My form is disgusting when I run, and I'm going out for cross country.?

Question

I've -never- been a runner at all, until recently. A year ago, a 13 minute mile was an accomplishment. Now, I run around a 7:45 mile, shooting for 6:30 so that I can say I got half of my old time. I'm on the cross country team this fall (we don't have tryouts-if you show up, you're on the team). I can work on speed and endurance myself. My problem is form. I run badly. I take small steps, no matter how much I focus on taking big ones (I have short legs, but still). I trip a lot (though I do that walking, too). I never know what to do with my arms. I look at the ground a lot. I can't tell the difference between my form for distance and sprinting (though I fail as a sprinter). I don't want to look like a fool in front of girls that have been running their whole lives. Help?

Answer 1

small steps are fine, dont try to change your form drastically, you can concentrate on holding your head up, or using your arms more, but nothing major. In my experience, people who try to make major changes in running form, end up with an injury from the change

Answer 2

Running form can be changed to some degree; most of what a coach will tell you is that we can change from the waist up.  But, from the waist down they really can’t do much about your gait.  Small steps are fine, in fact most of today’s longer distance runners take shorter strides, where they get their speed is from how fast your lets turn over.  

For leg turn over you should be looking to try to maintain a 180 strikes per minute.  This means that if you count how many times your right and left foot hit the ground in 1 minute it should be somewhere around 180 per minute.  The only way to get faster depending on the distances you want to run is through strength training.

Strength training can be a combination of Weights, training exercises, interval/hill training.  There are books that you can buy that will give you those types of training programs.  I myself and a distance runner, preferring 10K – 20K events, I have run smaller 5K and up to marathons, but prefer 10K – 20K races.  

My training consist 80% running and 20% interval/hill training.  As for the upper body, have a look at www.runnersworld.com and www.coolrunning .com there you will find tips for good running form.  Your arms should be held at about 90 degrees, with your hands loose.  Pretend you are holding potato chips and you don’t want to break them

Your arms should swing naturally if you are running longer distances.  But if you are sprinting or doing some of the mid distance runs you may want to pump them for more speed.  They should never come higher then your chest and they should not come across your chest when you swing them.  You want the motion to support a forward motion; if you swing them to high or across your chest the motion will move or twist your torso.  This will cause fatigue earlier then if you ran relaxed.

Your body should be in an upright position, maybe even a slight lean forward, but not bent over.   You want to run tall, but not leaned back if you do your feet will strike and act more like breaks then propelling your forward.

If you are running for a school team, consult your coach as well.

Harry

Answer 3

for your arms get two batons and run with them in each hand. if your arms are crossing then make them so that there not crossing.  if that doesnt work start to run with three pound weights that u can strap around your wrist in no time you will be all set to run. i dnt know about your legs. google it or something.

Answer 4

Long distance running can stress many muscles on your shoulder. Try hard to keep your shoulder as straight as you can. Your arms should be kinda a 90 degree angle. When your are sprint open your arms more so your not fighting towards the wind. Never sloutch that will get you more tired. Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose it will help you from running out of breathe. My coach told me all these techniques. I went from a 9 min mile to a 5:45 mile.

Answer 5

Stand up tall, let your shoulders relax. Keep your elbows at 90 degrees and swing your arms front to back, not across your body.

Many girls that are experienced and good runners tend to hold their shoulders up and swing their arms across their bodies with the elbows out to the side.

Running is a pushing motion, not a pulling motion, most of the time.

The important thing is to stay relaxed and not tense up your arms and shoulders.

Take deep, full breaths, don't pant or gasp.

It doesn't matter how you get the air into your lungs, most people use their mouths and noses, not just one or the other.

You increase the length of  your stride behind you, not in front of you. This comes when you get stronger and can push off with your leg straight behind you. Most people take the foot off of the ground with their knee bent, so they are not getting a full stride.

In cross country it is necessary to look at the ground about 10 feet in front, so you will not step in a hole or trip, let  your eyes scan the ground and look up at a distance so you can see where you are going.

If you only look down you will run into something.

Don't worry about looking like a fool, most people will welcome  you.