Running methodology consists of power, form, and balance. These ideas overlap with the elements of style described in previous articles. But methodology is not the same as style. Style pertains to the way you control your body to develop a powerful and efficient stride; methodology refers to the way you control your mind to develop an ideal style.
Every athlete has developed a running, jogging, or walking style. To the extent your style deviates from the ideal, however, your running stride will be power or efficiency deficient. So, you should strive to emulate the ideal by systematically controlling your body’s moving parts to look and feel like the prototypical elite distance runner. It doesn’t matter that your body type is greatly different from most fast runners. Mechanics and methods still apply. I detailed mechanics in the previous article. Here, I will open discussion of methodology by describing the exertion needed to move your body through space.
In general, exertion should never be harder than necessary to build racing ability. A common mistake is thinking that you should train as hard as you race. Thus, if you expect to force race pace, then you would force your training pace. This method is a waste of running energy because forcing your pace in training is never as effective as capping exertion at the relaxed level on this scale: gentle, held-back, relaxed, pressed, forced, strained. Here’s the rule governing the use of muscle power: go slow enough to be relaxed.
“Form (or posture) is as much an aspect of mechanics as methodology.”
Form (or posture) is as much an aspect of mechanics as methodology. I’ve covered mechanics in terms of its stylistic elements: hips, chest, head, shoulders, feet, and arms. A serious runner strives to control these elements for performance purposes, whether in training or racing. From a mental perspective, I recommend employing cues as reminders of what you need to focus on during a run. Cues should be repeated as mantras that settle the mind and keep it focused on a gamut of postural tasks: hips back, chest up, etc.
I used to train without company and without the devices I’ve relied on since then to distract myself with music, audio books, and telephone conversations. Recently, I’ve learned to focus on training methodology as more satisfying than electronics. Circumstances often change on a hilly course, requiring corresponding physical adjustments, such as bringing my shoulders back and down. Once I’ve set my body in motion, I let it carry on with correct mechanics, leaving my mind to ruminate until intrinsic awareness tells me my body has slipped again into bad practices, including losing balance on a run.
Balance is a set of physical sensations that must be experienced to be appreciated and practiced to be acquired. You can experience balance by coming to a halt on a steep hill, making your posture military perfect, and then starting up again without changing your posture or leaning from your waist. It’s difficult to realize you’ve lost your balance unless you reset as described. Your feet should slam the ground, your legs will straighten at the knee, with your body bounding ahead like a javelin thrown powerfully for greatest distance.