Somehow I’ve realized that having my hips collapse a little during the stance phase of running isn’t efficient and takes energy away from forward motion. It also turns a paw-back motion of the leg into more of a push. It’s a subtle thing, but I decided to start working on this about a month ago by thinking of keeping my hips firm when I ran. I knew there was a difference because my hips (side and glute meds) would be sore after running and it wasn’t like that before. Lately, I’ve had some runs where I’m starting to feel improved propulsion from this new approach and the hip soreness is less than it was.
This past week, I’ve had two good runs that I’d call breakthroughs for this technique. The 4 miles of easy tempo in Portland last Friday morning turned out pretty quick. Today, after riding out of the Kerr Lake Triathlon race site up to Virginia dodging gnat clouds and evading the hounds of Baskerville (dogs chased me as I rode through the Baskerville area), I tallyed up a mere 68 miles. Ha ha. Later, after getting back to Durham, I get this crazy idea that I’d like to go for a run. So I do expecting the idea to have more shine than the actual experience. Surprisingly, I feel awesome, and run a very relaxed 6 miles just under 7 minute pace. Way cool.
Nice to finally meet you yesterday!
Funny you should mention this…this is what Eric has been trying to get me to learn forever but I just can’t seem to get my hips to stay “firm”! Nice job.
Aha! I knew I’d stumbled on one of those fabled runner secrets! Wish I could better explain how I’m pulling it off. I’ll think about that.