The “Basics” on Form for New Runners

A few years ago, I put together a document for a young runner I was helping. He was just a kid who loved to run but really wasn’t into the organized team sports that most youth are forced into. My goal was to keep it simple and not overwhelm him with too many things to think about.

The content of that document I use in seminars I now give for new runners – who are mostly adults.

This year I’m helping out with my town’s high school’s cross country team so I pulled out my notes and my seminar slides and thought I’d prepare a handout for the incoming freshman and possibly some of the returning runners.

As I was working on it I got a message from a former online client, and someone I now consider a friend (so no longer just a client). She wrote, “Coach, I know you don’t go on that forum as much as you use to but you need to get on there – there are some folks out there giving horrible advice!”

So I logged on and she was right – there was some wild information being given to relatively new runners that was just flat out bad advice.

In today’s day and age, it’s great that there is so much information available at our fingertips but it can also be overwhelming - with the volume of information out there and with some of it being conflicting, new runners often get confused.

It is also great that the running community is so supportive - runners are always willing to help other runners. But I have observed far too often nowadays, that new runners don’t want to wade through all the info and figure it out for themselves so they jump into these discussion groups and ask their questions. And then the nice, kind and caring running community responds back with good intentions…..but often with incorrect information!!

So, I made a few comments in the discussion group and then went back to my document for the team…and then I realized, this information would be a good blog for my web site!

Not sure why I never published it before but so be it – no time like the present!

So here are my “basics” for new runners of any age, to get them off and running with good form.

Posture

Sounds odd but your running posture begins before you even start to run! I can still hear my Dad telling me to, “stand up straight - don’t slouch!” I can often hear him yelling other things at me as well but…. that will be for another blog! All kidding aside, if you want to have good running form, begin with having good posture throughout the day. Stand up straight. Sit tall at your desk. Don’t roll your shoulders. You’ve heard it all before, but you probably never thought that it would impact your running someday!

Warming Up

Most people understand they should warm up before they just take off on a run, but many don’t really know how to nor do they really know why. Often, they mistakenly think warming up means stretching, which it doesn’t, and they think it helps prevent a muscle pulls and in general terms, getting injured, which is correct but there is a little more to it. Warming up means getting your blood flowing, which doesn’t take much. But it also doesn’t mean just in your legs. When running, in addition to your legs you are using your arms and your core. So you should take a few minutes and do some arm swings, loosen up those shoulder joints. Do some trunk twists and loosen up your spine and your core, as they are going to be very engaged once you get going. And do some knee lifts, leg swings, calf raises and squats. Also, don’t forget the back side of your legs and get your hamstrings and glutes engaged by doing a series of “donkey kicks” or leg curls. All of this may seem like a lot but honestly, you could probably go through a simple routine in the time it takes most GPS watches to lock in on the satellites. And now that your blood is flowing, and your muscles are engaged and loosened up, you can now start running with good form versus being all stiff and rigid, which will lead to injuries.

Form

So now you are warmed up and ready to run and now is the time to think a “little” about your form.

There is a degree to which your form is “natural” – it is the way you run with the body you were given and your form will develop over time the more you run. Unfortunately, if you have bad form you will be digging yourself a deeper hole. Like any bad habit, the more you do it, the harder it is to break. So, the sooner you focus on your form and start training your body to move properly, the better off you will be.

So, you need to think about it – a “little”.

I stress “little” because when you are a new runner there is a fine line – if you think too much about it you won’t enjoy your run and if you don’t enjoy your run you won’t keep coming out.

So, I initially always stress 2 thoughts – “Relax” and “Alignment”.

Many new runners try to force it. They clench their fists or pull their shoulders up. They swing their arms wildly or their arms are stiff. They reach out with their legs or they bounce up and down as they try to move forward. Relax!! Loosen up and just let your body flow with the rhythm of the run.

But keep good alignment. Remember the first tip – having good posture throughout the day? Well think of your posture as you run - imagine a line running from your ears, down through your shoulders and hips and finally your ankles. Lean a little from your ankles – do NOT bend at the waist. With the right lean, gravity will actually assist you - as you will fall forward, having to move your feet to catch yourself. Keep leaning, keep falling, keep catching yourself and next thing you know, you’re running!

