RUNNING FORM HOW TO RUN FASTER AND PREVENT INJURY Owen Anderson, PhD Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Anderson, Owen, 1947– author. Title: Running form : how to run faster and prevent injury / Owen Anderson, PhD. Description: Champaign, Illinois : Human Kinetics, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Description based on print version rec ord and CIP data provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2017024200 (print) | LCCN 2017031218 (ebook) | ISBN 9781492551409 (ebook) | ISBN 9781492510383 (print) Subjects: LCSH: Running— Training. | Physical fitness. Classification: LCC GV1061 (ebook) | LCC GV1061 .A54 2018 (print) | DDC 796.42— dc23 LC rec ord available at https://lccn .loc .gov /2017024200 ISBN: 978-1-4925-1038-3 (print) Copyright © 2019 by Owen Anderson All rights reserved. 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For information about Human Kinetics’ coverage in other areas of the world, please visit our website: www.HumanKinetics.com E6558 RUNNING FORM HOW TO RUN FASTER AND PREVENT INJURY Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction: The Importance of Form ix Part I Why Form Matters 1 Chapter 1 Traditional Views on Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Chapter 2 Comparing Ordinary and Elite Runners . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Chapter 3 Ele ments of Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Chapter 4 How Form Can Enhance Per for mance and Prevent Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Part II Assessing and Improving Form 59 Chapter 5 Assessing Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Chapter 6 Improving Foot- Strike Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Chapter 7 Upgrading Shank Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Chapter 8 Shortening Stance Time and Increasing Cadence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Chapter 9 Improving Body Lean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Chapter 10 Promoting Positive Posture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Chapter 11 Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Contents | v Part III Form Factors for Running Success 153 Chapter 12 Running Shoes and Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Chapter 13 Form Considerations for Special Groups . . . . . . . . . 169 Chapter 14 Running- Specific Strength Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Chapter 15 Integrating Form Work Into Your Seasonal Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Index 211 About the Author 215 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I owe a debt of gratitude to a large number of very special people who have assisted with the creation of this book. Without the assistance of my great friend and colleague Walt Reynolds, this book would never have been possible. Almost every week for over two years, Walt and I discussed running form in great detail over lunches of raw fish, miso soup, noodles, and scalding-hot green tea. It was Walt who intro- duced me to the unique form terminology used in this volume, including the all-important SAT (shank angle at touchdown), MSA (maximal shank angle), ROS (reversal of swing), FAT (foot angle at touchdown), and the incredibly important golden ratio (ROS/MSA), which determines which runners will be found on the podium at the ends of elite competitions or—in the case of non-elite running—which runners are most likely to be injured as they pursue their running goals. It was Walt who made the amazing discovery that, with just one exception, world-record holders at distances ranging from 100 meters to the marathon all shared a common SAT. Walt found that Usain Bolt (world-record holder for 100 meters) and Dennis Kimetto (world-record holder for the marathon) land on the ground with their legs in very similar positions, leading to the discovery that there is an optimal way of striking the ground. Walt also created an important new definition of running economy: the velocity a runner can attain in relation to the impact forces he creates with the ground. Walt is currently coaching Mark Otieno, a sprinter who holds the Kenyan records for 100 and 200 meters. I consider Walt the most knowledgeable running form expert in the world, and you will find his concepts and recommendations throughout this book. I am also indebted to the elite Kenyan distance runners I am currently coaching and managing, who utilized both the video-form analysis described in this book and also the recommended form drills to improve their perfor- mances significantly. Cynthia Limo (silver medalist in the 2016 IAAF World Half Marathon Championship and first-ranked road racer in the world as ranked by ARRS in 2016), Mary Wacera (world silver and bronze medalist in the 2014 and 2016 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships), Monicah Ngige (two-time winner of the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K and champion of the 2017 Monterey Bay Half Marathon), Mary Wangui (victor at the 2017 Tulsa Run 15K), Iveen Chepkemoi (first in the 2017 AK Sotik Cross Country vii viii | Acknowledgments meeting in Kenya), and Gladys Kipsoi (winner of the 2017 Pittsburgh Half Marathon) all employed the techniques described in this book to improve their performances and decrease their risk of injury. A number of sub-elite runners I am currently coaching were also instru- mental in improving the book. Dr. Larry Kurz, Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen, Yaakov Nourollah, Dr. David Rosmarin, Charlie Morrow, Meir Kaniel, Paul Gray, Rabbi Elie Karfunkel, Rifky Karfunkel, Yisroel Gelber, Yosef Weissman, and Omeed Hakimi have all utilized the techniques described in this book to run faster while keeping the injury bug at bay. I owe an extra-special debt to Larry Kurz, Rabbi Kelemen, and Yaakov Nourollah for their incredible faith, friendship, and unending support. I am also extremely grateful to my editors at Human Kinetics. Anne Hall, Caitlin Husted, Michelle Maloney, and Tom Heine worked tirelessly to bring this book to fruition and have provided perfect guidance and assistance. They were patient and supportive always, even when the time devoted to coaching and managing my elite team resulted in long writing droughts. My editors’ vast skills at improving the writing found in this volume and at pairing text with essential photos, figures, and illustrations have improved this book immeasurably. I have also been helped enormously by the research carried out by other scientists. Notably, the investigations conducted by Peter Weyand at the Locomotor Performance Lab at Southern Methodist University, Daniel Lieberman of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and Irene Davis at the Harvard Medical School and the Spaulding National Running Center have provided key insights concerning vertical and horizontal propulsive forces during gait, the effects of running form on impact and propulsive forces, and the interactions between various aspects of running form and both performance and the risk of injury. Introduction: The Importance of Form The inspiration for this book came on a January eve ning when I visited the track at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco with my friend, Hans Over- turf. Hans announced earlier in the day that we would go to Kezar for his weekly speed workout. It was a Tuesday eve ning, so it was not surprising that Hans was g oing to conduct his speed training. After all, almost every runner seems to believe that an up- to- date running program must include speed work on Tuesdays. What was astonishing was that t here were more than 300 runners on the track that night— a real shock to a man who had just arrived in the Bay Area from Lansing, Michigan. Back home, I would have been lucky to find one hardy soul, draped in at least seven layers of wind- resistant material, shivering and sliding along the Lansing River Trail in a desperate attempt at a workout. The throng at Kezar had no such difficulty with the weather (it was a balmy 57 degrees at the track), and the exercisers w ere quite diverse, as I had come to expect in San Francisco: T here was a nun walking the track in her habit, a businessman jogging the oval in his suit and tie, an el derly man in bedroom slippers, a gray- haired woman pushing a walker, as well as an array of runners of all ages and ability levels, including some highly fit participants from several area running clubs. The eye- opening and highly disturbing shock of the night was the realiza- tion that almost all the runners were moving around the track with terrible running form. The slowest runners had bad form, but so did the fastest har- riers. Their gait patterns were quite similar, despite the wide range of speeds. Men and women were infected with serious cases of horrible running form. And yet nothing was being done about it! Coaches ringed the track like ants at a picnic, calling out splits and instructions to the runners as they passed by. Among the coaching cohort, there was careful attention to stop watches and ample information provided about overall workout composi- tion, work- interval lengths, recovery times, numbers of repetitions, running velocities, availability of sports drinks, and so on. But not one peep emerged about how the runners were actually moving. I noticed one runner in par tic u lar who obviously had a well- trained machine—the heart and leg muscles that drive his r unning. This individual ix