Never Walk.
What I Learned from Running with a Pro
Today I had the great fortune to go for a 7 mile mixed road/trail run with Heather MacFalls who currently trains for the Olympic trials (marathon distance). Beside the fact that Heather is insanely fit (and I am not), I learned a couple things:
- Arm Movement: Heather runs with a relatively strong arm movement, effectively using her arms to propel her body and legs forward.
- Cadence: Shorter stride length and thus higher cadence (the famous 180 steps/minute) works!
- Kick: Heather tends to kick her legs out (to the back) to a 90 degrees angle - activating her hamstrings and glutes and thus recruiting more muscle fiber.
- No Fear: Letting gravity pull you down on semi-steep downhills and simple run without fear, keeping a short stride to remain agile.
All in all it was a great run (well, for me - I guess for Heather it was a relaxing stroll) and by just running next to a pro and observing her movement pattern I simply learned a lot - highly recommended! Next time you bump into a friend who’s a much faster runner than you are - don’t be shy, ask her/him if you can join them for one of their easy runs!
