Applied Sprinting Techniques

Season 2: The Road To Boston

Chapter 2. Road Work
2.6 Applied Sprinting Techniques

In Chapter 2.4, we talked about high intensity intervals and my fascination about the world's fastest men on track. I have been doing 8x400meter intervals and I was all too happy to run at a super fast pace of 2:40 minutes per kilometer.

My boldest theory was "It would shock the Philippine racing scene if I could carry my 400m speed to a 5Kilometer or longer races." That was an insane theory. But I did learn a lot from my 400meter sprints. Just lately, after about 8 weeks of training, I am able to run sub-20 5Ks.

So you grabbed your calculator or just your mathematically proficient minds and computed a 4:00 min/km. Hey Pandesal Runner, you failed. You weren't able to carry your 2:40 min/km pace! And you close this page with a huge grin and said -- I knew he would not be able to do that all along.

Neytiri of Avatar. This image is from ImageShack.

And I feel you. Like Jake Sully felt Neytiri.

But.. The insane theory was actually productive in a sense. The sprinting speed and the sprinting techniques I learned pushed me to trim my 21-minute 5K training best into just 19 minutes. And we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg here. Eight weeks of training. What if we continuously improve and apply what we have learned on our sprint runs? Could we really be able to do 2:40ish on a 5K race? Do you feel me? Suddenly, my insane theory isn't so insane after all. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe nuts.

I did not carry my 2:40 sprinting speed to my 5K runs but here are my sprinting techniques that I was able to apply for a sub-20 5K.

Sprinting Techniques

1. Speed Form. On trying to record my best 400m interval split, my main concern was my speed form. I learned that running fast need not only require power coming from the legs. It's also about energy efficiency and being able to take advantage of nature - wind, gravity and ground reaction force.

These things were key to my more efficient sprinting speed:

• arm swing
• lean angle
• running tall and
• shoulder and face relaxation

I changed my arm swing from the arms moving across the front of my chest to moving them parallel to my legs (which is completely sidewards). Why? I have two basic reasons behind this. One, sprinters move their arms this way and it is said to be aero dynamic which is able to reduce the slow-down effect of wind friction. Two, this arm swing is more energy efficient. Previously, when my arm swings towards the front of my chest, my shoulder follows the movement. My shoulder expends wasted energy. With parallel arm swings, my shoulders do not move excessively to follow my arms. Hence, I was able to conserve energy.

By leaning slightly to the front when running, we are able to utiize the pull of gravity to push us forward. Try running for a few meters on an exaggerated forward lean. Your balance will be off your center of gravity and towards the front. To sustain forward motion with the help of natural gravity, I lean slightly forward.

Running tall and looking about 50 to 100 meters ahead keep my focus on achieving my goal of reaching that 50-100 meters. It inspires to move quicker and reach that point. More importantly, by running tall and looking ahead, I am able to reduce the stress that my upper body puts on my core muscles. The core muscles are working extra hard to keep me upright when running. Besides doing abdominal exercises three times a week to strengthen my core, I also have to run tall so as not to overwork my core muscles.

Lastly, it is so hard to relax when your sprinting. It is so uncomfortable and ironic to use relaxed and sprinting in one sentence, right? They don't seem to mix. But that's a key to sustaining our sprinting speed. We have to relax our shoulders and facial muscles and just let them move carefree. We should not force speed by stressing the shoulders and the face - they won't help us run faster, the legs and the arm swings do. Relaxing our shoulders and face also help conserve our energy. We should use every little energy we have to run efficiently fast.

2. Minimize the time your foot touches the ground. The less time our foot stay on the ground, the faster we move forward. Picture yourself running on barefoot on a super hot surface. That is how you should minimize the time your foot touches the surface.

On my part, I did months of training to learn and practice forefoot running. I used to land with my heels and then kick off with my toes near the front of my foot (forefoot). The heel lands and then the foot rolls and takes off the ground with the forefoot. To minimize this landing and take off time, what if I just land on the forefoot and strike with it immediately upon ground impact? Wouldn't that be much faster?

