Ironman Run Style – Gazelles vs Gliders Part 2 – What Really Matters?
I have had lots of response to part one of this discussion – please read and view it first if you haven’t already. The point here is to challenge some of the “common wisdom” out there about how you “should” run. And by “you”, I mean everyday runners and long course triathletes. If you are an elite runner, track athlete, or even a fast short course triathlete, I wouldn’t bother watching the videos. But, if you are everyone else, you may find something valuable here. In part one I laid out the differences in the two running styles, and touched on the physics involved. Bottom line, if you are running slower than 6min pace (and you probably are running much slower most of the time), should you emulate the running style of athletes running well under 5 min pace? Do you “need” to fly? Do you need the extra impact and potential greater likelihood for injury of the bounding Gazelle style?
If you are a speedster, yes. Physics demands it. Otherwise, sticking to the ground and turning over quicker may be the ticket. I think everyone naturally runs Gazelle style as a child – you are running in short fast bursts in play and sports. But what about sustained slower running – a very unnatural thing for children and most humans unless you take up endurance sports – or maybe unless you were a prehistoric hunter who killed much faster prey simply by outlasting it.
So why not try gliding if you aren’t running that way already? Yes, you can consciously change your running style. I did and essentially overnight I was running 20 secs+ per mile faster for longer distances. For me, paces around 1/2 marathon race pace were easier to maintain – they felt much more sustainable. And that could be a big plus for long course triathlon where most folks slow way down as the run progresses. Plus, I was less beat up after long tempo runs. In fact I wasn’t beat up at all, other than feeling it some in my hips and butt – hips from testing my mobility, and butt from drive off of the back foot. But no impact soreness.
And that brings up the fact that to be a GOOD glider, you still need the posterior chain to activate and drive your forward, and you need hip mobility. You need good rearward extension, which requires supple hip flexors (not a common characteristic of triathletes who spend hours in the aero position) and t-spine mobility. But you may well not need nearly as much “spring” as Gazelles do. And that is good news for everyday runners and especially “older” athletes. So a good foundation still matters, and the better it is the better you will run regardless of style.
Other than analyzing videos of yourself running, how can you wrap your brain around gliding? Two visualizations I have used are Nordic skiing and skating. Get that front foot swinging down from the knee early to help propel you forward. In both Nordic and skating, the motion of driving the front foot forward helps propel you off the back leg and opens the stride.
What DOESN’T matter? Foot strike for one. I can see from the comments under the first video that folks are obsessed with “strike”. I’ll say it again – just don’t BRAKE. Land midfoot, forefoot, or even touch your heel lightly – just don’t stop yourself on each stride. What many think is a heel strike is really just a heel touch on the way to a mid-foot landing. If you achieve weighting mostly under your center of gravity, then it really isn’t going to matter how your foot touches the ground. The foot needs to be “pawing back” as it touches and not weighted until it’s under your hips. True heel striking involves crashing your heel into the ground well out in front of your hips – sending most of the shock from the landing straight up your leg into your hips and back. Please don’t do this. It hurts just writing about it.
So check out my “part 2” video. I look at some more pros, but also look at an everyday runner – me – running both ways at different paces. I also talk about the types of athletes that may benefit most from each style. And just to be clear, I am not trying to be dogmatic here. I am not saying that changing styles is a magic bullet or this is the “only” way. You will still need to work on range of motion and mobility. But maybe gliding will let you take greater advantage of what you have to work with.
Marcus
March 20, 2013 @ 1:10 pm
Hi Todd. I enjoyed and valued both part 1 and 2 of your Gazelles v. Gliders. I’m sure you are aware of Pose, Chi Running etc (Gliders).
You have focused your attention on the foot/leg action. Of course, since you have a science education, you will be aware that the leg is a complex (not simple) pendulum and that (like a golf swing) the way the knee gets loaded alters how fast the lower leg will move in the gait cycle. I wonder what you think is responsible for the difference in action – does it come from hip motion? Controlled by arm swing dynamics?
Do you think there is a progression of ‘best’ technique depending on pace? The gliders look a little like speed walkers. That’s hip action!