I used to tell runners to “run tall” to help their alignment, but I found in running tall, many new runners then stood erect, without any lean, which would lead to over-striding. So now I just tell them to focus on relaxing, good alignment and lean from the ankles.

Foot Placement

Once you are running relaxed and with good alignment then I would have you focus on where your feet are landing. When I stated earlier, with the right lean from your ankles you will fall forward and then you move your feet to catch yourself. Well, if you step out too far in front, not only will you catch yourself, but you will also stop yourself! And most likely, you are going to land on your heel, and all the force of the fall will go up through your shins, knees and hips, setting yourself up for injuries. If you focus on planting your foot under your torso, you will land more in the mid area of your foot (mid-foot strike) and most likely you will have a bent knee on impact. The combination of those two factors now have you catching your fall without putting the brakes on and it will help you cushion the impact vs. sending the shock wave through your body as did the heel striking example.

Cadence

Simply put, your cadence is how many times your feet strike the ground in a minute and studies have supported around 180 being ideal.

Cadence is often related to the previous topic of “Foot Placement” and it can sometimes be a “chicken vs. egg” discussion. By focusing on a higher cadence, you tend to put your feet down quicker and subsequently more so under your torso vs. out in front of yourself. Or, by focusing on placing your foot down under yourself, you tend to put it down more quickly and therefore you increase your cadence.

Chicken or egg?

Focus on whatever mental approach works for you.

When you are ready to start working on your cadence you simply count the number of times your foot strikes the ground in a minute. It's easiest to count one foot for 20 seconds and then multiply by 6. That will give you your count for both feet in a minute. Many new runners are down in the 150 range. It is not suggested that you jump your cadence right up to the 180 range, but each week try to pick it up by 5 steps or so and you will eventually get there. In a future blog I will give some drills that can help increase your cadence.

Stride

Now that you are running relaxed, with good alignment, good foot placement and a high cadence you probably want to start going faster.

Many new runners think to go faster you simply need to take longer strides and that is basically true. But, if they haven’t perfected their cadence and foot placement, they often think faster and forward, and they start reaching their stride out in front of themselves – setting themselves up again with heel striking and all those issues we thought we already addressed.

I advise runners to focus on the stride behind them - and there are two approaches I suggest.

One approach is simply to push off with your trailing foot, getting yourself a nice long extension and then bringing your foot up and around in somewhat of a circular motion before bringing it back down under your torso.

The other approach, the Pose Method, I never personally perfected but I understand the concept – when the trail leg is extended, the foot is brought up in more of a “piston” like motion, staying in line with the hip. In order to do so, more emphasis is placed on the knee also being lifted then in the first approach where the focus is on the feet doing circles.

The key similarity with both approaches though is that the feet are coming down under your torso, and ideally, under or behind the knee. When the foot swings forward of the knee that is where trouble can begin.

So to recap;

* Warm up and get your blood flowing before you head out

* Relax

Do not clench your fists or shrug your shoulders

Hold your arms at 90 degrees and let them flow with the rhythm of the run

Do not pump them unless sprinting or working up a hill

Do not swing them across the center of your body

* Have good posture and align your ears, shoulders, hips and ankles

Lean from the ankles, NOT the waist

* Land on your mid-foot, under your torso with knee bent

* Maintain a high cadence

* Focus on your stride being behind you, not reaching out in front

I wish I could give credits for this visual – I found it somewhere years ago and I think it does a great job at getting the previous points across.

Notice in the “Familiar Running Form” the runner is running tall but there is no lean and therefore the feet go out in front. As the feet go out in front, the natural result is heel striking, putting on the brakes and all that impact being driven up through the leg.

With the “Good Running Form” you can see the alignment, the lean and the foot coming down under the torso.

Now all this being said, if you attempt to focus on everything at once you will drive yourself crazy and as I said earlier there is a good possibility that if you are thinking too much, your run won’t be fun. And if your run isn’t fun there’s a good chance you won’t keep heading out!

So please, don’t over analyze things! You are not going to develop perfect form overnight, so take it slow. Focus on one item at a time. Take a week or two and keep checking in on that one item during your run. When you feel like that item is under control then focus on the next.

And as I’m finishing this up while listening to Pandora, I kid you not, Neil Young came on singing, “Long May You Run”.

And I hope you do!