Long Distance (Marathon) Running Form

Found this and decided it would be good to archive it here so as not to forget.

Long Distance (Marathon) Running Form: "Best Running Form

* * Feet should strike ground as close to midfoot as possible and directly under the body's center of gravity.
* * Foot strike should be a glancing blow - foot should not stay on the ground that long. A good mental technique is to imagine your feet are stones skipping across the water. If you leave them on the water too long, you'll sink. Most elite runners only have their feet in contact with the ground for a very short period of time. This mental exercise helps you to keep your stride rate up and also minimizes ground contact time.
* * Hips should be forward while the center of gravity should be positioned directly over the foot.
* * Slight forward lean from the ankles, but keeping the shoulders, hips, and ankles in a straight line.
* * Arms should go forward and back with as little side to side sway as possible and the elbows shold never cross forward past the torso. Elbows should not come forward past the hip and thumb should not go backward past the hip.
* * Elbow angle should be 90 degrees or less.
* * Knees and feet should drive straight forward and back. High knee lift and high kick back are not necessary for distance runners.
* * Keep cadence at 180-182 foot strikes / minute, regardless of stride length.
* * Keep pelvis tilted up. A good mental technique for keeping the pelvis tilted up is to try to draw your belly button back to your spine while you're running. This takes some practice but is a good core strengthening technique.
* * Downhill running is a great way to run fast without expending a lot of energy. It's basically a controlled fall and you let gravity provide all the forward propulsion. A lot of runners put on the brakes on downhill runs, which is inefficient. Ideally, you want to lean forward, still keeping your shoulder, hips, and ankles in a straight line and let gravity propel you forward (without falling). Obviously, you have to be careful on steep downhills to 'control the fall'. A lot of coaches will say to maintain the same effort on uphills/downhills and my effort is the same but my pace is much faster on downhills. I can usually take 1 to 2 minutes/mile off my pace on downhills for the same effort. It's like coasting when you run. The only thing you really have to do is 'control the fall'. With this method and a downhill course, many people that thought a Boston Qualifier wasn't within their reach could probably qualify.
* * Uphill running form should be a modification of the flat land form: Shorten stride (keep cadence at 180-182 footstrikes/minute), lean into hill, never let your foot land in front of your knee, and try to keep your foot landing below your center of gravity. You lean a little more than on flat land running and there is more forward drive to the knee, but those are the main differences.



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