Barefoot Running Workshop 3: Hills, Speed & Precautions
By Emilie Reas, Chapter President, San Diego, California
Many thanks to all who attended the final session of our Barefoot Running Workshops! In today’s workshop we built on the fundamentals of running mechanics covered in the first and second workshops. We tweaked our speed and hill running techniques, addressed safety issues unique to barefooting and took running video selfies for gait analysis. Here are some of the highlights of the day’s fun …
HILLS
Downhill
When running downhill, the impact on the body increases due to acceleration from gravity. When you drop a ball, it will fall faster when it hits the ground if dropped from 10 feet than 5 feet; similarly, your body will actually descend faster towards the ground when plummeting downhill than climbing up. The secret to effective downhill running lies in using that acceleration to your advantage, rather than letting gravity get the better of you.
Minimize bouncing. With that extra distance between you and the earth, downhill running comes with additional vertical motion. Try to minimize any unnecessary upwards motions, like jumping or bouncing, that will only exacerbate the stress from the downward fall. Aim to stay low to the ground and level on the horizontal plane.
To continue reading, please visit: http://emiliereas.com/2015/08/09/barefoot-running-workshop-3-hills-speed-precautions/
And special thanks to Marco for putting together this film of our gait analysis videos: https://www.facebook.com/marcozeno/videos/10155907025395635/