Forefoot running
Great Natural Running Clinic by Newton
by craig on Apr.30, 2011, under Forefoot running
I went by a free running clinic put on by Newton Runners today. The coach was Steve Mackel from SoCalrunning.com .
Steve is in town for the Vancouver Marathon. He is a certified CHI running coach as well as a Newton Natural running clinic teacher. We had a great time. Steve gave us a brief technique talk on natural running. His personal style is influenced by CHI running and he did a great job of incorporating that into the natural running talk. Steve also gave us a bit of shoe knowledge regarding profile (is the heel or toe higher-most shoes have a lift from toe to heel our foot prefers to land flat). Then we got out and did some drills.
Steve Mackel in Vancouver for Newton Natural Running Clinic to discuss forefoot running
I really liked Steve’s approach we started top down (head to foot) and worked on whole body alignment, core engagement and foot placement. We did all of the drills at three speeds so we could work on technique.
The best three things I learned were:
- Proper alignment with core engaged- Steve had a great test where you could press down on someones shoulders very hard if they were stacked with their core engaged. I found I was not in neutral pelvic tilt, I was anterior tilted and core NOT engaged.
- Speed increases- He showed us how to increase our speed by picking our heel up higher behind us and the same for arm swing. Great to have these small tips for that last few Km’s when you feel like your are dying you can concentrate on one thing to keep or increase your speed.
- Foot position- We started with the basics of foot positioning. Sounds obvious, but next race you are at check the varied foot positions you see (internally or externally rotated). Foot position will affect the rest of your posture. So you cannot be getting in proper alignment if your feet are not properly placed. We did some great drills for this.
Steve was really personable and funny. He made the time fly by. I will be following his blog posts and running tips. Thanks to Forerunners and Newton runners for sponsoring this event.
Craig Boyd is one of Vancouver’s top personal trainers, CrossFit coaches and boot camp instructors. He is an avid forefoot runner and has taken work shops on POSE, CHI and Natural running. His websites are http://www.precisionathletics.ca/ and http://precision-bootcampvancouver.com/
