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Date: 05 Sep 2006 13:27:26
From: Mrs. Tberry
Subject: Short stride problem
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I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
help me lengthen my stride. I really think my stride is one of the
shortest strides in the world, silly short legs ;-P. I try to reach
with my arms while I run and that helps a little, of course I know
stretching helps too. I don't feel tight when I run, and don't really
have a problem with misc. cramps so I'm pretty sure that's not the
source of my problem. Is there anything else I can do to improve my
stide?
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 01:17:44
From: Dan Stumpus
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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"Mrs. Tberry" <tarathornberry@gmail.com > wrote
>I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
> help me lengthen my stride. I really think my stride is one of the
> shortest strides in the world, silly short legs ;-P.
The short choppy stride is a very efficient stride. Nearly all of the elite
runners I have run with have really short little strides at "normal" pace.
I remember once in a relay race I was passed by Gary Tuttle up a hill (he
was a 27:xx 10k runner back in the 80's), and I was amazed at the quick
little shuffling steps he used to leave me in the dust.
So you are blessed with an efficient stride (our very own Charlie Pendejo
also has this elite-style shuffle at low speeds).
As CP pointed out, when you run faster, your stride length will naturally
increase. So what you really are asking is "how can I run faster?".
And the answer is to find a good coach, running club, or do your reading on
how to build speed and endurance. In other words, a good training program
to maximize your potential. You don't need to consciously change your gait,
imo.
-- Dan
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Date: 05 Sep 2006 15:11:26
From: Mrs. Tberry
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Nothing is wrong with a short stride, but I feel like I take 10 steps
to someone elses 4 or 5, if you saw me run you would understand.
I started out with short stride in high school, and I could never get
my times down, I couldn't break an 8/min mile in a race. My weekly
milage was high, I ran just as much as everyone else. My last year
something happened and I was able to lengthen my stride, I was even
able to get my mile split down to 6:40. I know it was my stride, my
form, even my coach said so.
I just remember that when I was running and my stride was lengthened it
was so much more comfortable, it was easier, I felt less ackward, and I
was able to get my times down. I'm not going to fool myself into
thinking I can run those kinds of times again, heck, right now, I would
be ecstatic for an 9/min mile in a race. I just feel trapped by my
stride, like it's holding me back. There just has to be something I
can do, high knees, strength conditioning, something, anything. I know
it won't happen over night, I just want to feel like I am being
proactive.
John B. wrote:
> Mrs. Tberry wrote:
> > I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
> > help me lengthen my stride. I really think my stride is one of the
> > shortest strides in the world, silly short legs ;-P. I try to reach
> > with my arms while I run and that helps a little, of course I know
> > stretching helps too. I don't feel tight when I run, and don't really
> > have a problem with misc. cramps so I'm pretty sure that's not the
> > source of my problem.
>
> What problem?
>
> Is there anything else I can do to improve my
> > stride?
>
> Probably not, but why do you want to? What's wrong with a short stride?
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Date: 05 Sep 2006 14:11:10
From: John B.
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Mrs. Tberry wrote:
> I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
> help me lengthen my stride. I really think my stride is one of the
> shortest strides in the world, silly short legs ;-P. I try to reach
> with my arms while I run and that helps a little, of course I know
> stretching helps too. I don't feel tight when I run, and don't really
> have a problem with misc. cramps so I'm pretty sure that's not the
> source of my problem.
What problem?
Is there anything else I can do to improve my
> stride?
Probably not, but why do you want to? What's wrong with a short stride?
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Date: 05 Sep 2006 14:09:22
From: Charlie Pendejo
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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> I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes
> that could help me lengthen my stride.
Assuming you're keeping your stride _rate_ constant, then this is
exactly the same question as "how can I run faster?" If you're getting
faster, and it's not because you've increased your stride rate (which
it usually isn't), then your stride has lengthened.
If you look at it from that angle, then this (getting faster) is
probably the number one topic discussed here, in books, etc.
While form can be a minor to moderate factor, certainly it's not about
consciously trying to take longer steps. Reaching further than comes
naturally with your arms sounds like a bad idea unless it just means
you'd otherwise leave them a little TOO motionless, and introducing a
bit of a natural swing is a good thing.
Mostly it's about training, and the right quantity and quality of it
for you.
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 05:59:19
From: Mrs. Tberry
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, suggestions, and time. I guess
I just feel like I would be working up to this quick efficient stride
everyone keeps talking about. Trust me, nothing that I have now is
efficient at all. It's not that I am wanting a long stride, just
something a wee bit longer than I have now, so it's still going to be
short, no worries there. I've had the experience of passing people
going uphill (fun, I'll admit), unfortunately for me, I don't plan on
running many hill races where a super short stride will give me that
much of an edge. My favorite time was always striding downhill anyway
;-) Thanks again for your time.
