Past couple of days, been playing around in improving Cadence.
Did an impromptu morning 11.5 Kms run on 11th Sept '16.
My average cadence normally has been around 172 steps per min (spm), while my stride length has been around 1.35meters, for a medium pace 10Km run. Focus during the past couple of runs was to get it stabilized to 176 or 178spm, atleast during the easy runs.
The run today, has been a great workout, by looking at the result.
Stats regarding the run from my Garmin Forerunner 920XT is listed below.
Ran 11.5Kms @ 53m26s, Average Pace 4m 41s/Km, Avg Cad 180spm, Avg Std len 1.19meters
1. 5:19mins/km with Avg Cad 181 steps per min & Stride len 1.04 meters
2. 5:07mins/km with Avg Cad 181 steps per min & Stride len 1.09 meters
3. 4:55mins/km with Avg Cad 181 steps per min & Stride len 1.12 meters
4. 4:56mins/km with Avg Cad 180 steps per min & Stride len 1.12 meters
5. 4:48mins/km with Avg Cad 180 steps per min & Stride len 1.16 meters
6. 4:40mins/km with Avg Cad 179 steps per min & Stride len 1.2 meters
7. 4:35mins/km with Avg Cad 178 steps per min & Stride len 1.23 meters
8. 4:30mins/km with Avg Cad 179 steps per min & Stride len 1.26 meters
9. 4:30mins/km with Avg Cad 178 steps per min & Stride len 1.25 meters
10. 4:29mins/km with Avg Cad 179 steps per min & Stride len 1.25 meters
11. 4:14mins/km with Avg Cad 185 steps per min & Stride len 1.29 meters
12. 3:38mins/km (500meters) with Avg Cad 188 steps per min & Stride len 1.49 meters
My form of running gives me a strong stride length, a forward push, but struggle with Cadence. Past couple of days have been attempting to improve on it.
Had planned it as an easy run, hence started with no Warmup drills. Withour a proper warmup, its usually a struggle to get body to a proper rhythm, hence the initial few kms are a bit of an exertion. Breathing pattern takes time to get stabilized. I would normally expect breathing to be relaxed during easy runs, but was struggling today. Probably an unplanned run, hence was not willing to support it.
Struggled during the initial 5 kms and consciously restricted myself from going fast. Cadence is usually high during my initial few kms, By the 6th km, body was well warmed up and got into a better rhythm. The warmed-up body, leads to better form, which in turn leads to faster runs, with longer stride length, but reduced stride rate. This continued till the 10th km.
At the start of the 11th Km, consciously changed my form a bit to improve on my Cadence without keeping a concern about the Stride length. My foot movement increased, and was pretty sure that my pace was also increasing. Cadence improved from 179 spm in 10th km to 185 spm in the 11th km. Also the stride length increased from an avg of 1.25 meters to 1.29 meters. This is a significant increase to maintain for a Km. And at the final 500 meters, did something which I normally feel is extremely difficult for me. I increased Cadence, without a compromise on the Stride length. So was consciously maintaining a very good stride length and rate and this combination was extremely challenging. This is clearly visible in the stats of the final 500 meters. But could not survive over 500 meters, with the combination of high stride rate and stride length. Avg Cadence increased further to 188 spm and Stride length to 1.49 meters.
Now the next query will be on how did I increase the stride rate or cadence. The recommended method is with a proper body alignment of a slight forward lean from the ankle which gives an automatic forward propulsion and helps to run efficiently. Also ensuring that the foot lands behind the hip, i.e. away from the center of body mass. This is as per Chi running recommendation. A change in the natural form requires additional focus, and does not come easy.
Its a real pleasure to learn multiple forms of running, which leads to usage of different parts of the body, different muscles and thus leading to varying results.
Its the desire to learn, that leads us to understand our-self better, and identify areas and methods to improve.
Did an impromptu morning 11.5 Kms run on 11th Sept '16.
My average cadence normally has been around 172 steps per min (spm), while my stride length has been around 1.35meters, for a medium pace 10Km run. Focus during the past couple of runs was to get it stabilized to 176 or 178spm, atleast during the easy runs.
The run today, has been a great workout, by looking at the result.
Stats regarding the run from my Garmin Forerunner 920XT is listed below.
Ran 11.5Kms @ 53m26s, Average Pace 4m 41s/Km, Avg Cad 180spm, Avg Std len 1.19meters
1. 5:19mins/km with Avg Cad 181 steps per min & Stride len 1.04 meters
2. 5:07mins/km with Avg Cad 181 steps per min & Stride len 1.09 meters
3. 4:55mins/km with Avg Cad 181 steps per min & Stride len 1.12 meters
4. 4:56mins/km with Avg Cad 180 steps per min & Stride len 1.12 meters
5. 4:48mins/km with Avg Cad 180 steps per min & Stride len 1.16 meters
6. 4:40mins/km with Avg Cad 179 steps per min & Stride len 1.2 meters
7. 4:35mins/km with Avg Cad 178 steps per min & Stride len 1.23 meters
8. 4:30mins/km with Avg Cad 179 steps per min & Stride len 1.26 meters
9. 4:30mins/km with Avg Cad 178 steps per min & Stride len 1.25 meters
10. 4:29mins/km with Avg Cad 179 steps per min & Stride len 1.25 meters
11. 4:14mins/km with Avg Cad 185 steps per min & Stride len 1.29 meters
12. 3:38mins/km (500meters) with Avg Cad 188 steps per min & Stride len 1.49 meters
My form of running gives me a strong stride length, a forward push, but struggle with Cadence. Past couple of days have been attempting to improve on it.
Had planned it as an easy run, hence started with no Warmup drills. Withour a proper warmup, its usually a struggle to get body to a proper rhythm, hence the initial few kms are a bit of an exertion. Breathing pattern takes time to get stabilized. I would normally expect breathing to be relaxed during easy runs, but was struggling today. Probably an unplanned run, hence was not willing to support it.
Struggled during the initial 5 kms and consciously restricted myself from going fast. Cadence is usually high during my initial few kms, By the 6th km, body was well warmed up and got into a better rhythm. The warmed-up body, leads to better form, which in turn leads to faster runs, with longer stride length, but reduced stride rate. This continued till the 10th km.
At the start of the 11th Km, consciously changed my form a bit to improve on my Cadence without keeping a concern about the Stride length. My foot movement increased, and was pretty sure that my pace was also increasing. Cadence improved from 179 spm in 10th km to 185 spm in the 11th km. Also the stride length increased from an avg of 1.25 meters to 1.29 meters. This is a significant increase to maintain for a Km. And at the final 500 meters, did something which I normally feel is extremely difficult for me. I increased Cadence, without a compromise on the Stride length. So was consciously maintaining a very good stride length and rate and this combination was extremely challenging. This is clearly visible in the stats of the final 500 meters. But could not survive over 500 meters, with the combination of high stride rate and stride length. Avg Cadence increased further to 188 spm and Stride length to 1.49 meters.
Now the next query will be on how did I increase the stride rate or cadence. The recommended method is with a proper body alignment of a slight forward lean from the ankle which gives an automatic forward propulsion and helps to run efficiently. Also ensuring that the foot lands behind the hip, i.e. away from the center of body mass. This is as per Chi running recommendation. A change in the natural form requires additional focus, and does not come easy.
Its a real pleasure to learn multiple forms of running, which leads to usage of different parts of the body, different muscles and thus leading to varying results.
Its the desire to learn, that leads us to understand our-self better, and identify areas and methods to improve.
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