Running Cadence (Page 2)

Ok, I'm back. Still haven't friggin' run but I'm back. Nice to see the conversation has been civil. It often can turn nasty when Pose gets involved.

I attended a Pose clinic with Dr. Romanov 2 years ago and learned a ton. I've used his ideas with my athletes and my own running. I've conducted about 10 running clinics as well so I've been able to refine these ideas through a lot of experience. Pose says:

1. High cadence, 90+
2. Midfoot strike, directly under the body
3. Lift the foot (change support) by lifting straight up, by firing your hamstring, not hip flexor.
4. Slight forward lean along the Stance Line (line drawn from contact point, through knee, hips, head). Actually, I don't think this is a Pose term but I like it. Anyway, that entire line is straight but leaned forward slightly. In other words, you're not bent at the waist.
5. Running is then changing support very quickly (pick leg straight up, with hamstring) and falling forward. High cadence = falling forward more often = running faster.

Rich's experience coaching athletes with this method:

1. Dr. Romanov understates the strain this places on your body and does not offer a means to adopt this method conservatively. Consider that you've been running the same way your whole life. Your joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments have adapted to your style, your running form. Anything outside of that form places a stress on your body and increases the risk of injury. Now, you're probably a heel striker with undeveloped calf and achilles elasticity. Or rather, the midfoot strike of Pose places a strain on structures that they are REALLY not used to. This can be dangerous. One common comment I hear is "I ran this way for 30 minutes and now I'm JACKED UP!! I can barely walk." First, realize that you need to make these changes incrementally. Second, implement a system that changes your form slowly and safely. I prescribe Form Fartlek, with is nothing more than intervals inserted into a run where you run "with good form" for a short period of time. Set your watch to beep every 10 minutes. When it beeps, run "New" (won't call it Pose, just new) for 1 minute. Next week, do 9/1, then 8'/2'. Whatever. My point is that you've implemented a system that doesn't just throw you on the street doing funky stuff to your legs.
2. In my experience, if you tell someone "midfoot strike," they try too hard. They usually run on the balls of their feet or even toes. They've moved the contact point far forward on their foot, creating a long lever with the heel and achilles as the fulcrum. This long lever dramatically increases the forces applied to the achilles and calves. And remember, these structures are weak from a lifetime of heel striking.

What I do and tell my athletes:

"Run with a quick cadence, lifting up with the hamstring. Keep the contact point directly under your body. Lean forward 'at the ankles,' along the stance line, toward a target in the distance. You should feel as if you're falling toward that target. Change speed by increasing or decreasing lean. It doesn't take much at all. You can feel a fraction of a degree. Don't think midfoot stike. If you do all this correctly, it will just happen. If you try too hard you risk hurting yourself. You should feel as if you are 'unweighting the heel.' Foot contacts the ground in a neutral position (neither on the balls nor on the heels, kind of flat) with the heel barely off the ground."

We then do Strides almost daily, insert Form Fartlek into their runs, etc. I strongly believe you should have 1 running form workout per week, regardless of where you are in the season, how fast you are or think you are. The best runners in the sport work on form. If they do it, so should you.

Here endeth the lesson,

Rich

In other venues Pose is usually met with a lively discussion on running form, voodoo, lack of research, what about this guy, what about that guy, etc. That's why I don't say "pose method," I just tell you what I know and have seen from my experience. Pose-eque, maybe? Ken Mierke, one of the other Ultrafit coaches, has a running book and video out, Evolution Running. I've seen his presentation last year and I know Ken very well. He is an extremely knowledgeable and scientific coach. He's also done performance testing on a billion athletes and has been able, for example, to put someone on a treadmill, make change x to their form and observe change y in pace and oxygen uptake. He knows his stuff.

OK, I'll join in.  Reading this thread this week got me interested to see what my cadence was.  I ran today as part of a brick and here are my conclusions.

First of all, let me say that I am 6-5, and I beleive that the cadence numbers will be lower for bigger dudes.  Now, I am a better than average runner.  I can cruise without a whole lot of effort at 8-minute pace for an inderterminent period of time.  (That means a long while, welshy.)  Also, you can tell from my shoes that I am a heel to mid-foot striker.  After running the first mile way to fast today (6:50), I tried to back off and checked my cadence - 80.  Now, I held it there for a whole mile and ran the second mile in 7:10, still pretty freaking fast.  So I backed off even more.  I have always used cadence to control speed, operating under the assumption that my stride length is fairly constant.  Moreover, and here is where it gets tricky, my HR is almost always double my cadence.  When I checked my cadence at 80, my HR was nearly 160.  And this is constant throughout my running.  (BTW, I don't own a HRM - I rely on RPE mostly.)  If I hold my head just right, I can "hear" my heartbeat in my ears, and it is almost perfectly in step with my footfalls. 

My personal conclusions:

1)  To remain in zone 1 or zone 2, I have to slow my cadence down.

2)  If I ever get to be a super-fast runner, then I will have a cadence near 90.  But for the time being, a cadence of about 70-75 is where I run comfortably for my long runs.

3)  I think it is very important in running to have the foot placed down while already moving backwards.  I think this action, which may lead to mid-foot striking, is critical in that the foot will not be moving against your body's momentum at any point.  When I sprint, or do strides, I run on the balls of my feet, but as I slow, the contact point moves backward. 

There you go.  So does that mean I believe in Pose or ChiRunning?  Depends on your interpretation...