I thought so. It hurts to learn the forefoot running method and it takes a lot of time to practice and learn. I think it's worth it.

3. Faster Strides. How do you run fast? You run a measured distance in as less time as you could possibly do. How do you that? Fast or speed is measured in terms of distance over time. To run faster, either we increase the distance covered by each of our footstep or we increase the frequency of those steps.

In a mathematical equation, SPEED = DISTANCE / TIME. For computational purposes, let us have Ds to represent the Distance covered by our one stride and Dt to represent the Total Distance we need to run.

Dt = SPEED * TIME.
Example:
5000m = 1m/s * 5000s. (5000s equals 1:23 hours)

From this equation, it tells us that a 5000m distance can be covered in 5000 seconds if our running speed is about 1m/s. The distance is constant. The time it takes for us to cover that distance varies depending on our running speed. The faster we run, the less time we need to cover 5000m. Speed is therefore the factor in this equation that we could improve on.

Now, back to our original question. How do we run fast? How do we increase our speed. We modify 1m/s. If we stride longer per second, maybe twice the length we come up with 2m/s.

5000m = 2m/s * 2500s. (2500s equals 0:41 hours)

But increasing our stride length have two major issues: (1) Stride length depends largely on the length of our legs (measured from the hip to the heel). Although it's mathematically possible as in the above equation, it is not physically probable to grow our legs twice as long. Hehehe. (2) Forcing longer strides would risk us into injury. Over extending our legs over long distances would be both hard to sustain and injury prone.

Our next option is to increase the frequency of our strides. Suppose we could now do two 1meter strides in one second instead of our previous 1meter stride per second, what do we get?

SPEED = Ds / s = (2 *1m) / s
Dt = SPEED * TIME
5000 = 2m/s * 2500s. (2500s equals 0:41 hours)

By illustration, we run faster by increasing the frequency of our strides. We run with faster strides.

Others

It would be much helpful if you would practice the above techniques on your interval runs and on to your tempo runs up to actual races. If I may just add, high speed running over longer distances would require us to keep focused and to be in control of our speed. We have to focus on keeping our running form, foot landing and kick off and always going for faster strides. Focus on the techniques and your goals.

We must also be in control of our speed. Over long distances, it may not be enough to run efficiently on our top speed. We must find that right amount of speed that we could control and sustain for the duration of the race. In my case, I could run 2:40 min/km on 400 meters but I could only sustain 4:00 min/km for a 5kilometer run. So I must control myself to run within my limits and be able to finish the distance strong from start to finish.

It took a lot of heart and dedication on my part to keep on running and keep on trying to improve my speed over weeks and weeks of training. Don't get discouraged if you did not get it the first time. Try again. Then do it again. And again. It's not too hard if you really want it bad enough.

Lastly, I believe that there are two other factors that could help you and me run even faster. But I have not been able to do them yet. Which are? One, Lifting my back foot near my butt after kick off could actually propel me to run faster. The high back foot would create momentum to keep us running forward and then gravity would also aid in pulling that leg back and down to the ground. Two, the lighter we are the faster we could run. I haven't trimmed down to 140 pounds and under to test this and I haven't been able to lift my back foot as high as I need to.

Training Invitation
If you happen to be interested to train with me, the Pandesal Runner, and do a sub-20 minute 5K run one of these days.. You can drop an email to jayson.deuna@gmail.com and we could have a training session at Velazquez Park Makati on an early Tuesday morning. It's the running grounds for a lot of Makati runners as well as my company running group. See you there!

Warm Up Drills:

1. Dynamic stretching
2. Fast turnover - High Butt Kicks
3. Power - High knees
4. Balance - Toe Tapping

The Training Run:

1. 1K Warm Up Run at 6:00 min/km pace
2. 5K Tempo at 4:00 min/km
3. 1K Cool Down at 6:00 - 7:00 min/km

Centena Run: A Great 5K on A Simply Beautiful Race

Coming off the Century Superbods Run just a week before, I joined another 5K race last Saturday. I did not expect a lot from the PWU Centena Run and so I was not disappointed. In fact, I was so happy I stayed there about an hour after my race was over and marveled at how a simple race can be so beautiful.

