Boston Run TEAM

In May the Boston Luna Chix Run team decided to hold their first run clinic of the season. This clinic had the focus on run form. Two experienced coaches offered to provide a clinic for the team from Balance Multisport. Nicole was the lead for the clinic with Olivia helping out.  The weather didn’t really cooperate so there were some last minute game plan changes.

The clinic started with an indoor presentation of form basics. Finding your comfort zone- do what is comfortable not what causes pain and suffering. Hitting your stride- have a positive outlook toward running it shouldn’t cause anxiety. Good run form starts from your feet- don’t lean at the waist lean from the ground! The biggest thing is bio-mechanics everyone has their own biological and mechanical systems and a relationship between the two.

Technique pointers were focused on form and body positions. These were the biggest pointers I got out of the clinic. The biggest one that I took away was the neutral pelvis with the slight lean from the ground up. That position you have when you run up a hill- keep it on flat ground it helps propel you forward! Make sure you limit the bounce- don’t waste energy up and down. Arm swing- focus on the backward swing of the arm. Foot strike a lot of people have a tendency to over stride, hit with your center of gravity.  Counting cadence really helps with foot strike, it has helped my over striding a ton! Legs should move from the hips but don’t force it.

Following the discussion of the basics and the form pointers we headed out for a short run to give em a test drive. There was a light drizzle outside but didn’t stop us. We stopped to try out some form drills; these were things you could add to your runs to do a little form check. The suggestion was to throw one or 2 in at the end of a warm up just to check form before heading out for the bulk of your run. Another great time to get in drills is at the track. Drills included: high knees, butt kicks, skipping and strides. The first three are pretty self explanatory but the 4th of strides is the going from that warm up pace to close to a race pace and trying to keep your form consistent as you build speed.  The coaches watched as the ladies tried out the drills. To finish up the run the coaches and participants finished off the run loop that the Boston Luna Chix run weekly.

I have used the form pointers a lot over my recent runs. The suggestions have really given me something to think about. I honestly think if you can take away one or 2 pointers from a clinic you are learning something. Even in the bad weather I think everyone took away some good pointers to help their form. Whether you are new to running or an experienced runner taking some time to give a form check can really help prevent injury and improve speed.