This is the rough draft of an essay I wrote awhile ago. It has it's grammatical issues and such because it's a rough draft. What I want to do here is start a thread purely discussing form. This essay is what I was taught is good form. Please add and/or edit any form details you want. Hopefully when we are done with this thread, we'll all have a good reference for everything form, instead of repeating threads over and over.
Essay:
Efficiency in Stride
The wind flows through your hair. It’s your daily run and you love the feeling of traveling fast. This speed is not only provided by fitness, but by form. This form is that of an efficient runner. It’s a form that not only unlocks a vast potential for speed in almost every person, but it’s a failsafe from about ninety percent of the injuries caused by running.
While many things in the running world are disputed left and right, good distance running form is one of the most universally acknowledged, and also one of the most overlooked. People may ask, “Left foot, right foot, it’s that simple, what else could there be to it?” In truth, efficient form goes from head to toe. The two key points at play in good running form are the transfer of motion, without the loss of momentum; and the pursuit to use one hundred percent of your energy to run.
We’ll start simple, the head. There are only two things you can control in relation to your head. One is your jaw. While running your mouth should be ajar, and your face stay relaxed. A good way to think about it is to try and feel your cheeks bounce as you run, if your mouth is open, and you feel them, you’re doing good. The next thing to adjust is your head tilt. Quite simply stare at the horizon. Due to people being different heights, your perspective of the horizon changes, making the horizon a consistent standard for head tilt.
It’s time to proceed down to your arms and shoulders. To retain as much energy as you can, you should keep your shoulders low and relaxed. For optimal efficiency your elbows should be bent at a right angle. You should keep your hands relaxed; a good way to do this is by making a light, unclenched fist. Think of keeping your thumbs on your index finger, on the knuckle closest to the end of the finger. While running you have to make sure you don’t waste any of your arms forward momentum. To do this make sure your arms are only traveling forward and backward, side to side motion simply sends the momentum inwards and outwards, not only does this take away their forward momentum, but it actually is taking away a small bit of your energy to make up for this offset to your balance.
Down to the torso and pelvis. One of the most common form errors in beginning runners is that when tired, they slouch. Slouching not only throws you off balance, but also changes the angle of your head, arms, and legs. Slouching is, in fact, the most efficient way to ruin your form. Top coaches best describe good form, in relation to the torso in pelvis, as “Running Tall”. This is quite the literal statement. To “Run Tall” keep your body upright, with the pelvis out as though you were pushing it forward. Due to the motions of running, pushing your pelvis forward will seem much more natural when running than when you’re standing.
Now down to your legs. Your legs should travel like your arms, moving straight forward and back. You should only bend your knees as much as you have to, so you can reach the stride needed for the particular speed your running. The speed you travel in a run is directly related to the length of your stride. For most races, and training, a person will take around one hundred and eighty strides a minute. The length of these strides changes the amount of ground the person will cover, and is how some people run faster than others. Knowing this you may ask, “So to win races all I have to do is take big steps?” It’s a matter of logic, if you try to increase your stride beyond what you are capable, you will end up missing the one hundred and eighty strides drastically, causing you to move slower. This is called over-striding, and it is a very common mistake. You should bring your legs down in a way that allows your feet to strike the ground directly below your naval, with your knees slightly bend, to absorb the impact of the stride. You may be wondering how to increase your stride length. Well that’s all in how hard you push your legs behind you.
On the topic of over-striding, it is a problem that is recognized by the motions of the ankles and feet in landing. Picture a person running, this person is extending their legs to the fullest extent, striking the ground with their heels. This person is, in a way, using their feet as brakes, and needs to overcome that energy with each following stride. Also, this person’s momentum is being shot back up into their knees and hips every time they hit the ground, causing long-term damage to his joints. This person is an over-strider. As you learned in the paragraph about good leg form, they should be striking the ground below their naval, so adjust your picture as such. You also learned that the runner’s knees should be bent when landing, so fix that as well. While your picture may seem to be perfect, your runner still has mechanical problems in his ankles and feet.
When a runner strikes the ground with his heel, it is called “heel striking” and it is a terrible habit to start. Every time you step, your foot should land on the outside of mid-foot, and roll in and forward. You should then immediately spring off your forefoot, feeling your calves pushing you forward. Some runners, including me, land closer to their heel than the mid-foot while at slower paces. For those of you who do not know where mid-foot and forefoot are, here is a brief run through. If you take your finger and push in on the outside of your foot by your heel, and run the finger forward, you will feel a bone prodding out, this is the start of the mid-foot. The forefoot is from the pad off your foot, through your toes.
Now your mental picture should be looking much better. The form you see him using is now basic ideal running form. While it will take a bit of time for you to master it, the pros outweigh the cons ten fold. Keep yourself running with good form; keep injury free; keep moving fast.