Basics of a Road Race

I arrived early on the race venue and had lots of time to stretch and warm up. I did about a half kilometer jog before I came back near the starting line to witness the PWU cheering squad and the start of the 10Km race. 2009 Milo Marathon champion Chris Sabal participated as well as the first runner up Eric Panique. The 10K race started at exactly 5:45AM.

15 minutes later, the starting signal for the 5K race would be given.

The race officials and emcees did a great job of instructing the runners about the race route and calming down the very excited ones until the starting signal. There was no huge timer above the race arc. There was no huge screens in front to show running videos and instructional graphics. There was no stretching instructors dancing and rapping on stage. It was just two male emcees and a loud music background to pump up and entertain us runners.

It was a very organized run at the road. There were plenty of marshals positioned on the turnabouts and manning the critical points of the race. Race officials were manually recording the runners bib numbers on these points to ensure that no cheaters could win - you have to past all points and be recorded by the officials. It was a manual pen and paper method, no sensors and special equipments, yet it was equally effective.

The race marshals were very instructive and friendly. "10K runners turn left, 5K runners go straight." I did not have to ask. I heard the instructions right before I get to that critical point. The marshals knew their job and they did it well. They took control and the runners obediently and happily followed.

There was plenty of water supply past the third kilometer point of the 5K race. Water was also available right after you cross the finish line. Right there when you need it. There is also a medical station willing to take care of bruises and injuries suffered by any participating runners.

One more positive note about the race organization of the Centena run was the well separated route and finish line of the 5K and 10K runners. There was no congestion on the finish line. The wide road was all there for us runners for a mad dash to the finish line. The 5K runners and 10K runners took different roads towards their own finish lines.

At the finish line, free WaterPlus flavored water bottles await plus free towelettes. I had to pay for another bottle of WaterPlus flavored water but it's fine with me. (I was having an LBM so I need lots of hydration!)

The awarding ceremony proceeded as soon as most of the runners were done running and walking to the finish line. Elite runner Ben Alejandrino won the 5K race for the Male division while outstanding and consistent 5K winner Serenata Saluan took the Women's 5K. Surpsingly, Chris Sabal and Eric Panique only took 3rd and 2nd place accordingly. A new kid on the block has just beaten the two top rated and experienced elite runners of the last year's Milo Marathon.

It was a simple and yet very organized and enjoyable race event. I could only wished that the PWU cheering squad were also performing and cheering for the runners towards the finish line. That would have made it even more of a truly enjoyable race. It was just the first PWU Centena run and it was almost perfect. Way to go eXtribe for organizing the event. Thank you.

My Race

I came to win. Seriously.

And record my first sub-20 minutes on a 5K run.

I was confident enough on the sub-20 goal. I was unsure on the winning part. If there will be no elite runners on the field, I could take it. Otherwise, no way I could compete with 15-minute or 16-minute 5K runners. Just no way.

So I came to win with a huge 'IF' and came to run a sub-20 by hook or by crook. There would be no excuses on this race. No more blah blahs about an untied shoelace. No more this and that about the race route and getting lost. No more blaming the marshals. The first time I raced this year, I felt like I've let my readers down by under achieving on a 27-minute 5K race.

I mean, I blogged about running 20-minute Tempos and then came blogging a 5K race with a 27? I know, deep inside, I let my readers down. And to come back to them face-to-face and still having their eyes and ears open to any word I write about -- I have to raise my game up several notches higher. I have taken it seriously to run as intense as I could and give all my heart and efforts for a successful comeback race. It all comes down to one crucial race.

With about less than a thousand runners joining the5K race, it was a very festive and lively crowd. Most were students and alumni of PWU except for a few elite runners I had beside me on the front row. I knew I am in a tough race against the elites. And I wanted to keep up with them for as long as I could.

