yogiskier
Angel Diva
I have my first trail half marathon (at Harriman Bear Mountain in NY) in 2 weeks and I did a preview run of the area last Sunday. I'm not a very fast runner and knew that I'd be hiking some of the time, but was still surprised that it took me as long as it did (2hrs and 45min moving time) to finish 10 miles. I felt that my legs were really trashed by the end and I wondered whether I could improve something technique-wise to make running all of those hills (both up and down) relatively easier.
I did some internet research and was amazed to find advice about running technical (i.e., rocky) downhill trails that was similar to skiing In a Trail Runner article David Roche says "try to keep your shoulders, hips and ankles aligned at impact, using the hips and knees as key indicators of proper form. Run tall through the hips, and avoid “sitting down” in your stride. Because of forward momentum, maintaining upright posture through the hips may actually feel like leaning forward a few degrees." He then talks about "relax and flow": "The informal downhiller jumps over rocks, lets his/her arms go above his/her head when that seems to help and doesn’t worry about a misstep or bad line. The formal downhiller stiffly views each rock as an obstacle and each steep section as a competitor.
If you relax and flow, you’ll run downhills faster because you are not putting on the brakes unnecessarily, but instead letting gravity do the work. This practice can be learned over time, like anything in life."
This video by "The Run Experience" discusses some good downhill techniques. Minute 6:36 - looking ahead a few turns instead of straight down and then minute 8:28 - getting out of the backseat.
Woe is me - my skiing nemesis, the backseat, has followed me from skiing to trail running!
I went for a trail run yesterday and tried to adjust my technique - smaller steps, looking ahead, getting out of the backseat - and what do you know, I think I found some flow and it was more fun! :D
I did some internet research and was amazed to find advice about running technical (i.e., rocky) downhill trails that was similar to skiing In a Trail Runner article David Roche says "try to keep your shoulders, hips and ankles aligned at impact, using the hips and knees as key indicators of proper form. Run tall through the hips, and avoid “sitting down” in your stride. Because of forward momentum, maintaining upright posture through the hips may actually feel like leaning forward a few degrees." He then talks about "relax and flow": "The informal downhiller jumps over rocks, lets his/her arms go above his/her head when that seems to help and doesn’t worry about a misstep or bad line. The formal downhiller stiffly views each rock as an obstacle and each steep section as a competitor.
If you relax and flow, you’ll run downhills faster because you are not putting on the brakes unnecessarily, but instead letting gravity do the work. This practice can be learned over time, like anything in life."
This video by "The Run Experience" discusses some good downhill techniques. Minute 6:36 - looking ahead a few turns instead of straight down and then minute 8:28 - getting out of the backseat.
Woe is me - my skiing nemesis, the backseat, has followed me from skiing to trail running!
I went for a trail run yesterday and tried to adjust my technique - smaller steps, looking ahead, getting out of the backseat - and what do you know, I think I found some flow and it was more fun! :D