Roeret wrote:
> Mrs. Tberry wrote:
>
> > I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
> > help me lengthen my stride.
>
> You can strengthen your legs especially your flex in your foot and the lift
> off your knee.....
>
> Do "hilljumps" (don't know the English word)... Short jumps up hill (at
> least a 15%) where you lift your knee high and really "kick" down with your
> foot. Important to flex your foot all the way down so you really feel that
> it is the tip of your toes that leave the ground last..
>
> But as "all" the other answers asked "why". Do you intend to run
> sprint/middle distance?????
>
> martin, denmark
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 17:01:42
From: Dot
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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> Roeret wrote:
>
>>Mrs. Tberry wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
>>>help me lengthen my stride.
>>
>>You can strengthen your legs especially your flex in your foot and the lift
>>off your knee.....
>>
>>Do "hilljumps" (don't know the English word)... Short jumps up hill (at
>>least a 15%) where you lift your knee high and really "kick" down with your
>>foot. Important to flex your foot all the way down so you really feel that
>>it is the tip of your toes that leave the ground last..
>>
>>But as "all" the other answers asked "why". Do you intend to run
>>sprint/middle distance?????
>>
>>martin, denmark
martin, are these like the drills you're talking about? First is dvd
preview and 2nd is "slides".
http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/training/hilltrainingdvd.html
http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/training/drilltraining.html
Mrs. Tberry wrote:
> Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, suggestions, and time. I guess
> I just feel like I would be working up to this quick efficient stride
> everyone keeps talking about. Trust me, nothing that I have now is
> efficient at all. It's not that I am wanting a long stride, just
> something a wee bit longer than I have now, so it's still going to be
> short, no worries there. I've had the experience of passing people
> going uphill (fun, I'll admit), unfortunately for me, I don't plan on
> running many hill races where a super short stride will give me that
> much of an edge. My favorite time was always striding downhill anyway
> ;-) Thanks again for your time.
If you run a lot of uphill - where your stride is shortened - run more
on the flat. This is what I've done. Also, picking up the effort a
little usually results in a little longer stride, as Charlie already
mentioned.
Dot
--
"Magic rocks and roots - the ones that trip you but you can never find
afterwards" - Matt Carpenter
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 19:54:08
From: Roeret
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Dot wrote:
>
> martin, are these like the drills you're talking about? First is dvd
> preview and 2nd is "slides".
> http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/training/hilltrainingdvd.html
> http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/training/drilltraining.html
Yes this is what I was talking about. Very powerfull training. (and
demanding too!!)
martin
BTW love those "magic roots".
There is one just when you arrive Barr Camp on the descent on Pikes
Peak!!!!!!!
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 19:18:20
From: Donovan Rebbechi
Subject: Re: Training Week Ending September 3, 2006
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On 2006-09-06, lanceandrew@aol.com <lanceandrew@aol.com > wrote:
> to my awareness you've never gone sub 1:30 in a Half. you've never
> gone sub 4 hours in a Marathon. am I wrong here? when did you become
> a "racer" ? 38 or 39 year old "racers" with your BMI (you said of
> 20.x? ) clock 1:22 Half Marathons (with little trouble).
And all this time I thought a "racer" was one who races. Silly me. I suppose if
we want to impose standards, well national class guys are all mid 13s or better
for 5k, so anyone over 15:00 (16:00 for masters runners) is a weekend jogger at
best (-; The bottom line is, we're all plodders compared to the national class,
and even on the local scene, I'm still at the low end (4th or 5th) scorer level
for a midpack running club. I don't think you've even taken home a trophy yet...?
And I still don't get your BMI obsession. Alan Webb isn't allowed to "BMI adjust"
his mile time when he runs against El G. Neither does Meb when he competes with
Paul Tergat ...
Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 12:48:43
From: Roeret
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Mrs. Tberry wrote:
> I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
> help me lengthen my stride.
You can strengthen your legs especially your flex in your foot and the lift
off your knee.....
Do "hilljumps" (don't know the English word)... Short jumps up hill (at
least a 15%) where you lift your knee high and really "kick" down with your
foot. Important to flex your foot all the way down so you really feel that
it is the tip of your toes that leave the ground last..
But as "all" the other answers asked "why". Do you intend to run
sprint/middle distance?????
martin, denmark
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 12:48:58
From: Mrs. Tberry
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Thanks for the heads up. Fortunately I haven't had problems in those
areas, but I will do some strengthening and stretching excercises to
help keep those issues at bay. Just the thought of achilles problems
is scary to me. Now all I need to do is find some hills in my area.
:-D
Roeret wrote:
> Mrs. Tberry wrote:
>
> > Dot and Martin,
> >
> > That's more helpful than you could ever know, especially since I've
> > struggled with tendonitis in the past. That's just the information I
> > needed. Thanks so much!
> >
>
> Dot's right BE CAREFULL if you have problems in calf and achilleus. This is
> hard on them!!!
