your hip bones.

1.  Lay on your stomach, and have your partner press your right (or left) hip into the ground.  make sure that the pelvis is glued to the floor.
2. Bend the leg at the knee so that the bottom of the foot is facing the sky (same position your leg would be in if you were running).  Now see how high you can lift the knee off the ground WITHOUT taking the hip off the ground or arching your back.  What?  You can’t get it off more than an inch?  Hmmmm….looks like you need to do some work there!

Probably the easiest way to correct this is through a couple of exercises you can do whenever you warm up for your run:  Pendulum Extensions and The Tebow Squeeze, and making friends with your lacrosse ball each night while you watch tv by working on your quads, the front of your hip, and your inner thighs as well (there are also a lot more video’s on the web that address hip extension – go at it!)

What about Mr. Core, Ms. Rightarm and Mr. Leftarm you ask?  Well….we’ll address them at a later date.

Each and every workout you do should have a purpose.  Just going out and riding, swimming, or running however you feel won’t always help you achieve your goals.  Too many times a runner might run the same 5 mile course over and over again.  They check their time, and each time they go out they attempt to run it faster, or at least match their previous times.  This can lead to burn out, injury, or cause you to plateau.  Your fitness level has stalled.

The same is true for biking.  If you repeat the same course over and over again, chances are you might actually achieve a personal best on that course, you can repeat it a time, but then there will come a point where your progress will stop and may actually diminish.

In swimming if you repeat the same workout over and over again – yes, the same thing can happen as for the other two sports.

This is similar to pushing against a wall over and over again.  You get bigger arms, but you never can move that wall.

So every workout should have a purpose for you to be able to ‘push that wall’ just a little further each season.

1.  At least one workout a week should have some form of technique work – whether it’s just thinking about doing something while you run/bike (proprioception drills), or actually doing drills to help perfect your efficiency will be key in helping you achieve the next level.
2. You should allow yourself to go super slow for each of your disciplines:  Whether you run 2 min per mile slower than your normal pace, ride 2-3 mph slower than your normal easy pace, or just taking your time and doing drills on your swim can also help overall.  You will be not only allowing for recovery from your harder days, but you also learn how to become more aerobic.  Remember, the more you can train your muscles to transport more oxygen, the better off you’ll be when you get faster (hence – base training).
3. Your speed workouts should also have a purpose.  Just going out and sprinting a workout all the time will get your really good for something really short.  But let’s face it, we’re long distance athletes!  How often are you going to be asked to sprint for one minute in your events?  Maybe at the finish?  But if you haven’t trained your other zones, then there is no way you’ll be able to get to the glycogen in the muscles to sprint if you don’t train the other zones first.  Besides that…you’ve already robbed that much needed sprinting glycogen sometime during your race.  All you’re going to see is the pavement when your rubber legs give way.
   1. Spend time at the upper end of zone 2 for some of the ends of your longer runs/rides/swims
   2. Spend time running a few miles at zone 3 (marathon)
   3. Fartlek using zone 4 (10k/hm) with short rests.
   4. And occasionally do some short 8 second hill sprints on your shorter runs
   5. These are just some samples that you can use for all your sports!

   4.  And then there is the final touch:   Recovery.  Sleep.  Nutrition.  The final three components to great training.  Treat your body as if it was a luxury sports car.  You wouldn’t not put oil in it would you (Recovery)?  You wouldn’t not put gas in the tank, would you (Nutrition)?  And you for sure wouldn’t drive without the required sleep, because if you did you’d end up falling asleep at the wheel.

By training with purpose your body will then perform like a well tuned, engineered athlete that runs on the best fuel in the world.