Give your running routine a leg up

According to co-author, Malcolm Balk, ‘When running becomes a means to an end, and not your primary focus, it loses the features which elevate it from just another mundane activity.’

How then can you make your running routine really count? Steer clear of the following habits:

• Working to the principle that, ‘more is more’. More speed, more distance, more vitamins, more shoes, more anything means a better life.
• Believing that, ‘no pain, no gain’ is an ideal philosophy for both training and life in general.
• Always running hard and competing, whenever possible, especially in training, and never letting anyone finish ahead of you.
• Becoming obsessed with having to run so many kilometres, so many minutes, each day, and insisting on telling everyone about it.

By looking at the technique of running from a fresh perspective (the process rather than the end result), you can start to overcome these bad habits and improve your speed and form. The Alexander Technique encourages natural use of the body, with as little tension as possible. The following tips will help you get started:

• Learn to run lightly and quietly. Pounding the ground suggests your technique needs attention, if only because such a heavy footfall greatly increases your chances of injury. Running lightly has nothing to do with how much you weigh, but more with paying attention and literally listening to yourself as you run.
• Ditch your Walkman. How can you hear your feet on the ground or focus on the way your arms and legs are moving, when you’re deliberately using music as a distraction? In practical terms, too, wearing a Walkman makes it harder to hear traffic and potential assailants.
• Look ahead. Casting your gaze 30-50 metres in front of you helps to create an elongated spine and a relaxed head, and reduces both ‘heavy’ running and strain on your neck and shoulders. Your head weighs 4.5 kilograms, so looking slightly out and ahead of you prevents the weight from pulling your neck and shoulders down and out of balance.
• Keep your torso still. Recognise that your arms should move independently of your torso. Aim to keep the upper body ‘quiet’, while you run, to prevent hunching your shoulders and shortening your neck.
• Lead with the knees. Allow your knees, rather than your feet, to lead you forward. If you try to increase your stride length by reaching forward with your foot, it causes a breaking action, which both slows you down and sends shock waves up through your legs with every stride. It also causes you to lean back and sit on your hips rather than running vertical and ‘tall’.
• Get into a rhythm. Allow your legs to move in a semi-circular pattern, with your heel nearly touching your bum at the end of each stride. This rhythmic pattern is easier to maintain and modify, such as when increasing speed or going uphill, than a loping or choppy running style, which requires greater adjustments on a slope or during a sprint.
• Keep your wrists firm. Some runners believe that floppy wrists are a sign of relaxation. In fact, they create unnecessary tension elsewhere in the body – usually across the shoulders, which have to tighten up to accommodate this position. The idea is to create a feeling of poise and balance, rather than deliberately trying to relax those parts not directly involved in running.
• Use your arms. Allow your arms to move forward and back, or slightly across your body, with your elbows bent at 90 degrees. This is a very efficient way to propel yourself forward instead of hindering you.
• Avoid clenching your teeth. Facial grimacing is a sign that your energy is being misdirected, rather than going where it will do most good – to your arms and legs.