>
> You can do steep hill short fast jumps (gives you a fast twitch if you need
> to be able to move your legs fast (sprint/middle distance)) and long steps
> on a more "gentle" hill and get more strength.... the fast is allways a
> good thing to train even if you are an marathonrunner.
>
> But what ever you do get the thighs UP and the foot DOWN!!
>
> You will soon discover how much explotion you will get in your legs.
>
>
> Happy training....
> martin
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Date: 07 Sep 2006 16:32:05
From: Dot
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Mrs. Tberry wrote:
> Thanks for the heads up. Fortunately I haven't had problems in those
> areas, but I will do some strengthening and stretching excercises to
> help keep those issues at bay. Just the thought of achilles problems
> is scary to me. Now all I need to do is find some hills in my area.
> :-D
>
You might also consider the book Run Strong editted by Kevin Beck. I was
just going through some of it again last night and was reminded of the
chapter on stride mechanics.
Dot
--
"Magic rocks and roots - the ones that trip you but you can never find
afterwards" - Matt Carpenter
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Date: 07 Sep 2006 12:21:30
From: Guest
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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"Mrs. Tberry" <tarathornberry@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1157572138.430751.168560@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 11:46:03
From: Mrs. Tberry
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Dot and Martin,
That's more helpful than you could ever know, especially since I've
struggled with tendonitis in the past. That's just the information I
needed. Thanks so much!
Roeret wrote:
> Dot wrote:
>
> >
> > martin, are these like the drills you're talking about? First is dvd
> > preview and 2nd is "slides".
> > http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/training/hilltrainingdvd.html
> > http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/training/drilltraining.html
>
>
> Yes this is what I was talking about. Very powerfull training. (and
> demanding too!!)
>
> martin
> BTW love those "magic roots".
> There is one just when you arrive Barr Camp on the descent on Pikes
> Peak!!!!!!!
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 12:24:36
From: Ed Prochak
Subject: Re: Sticking & more
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lanceandrew@aol.com wrote:
> unbelievably...it's happend again, this time here in the U.S. this
> must happen all the time....
>
> http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-jogger0606sep06,0,7424225.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
Did you read the article Lance? It is the same guy! the same event!
Ed
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Date: 06 Sep 2006 19:03:06
From: Dot
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Mrs. Tberry wrote:
> Dot and Martin,
>
> That's more helpful than you could ever know, especially since I've
> struggled with tendonitis in the past. That's just the information I
> needed. Thanks so much!
>
If you've had achilles issues, use extreme caution if you try those. I
noticed their comment about it avoids achilles issues, but it was right
on a drill that seemed to really stress the achilles. I could do some in
warm weather, then started having trouble when it got cold. I would do
ankle / achilles strengthening exercises before trying the ankle flick
ones, but you may be farther along than myself. The drills I tend to use
are the first one where they emphasize the large muscles, like quads and
high knee lift. I think Lydiard calls it "steep hill" in "Running to the
Top". I've found these extremely effective in building leg strength and
power, esp. for rolling hill courses like I run a lot.
They also stress doing small quantities frequently, rather than long
bouts of them.
Dot
--
"Magic rocks and roots - the ones that trip you but you can never find
afterwards" - Matt Carpenter
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Date: 07 Sep 2006 07:54:25
From: Charlie Pendejo
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Dan wrote:
> Pendejo also has this elite-style shuffle
Um, that's just a nice way of stating, truthfully, that I have a VOmax
of about twelve and have no choice. Without a fairly efficient stride
I wouldn't move at all!
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Date: 07 Sep 2006 15:58:55
From: Don Kirkman
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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It seems to me I heard somewhere that Mrs. Tberry wrote in article
<1157488046.655435.80340@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com >:
>I was wondering if any of you know any drills or excersizes that could
>help me lengthen my stride. I really think my stride is one of the
>shortest strides in the world, silly short legs ;-P. I try to reach
>with my arms while I run and that helps a little, of course I know
>stretching helps too. I don't feel tight when I run, and don't really
>have a problem with misc. cramps so I'm pretty sure that's not the
>source of my problem. Is there anything else I can do to improve my
>stide?
Stride length may be a matter of pace. For several years one of my
favorite running partners was about 5'2", I'm 6'0". When we were
running side by side I sometimes noticed that our footfalls were in
synch. IOW, the ground covered by each step of her short legs was equal
to that covered by my own legs.
If, OTOH, you're thinking of lengthening your stride to increase your
speed, I'd note two things. First, leg turnover rate may be a quicker
way to increase speed than stretching further on each stride. Second,
be sure to avoid *over*striding, which can actually slow you down and
increase the risk of injuries.
--
Don Kirkman
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Date: 08 Sep 2006 06:37:42
From: rick++
Subject: Re: Short stride problem
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Not half as bad as my short legs problem.
My legs are so short my feet wont reach the ground when
I am running :-(
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