Thanks for you thoughts and ideas.
Marcus
admin
March 31, 2013 @ 7:42 am
Yes certainly a complex pendulum and gliding is somewhat akin to race walking I agree. So I think the combined forward drive of the recovering leg/pendulum action and arm swing, along with drive from the trailing leg/hip/glut gives the forward propulsion with no vertical component.
David
March 30, 2013 @ 4:02 pm
Wow. I owe you big time! I was an ineffective gazelle, i.e., I was working hard to maintain a fast pace for longer than 6 miles. I tried gliding this morning and was blown away as to how easy it was to maintain a relatively fast pace for 11 miles. Thanks!!!
admin
March 31, 2013 @ 7:38 am
Great! That was my experience as well. Thanks for posting.
ozzie gontang
April 1, 2013 @ 10:41 pm
Hi Todd,
Enjoyed your thoughts and perspective in Parts 1 and 2. Especially being able to see the side by side comparison of gliders & gazelles.
Would be interested in your thoughts & reflections on two short videos I posted on YouTube: Why Runners Heel Strike. And Kim Smith-The Beauty of Mindful Running -under MindfulnessInSloMo. With Kim she ran the San Diego RnR in 68:37. Was wondering by your analysis is she a gliding gazelle?
In 1978 I purchased a Sanyo Video Camera that did slow motion. That’s when I noticed that some of the elite runners who looked like heel strikers, landed on their heels however there was no deceleration. It was more like the foot landing was rolling over the ground.
I noticed that if one marches in place that the ball touches first then the heel and then the foot rolls off to the ball. So I called it: ball/heel/ball. I used the wording: my foot only lands on the surface of the earth/terra firma.
So if I hold myself so that I only touch the ground and don’t “strike” it, I am much smoother. (Image was sitting on a bike seat when pedaling, the body is not bounching up and down. I
f I march in place and I lean for the ankle, I’m still marching in place and my foot lands under my center of gravity and several inches ahead so that I don’t fall.
If I maintain a specific cadence say of 95 strides or 190 steps/minute I have to bring my ankle up higher to keep the cadence at 95 since I am falling faster and covering more ground. The lower leg for me is the weight on the metronome (upside down). The closer the weight is to the base of the fulcrum the quicker the beat. So to keep the same cadence since the stride length is increasing as I am falling faster, the weight of the lower leg needs to shorten to more through its arc to get back to the ground and maintain cadence.
Most people think they have to increase their stride length. I look at it that my stride length increases because I am falling forward faster. And I need to get my foot down faster.
So I am pondering for the gliders, can they become gliding gazelles? Or modified gazelles with not as much vertical vector?
Anyway, great exposition and as you said, there’s some great grist for the research mill. Will follow you as more people chime in with their perspectives.
I actually never thought this dialogue would take place in my life. With the minimalist shoes, Born To Run, and Pose/ChiRunning/Newton Natural Running/Barefoot Running, I get to observe and be part of history as what was accepted is now questioned.
Joyce Wycoff did an article in 1996 called Today’s Certainties are Tomorrow’s Absurdities. She quoted me from something I had written a few years before:
“Running shoes will continue to advance in design and technology. They will continue to neglect a major component: Man, the thinking body.
An atavistic paradigm shift will take place. Runners and walkers will realize it’s not the shoe, it’s an innovative thinking body. A new line of shoe will be created that allows proprioceptive feedback to the thinking body. All of the thick running and walking shoes will be replaced by thin-soled foot covers which allow the human animal to take control of their youthful movement once again.
Traditional Tai Chi, Yoga, Stretching for the Thinking Body, etc. will grow. Companies like Nike, Addidas, Reebok and their approach to shoes will be tomorrow’s absurdities. ”
However when it is a multi-billion dollar business, I see how rapidly the shoe companies have adapted. We now have them producing thin-soled foot covers…that are less material…and so how cost the same or more.
Respectfully
Ozzie Gontang
Director, San Diego Marathon Clinic, est. 1978.
Running is falling. You can do it gracefully or clumsily.
Go for the grace.
GAPO