Running Some Strides

I’ve been doing 100 meter strides once a week for the last three months. If you are unfamiliar with the stride and its benefits, let me explain. Strides are run by smoothly accelerating with good form over a short distance. You then rest enough so that you feel fully recovered, and then you run another. Usually I like to run between 6 to 10 strides at the end of an easy run once a week.

So what are the benefits of running strides? Easy. Running strides teaches you to run faster and with better form. You are not working your aerobic, anaerobic systems, or even leg muscles; the primary adaptation is to the nervous system: you recruit more muscle fibers and run with better mechanics.

When I first started running them back in March, my legs felt slow and wooden and my upper body would bounce all over the place – let’s just say that I was not used to running fast. What a difference I felt while running them this morning after an easy 6 mile run. My stride was fast and powerful and my upper body felt relaxed. I am almost certain that by improving my leg speed with these simple and easy to run drills, I am also improving my ability to race at shorter distances such as the 5K. In fact, I think one of my big limitations at shorter distances is a general lack of leg speed.

Strides can also help with longer distance races. They improve your running mechanics, which translates into better running efficiency. This means you can exert more power (i.e. speed) while using less energy. Efficiency is the name of the game in the marathon.