Anatomy of a Running Stride
I’ve always been a big proponent of not trying to alter your running stride. The way you run naturally should be the way you’re least likely to get hurt. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard of people trying to change their stride and ending up injured.
And then Super Doc watched me run…
He told me my stride was too long (and I run lopsided, but that’s a different story). Too long? I thought a long stride was a good thing!
It all depends on what kind of running your doing- any kind of distance or fitness running is going to require a shorter stride. Hmm.
I was a sprint to mid-distance runner in high school. You won prizes if you had a long stride. Apparently you also get injured if you keep that up.
The doc told me to shorten up my stride and I’d feel better. (ha.) I was skeptical, but then I re-read one of my race recaps writing my last post. Well what would you know- my knee hurt way back then. (??) I shortened my stride and it felt better. Who knew?
So I’ve been practicing a shorter stride, and paying attention to running form. While the stride itself isn’t what caused my injury, it could help prevent it from acting up. [My probably is that my hip rolls in- which makes my knees roll in. If you ever wondered, you’re knees aren’t supposed to hit each other when you run. 
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Let’s talk running form:
Head: Keep the back of your neck inline with your spine. This means you’ll end up looking down slightly- but not so much you’re looking at your feet- glance at the road slightly ahead of you.
Arms: Keep your arms bent at about 90 degrees and let them swing forward and backwards. Believe it or not, your arms are actually helping you run.
Shoulders: Don’t let your shoulders creep up towards your ears.[guilty!] Check yourself occasionally as you run and pull your shoulders down. Try not to hunch or curve your shoulders either; keeping your shoulders back gives your lungs room to fill completely.
Upper body: Lean slightly forward from the hips, being careful to maintain a straight back & neck. (See above.)
Legs: Keep your stride short and light. It may be easier to think about speeding up your cadence, or how fast your feet are hitting the ground. To increase your cadence, you have to shorten your stride. When going up hills, increase your cadence even more- not your effort level! Some people suggest counting strides- aim for 180 strides per minute. (Yeah, that’s a lot.)
Feet: Land with your feet underneath you, not out in front of you. Hit with the mid-front section of your foot. (The ball of the foot and slightly behind.) Both of these concepts are the foundation of barefoot running, but you can mimic them in any shoe. Landing with your foot way out in front of you means you’ll hit with your heel first- that’s not only jarring to your body, it actually stops your forward momentum. You’ll end up working harder than you need to.
It may be easier to practice good running form on a treadmill at first. To practice shortening your stride, try to run faster without bumping up the speed. Use caution when changing your stride- think of it as a training exercise: start small, then build.
Here’s an neat article about running stride if you’re interested.