I had a fantastic start. My right foot was behind my left and my head was slightly bowed as if I was to sprint the whole race. At the first corner of the 5K race, I took the lead. So who's gonna step up and beat me before the 1K U-turn?

The answer came only a few seconds later after the first corner. Hehehe. And I was only able to keep up with elites on the first half kilometer of the race. After the 1K U-turn, five male elite 5K runners were all well ahead of me.

The next time I saw these runners again, they were up at the stage on the awarding ceremony.

I was at sixth place from the half kilometer up until the 1K U-turn at Macapagal Avenue. I was running too fast. I felt my throat and lungs working full time. When three lady runners suddenly came from behind at about the 1.5Km mark, I felt the pressure. I was now at 9th place. Am I going to come out flat, super exhausted and an under achiever over again? For a second or two, I thought about quitting already. I was ready to stop and call it quits.

Two days ago, I had an upset stomach. The day before the race, I was having an LBM. Prior to the race, I took Diatabs. I did not sleep well the night before. Just not my day today.

Then I did not stop.

The excuses pumped my spirit more this time around. I said to myself that if I had the courage to let myself down again for two consecutive races then go ahead and stop. On the other hand, If I had the heart to continue and battle this race out till the finish line then keep running.

I was about to puke at that point. I was having diarrhea. The food in my stomach won't go out from my behind because of the Diatabs I took prior to the race. It's finding its way out of my body through my throat and mouth.

I chose to hang on until maybe the third kilometer. Just hang on. Slow down a bit and hang on. I was fighting side by side with the third lady finisher. The other two ladies were about a hundred meters ahead of us past the second kilometer. The five other elite male runners were way too far ahead of me already at that point. I just wanted to hang on.

By the midway part of our run on the Seaside Boulevard, I found my second wind. I was running as strong again as my starting dash. I pulled away from the third lady finisher and began to look to attack the second one. Faster strides, quicker arm swings, deeper breaths.

When I reached the Globe monument in front of MOA, I felt the effects of dehydration and lack of energy brought about by my diarrhea. I was not as strong as my training runs. Then again, it's just a kilometer left till finish line. I can do this.

"10K runners turn left, 5K runners go straight."

This race is about to conclude. I started to pick up the pace. Just a little bit more. The second place lady runner was about a hundred meters away and the top female was about a minute or so away from me. I could still see the elites!!

At the last corner of the race, I chanted my diggies: Digie Digie Dong Dong Weh, Digie Digie. 'Di' for a left leg, 'gie' for the right leg and so on and so forth. I was singing and forcing faster strides. Digie Digie.

I gave it my all towards the finish line. And though I did not catch up with the second female finisher, I did stopped my Nike Triax Fury running watch at exactly 15:22 minutes. Why just 15 minutes? Well, I only started the timer after the 1Km point of the race. The last 4 kilometers in 15:22 minutes! Yehey!!
 
Post Race Report

I paid P300.00 for the 5K race and I had my money's worth and more. I got a very organized race, plenty of water when I crossed the finish line and a free towelette. They also had a baggage counter and some portable toilets. I knew great races need not be too expensive. Sometimes, you just have to be willing to try it out see for yourself.

Race organizer eXtribe just published the results this Tuesday morning. See? Manual race time recording could still be relatively fast if only people know exactly what to do. Yehey points again for the PWU race!
 
Check out the PWU 2010 Race Results Here:

1. 5K 
2. 10K

PWU Race Results: I finished the 5K race in 19:25 minutes.

I finished the 5K race in 19:25 minutes. I was 6th among 5K male runners and 8th among all 528 5K finishers. This fantastic performance just boosted my confidence going into my 10K races and ultimately on my upcoming marathon runs. And only this morning, I recorded my fastest 5K training time of 19:48 minutes in Velazquez Park. My 11-week training camp is working wonders and I'm starting to reap the benefits.