I remember years ago he used to be a very noticable toe-stiker, and now he seems to land on his heels more.
I remember years ago he used to be a very noticable toe-stiker, and now he seems to land on his heels more.
marathon running will do that for you
"Gebrselassie has attempted to alter his running style slightly, striking the ground with his midfoot instead of his forefoot, to prevent his calves and Achilles' tendons from growing tired or injured. But ''it is a work in progress,'' said Jos Hermens, Gebrselassie's manager."
This is way back in '02 as well... I'm sure there have been more changes.
Some reports of his recent WR note that he was running with a lot of bounce in the last few km. He probably needed to learn to minimize it a bit at the slower pace of the marathon but obviously he gets exuberant when he is going well and tends to revert back to his old style when he is moving quickly.
I can remember how pronounced his toe-striking used to be. I suppose it'a difficult to completely change one's form.
There's a fallacy that bounce is bad.
It isn't so.
Excess bounce is wasteful, but so is having a flat stride.
maybe its cuz we are used to seeing him blaze around the track at speeds close to 4 minute miles. while running 26 miles at a slower speed isn't gonna put him up on his toes as much. or maybe he did change he foot strike. beats me.
SMJO wrote:
Some reports of his recent WR note that he was running with a lot of bounce in the last few km. He probably needed to learn to minimize it a bit at the slower pace of the marathon but obviously he gets exuberant when he is going well and tends to revert back to his old style when he is moving quickly.
Man, if there's one word that describes Geb, it's almost definitely "exuberant." What an awesome guy...