detail. The most significant issues that haunt runners before they even get onto trails are:
Body Posture • Arm position and motion; • Stride components and length; • Foot strike position; and • Elasticity and quickness of the push.
What you want to do: stand
tall with good back posture. The angle of the spine should align with the bend in the legs. We’ll have to lean into the hills. The arms should swing back
and forth with the hands and forearm inside the circle scribed by the elbow. The arm-swing should be powered by the shoulders and core muscles. The elbows need to be pulled back to their full range of motion and
swing no further than the body. The shoulders should be seated in their sockets. The hands must remain relaxed. The common mistakes are: to
see the arms swinging down by the pockets, out to the sides, too forward of the body-line or the arms cross the centre line. Many people stop using their arms completely on hills or in difficult terrain. This is where you really must use the power and tempo of your arms to see you through the difficult sections. There are a couple of issues
that show up all the time when it comes to the legs. Either runners tippy-toe around, over and on every obstacle or they smear the ground with prolonged lumbering strides. A running stride should spend
a fraction of time on the ground and most of the time in the air. You should lead with the knee, extend so that the mid-foot strikes the ground under the knee, pullback and kick up. The force
vector of the foot push should be towards the rear right from the initial strike. Imagine rolling a treadmill underneath yourself. Your footsteps should be nearly silent. If you don’t
want to twist an ankle; make sure you maintain good form, push off along the mid- foot axis and kick your heals up.
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Most people aim to step on
every obstacle resulting in a sputtering stride. Instead, ignore all the irrelevant hazards, maintain a full stride and clear them in the air. If you have good form, you can land on anything. The way to train this is concentrate on striding out, first on easy terrain, then progress slowly on more challenging terrain. Think ‘form’ first. Be quick and light on your feet,
avoid smearing the ground heel to toe. This will slow you down, tire your muscles and make you more susceptible to tripping. You are safe, while you are in the air - it is during contact with the earth, that bad things can happen. All the force should be focused
in a quick dynamic push, which takes advantage of the elasticity in your legs. This leaves most of the stride for recovery. Relax to absorb shocks,
prevent injuries and relax in order to feel the terrain underfoot. Remember that stiff shocks deliver a bumpy ride. Lead your motion with
deep conscious breathing. The whole body centre including the diaphragm and core should initiate and drive locomotion. Be kinesthetically aware of your centre of momentum and the fall line of the terrain. This will come in handy when aligning where you are naturally headed and where the trail goes. Maintain tempo through all
obstructions or changes of direction. Just like mountain biking. Keep pedaling. Kick your heels up, especially in mud. Propulsion will get you through nearly anything. Without it, you will have no ability to steer or determine your fate – like floating down river without a paddle.
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