Only five runners turned out for the Wednesday club run, which was a shame because despite the snow or maybe because of it we had a great time :]
I know a lot of you have problems and are worried about running over the ice and snow, so I thought I'd give you a few tips and tricks to combat the conditions!
1/ Wear your X/C spikes, fit the shortest spikes possible [ about 6- 8mm] this will give very good grip on the ice without you feeling like your running over 6 inch nails.
2/ If you don't have X/c spikes you could try modifying your road or trail shoes like Jamie, fitting small screws into the tread [ not recommended with Nike air shoes!].
Check out this link for more info
3/ good posture and running technique
many runners run with their feet wider apart in slippy conditions thinking this will give them better balance, in truth you will be far more unbalanced. imagine you are running along a painted line 2inch thick, the edge of each shoe should touch over the edge of the line, you are now landing under your centre meaning you are far less likely to slide sideways!
keep a good posture, pull yourself up tall, head looking forward, drive your knees forward then pull your foot back to land just in front of your centre of gravity, dorsa flex your ankle as you land, this will help your leg rotate forward over the ankle joint and reduce braking forces.
keep your running action as smooth and relaxed as possible.
Here are 8 commandments for faster injury free running:
By Coach Al Lyman, CSCS
• Begin to pull the leg back from the HIP (a PAWBACK), with a
fairly constant knee angle, BEFORE foot-strike.
• After follow-through, drive the knee forward powerfully, allowing
the foot to lag well behind during leg-recovery. Use momentum,
not muscular contractions, to raise the heel.
• Push off should be passive and relaxed. Incorporate the “swagger” of a rotating hip motion…
• Minimize contact time between the feet and the ground. Think
of “flicking” the ground as your feet/legs move backward before
foot strike…
• At any running speed, maintain approximately the same high
turnover rate (cadence) - that is, about 180 steps per minute,
or 90 stride “cycles.”
• Keep the heel un-weighted throughout footstrike, landing from
mid-foot to fore-foot. *avoid the tendency to over-exaggerate
this by landing on the toes!
Read the full article HERE
Check out his Great website HERE
Clothing
For very cold conditions i recommend wearing a cycle thermal jacket over a thermal vest,
Cycle jackets have 3 rear pockets which are great for carrying extra clothing, food, mobile phone etc, all the things you might need on a freezing day!
mitts are far warmer than gloves in Arctic conditions.
don't forget tracksuit bottoms or tights, running in shorts will really hurt your muscles.
wear a hat, you can lose a lot of heat through a bare head so wear a thermal hat!
OK hope these tips help you enjoy this Arctic freeze, have fun :]
3 comments:
good advice. I ran in -30C years
back and I used to wear normal
road shoes. That far below 0C
the ice isn't slippy.
Today we got a foot of fresh
snow and I wore these as I can't
find my spikes after moving
neftenga
I stick to snow as it doesn't
slip. But you need good ankles
and hips if it's a bit packed.
You are 100% right about posture....
What's ice and snow? ;)
Ewen you are a lucky boy!
Snow is great fun the first day or two, now i wish it would go away so I could do some fast sessions, may have to start using a treadmill aaahhh!
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