Hey Folks.
Im 20 years old and started running back in November after 6 stone of weight loss in 6 months, my greatest achievement to date and it turned my life around. I weighed in at 16.5 Stone in Jan 2016 and cut it to 10 Stone by June 2016. Now I sit between 9.5 - 10. That give me the confidence to start running a few months after in November. Anyways, the coaches at my local club feel like im coming on super super fast. My steady pace sits around 6:40.
Basically, I am looking for advice. I haven't done much in the line of racing bar a 5k at 17:40 a month or so ago. I recently switched over to a forefoot strike and its been going great, speed feels that little bit more effortless and I feel much lighter on my feet (even though I am 9.7 stone lol). But ive noticed my cadence is 160 NO MATTER WHAT. Whether I run 5:30s or 6:30s, its in an around 160. So the last week or so ive tried shortening my strides and managed well, my last too runs it has been 170 - 174. But the only problem is, I feel I look stupid when im doing it. I feel like im shuffiling along and I dont feel as free as I did with the 160 stride rate, is this normal to feel in the change to higher cadence or what? I dont have much experience in running as of yet so Id love some advice from someone who does!:) Thanks!