As I mentioned in my last
post, this year my focus has shifted back to running for the season in order to
chase my Boston dream and a marathon PR (or two!). With this shift in focus, my husband (my
coach for 2015!) and I sat down, put our coach hats on, and brainstormed how I
need to approach this season. What can
we start working on NOW to get me faster come May? Well beyond just pure strength work (which is
a huge part of coach Anthony’s plan for me) and functional strength to help
avoid injuries…. FOOT SKILLS AND DRILLS!
Think about this quote from Joe Friel: “Besides reducing vertical oscillation, running with a
higher cadence means the foot spends less time in contact with the ground. That
means running faster. Until your foot comes off the ground you aren’t going any
place. It’s like an anchor.”
Beyond just
increasing cadence, foot skill and drills can help with posture and form, a lighter
landing, a bouncier landing, powerful forward leg drive, and better overall
efficiency. By incorporating drills into
your training, you will be able to better recruit muscles AND you will be less
injury prone. Imagine having proper form
and being more efficient during that last push of your big race…you can by simply adding just a few minutes to your training routine. Why wouldn’t you give up 10-15minutes every
few days if it will translate to FREE SPEED on race day?! Added bonus: you will
have better form and you may even look a bit more composed in that finisher photo!
So what foot
skills can runners utilize to become faster and more efficient? I’m so glad you asked! ;)
1.
Jump Rope
Jumping
rope benefits runners in so many ways! Jumping rope successfully requires good posture and quick reactions which translate straight to running form and reaction times. Runners also learn to land
light on their feet and to more optimally distribute the load of their body
landing through jumping rope. Pick up
the speed and jumping rope can lead to increased cadence!
2.
The Dot Drill
FOOT
SPEED! As runners,if we have mighty
hamstrings and they are well balanced with our quads, and our core is powerful
and stable that’s fantastic, BUT if we are lacking (and overlooking) foot speed
then this is a great place to make some serious gains in running speed. The dot drill increases runners foot speed
and reaction times. To get a little more
out of the drill a band can be placed around the legs for some extra
resistance.
3.
High Knees
There
is a reason high knees are so popular among runners. Sprinters to Marathoners can gain a lot from
adding high knees to their warm-up routine.
What don’t high knees teach?! You
will work on increasing your knee lift which will help increase your stride
length along with teaching a powerful and efficient forward leg drive as well
as a bouncier ground strike. High knees
teach all of this while also increasing the strength and endurance of the quad
and hip flexor. No wonder this is such a
popular drill among runners and coaches!
4.
Butt Kicks
This
is another one that is tried and true.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a dynamic warm-up routine that doesn’t
include both high knees and butt kicks and there’s a reason for that! Butt kicks improve leg turnover by and train
the hamstrings to contract with more force during the foot strike portion of the
running stride. This drill will strengthen your hamstrings and teach them to move your lower leg faster
by increasing the fast twitch response in your hamstrings.
5.
Grapevines (carioca)
Grapevines
are fun, but beyond just being a fun way to warm-up, they help with foot speed,
coordination, stabilization, and lateral leg strength (a key to injury
prevention!).
These are just a few of my
favorite foot skills/drills that can be added to your warm-up if they aren’t
already a part of it. Remember when you
would rather just run out the door and skip the warm-up that by working on your
running form, proper muscle recruitment, and efficiency you are gaining free
speed on race day! Other drills to
try: A skips, B skips, side-to-side
skips, and ankling.
Still have a few minutes
that you can commit to training throughout the week and don’t want to waste it
on junk miles? Another great addition to
your routine is to add power drills AFTER an EASY run!
Complete
50m of each of these drills with a 50m recovery jog or walk between each of
them: Bounding/strides, running with a
focus on high knees, skipping, 50-100m sprint.
Not feeling the power
drills? Want to take it inside? Add
10-15minutes of plyometrics to your routine post run a 1-2x per week. Why plyometrics? Plyometrics train your
muscles to contract more quickly which in turn produces more power, which
equates to you running faster!!
Here
are some of my favorite plyometrics: switch lunges, bench/stair taps, box
jumps, and single leg hops. Start slow
by doing a circuit two times through with 2-3 moves. Complete the circuit twice per week and add
one move each week until you are doing a circuit of 6 moves 2-3x through.
