Marie Claire Australia - 08.2019

49.5%

THE PERCENTAGE

OF WOMEN

RU N N ER S

IN THE CITY TO SURF

IN 2018

WELLNESS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAVIER DÍEZ/STOCKSY.COM. TEXT BY LUCY E COUSINS.

1.

PRACTISE YOUR POSTURE

The first step is to make sure you

are improving your run posture.

“Think tall but relaxed,” says

Williams. “The best visualisation

for that one is to imagine that

you’ve got a broomstick held

along your spine. It should contact

the back of your head, run between

your shoulder blades and be in

contact with your sacrum.” He says

this will give you a neutral spine

position, which helps everything

from running to gymnastics and

weight training. This is the best

postural position to start your run.

2.

IMPROVE YOUR CADENCE

In recent years there has been

increased research into cadence

(the number of steps you take per

minute), and for good reason.

Studies show that by increasing

your cadence to 175 to 182 steps

per minute, it stops you from

overstriding, reduces full-contact

heel striking (not great for your

body) and it improves energy

efficiency, so you can run faster at

an easier level. “Increasing your

cadence [has] the most dramatic

effect on cleaning up your running

technique and making you a more

efficient runner,” explains Williams.

3.

RUN QUIETLY

It sounds strange, but Williams says

if you can hear your feet loudly

banging, then you’re probably not

following his previous two points!

“Practise running at an easy and

smooth pace. It will help you

tighten up your technique.”

HOW TO PERFECT

YOUR RUNNING

TECHNIQUE

While there’s no one-size-fits-all

approach to running, Williams

says these three steps will improve

your technical ability.

HOW DO I INCREASE

MY DISTANCE?

The best weekly progression is to increase your

distance each run by no more than 15 per cent. If

you increased your actual volume beyond that in a

week, your instances of injury increase. So, let’s say

if you’ve run 10km, and you’ve completed the

session successfully without any injury, increase it

to 11 or 12km next time – it’s a somewhat cautious-

but-smart approach. The trick with progressive

running ... is to give your soft tissues (tendons and

ligaments) time to adapt. If you jack up your

running volume too quickly, cardiovascular-wise

you’d handle it, but your soft tissues will complain.”

DO I NEED A

RUNNING COACH?

“The short answer to this would be yes ... getting a

coach for anything is beneficial because they’ll give

you unbiased, objective feedback that you may not

be able to implement yourself. But in saying that,

sometimes coaches and schools try to shoehorn you

into their particular running method. And, it’s not

as easy as that because everyone is built differently.

Everyone has different bone structure. Everyone

has different body running mechanics. Instead of

investing in a coach right away, try to incorporate

the most basic running principles of posture,

cadence and efficiency into your runs and build

from there.”

2%

THE PERCENTAGE

OF WOMEN

RU N NER S

IN THE FIRST

CITY TO SURF

IN 1971

THE

KIT

Don’t hit

the tarmac

without

these little

helpers

Fitbit Inspire

heart rate tracking

device, $179.95,

fitbit.com/au

Vivra

magnetic

bumbag,

$44.95,

vivra.com.au

UA Hovr Phantom

SE trainers with

MapMyRun

connection, $200,

underarmour.com.au

70% OF

RECREATIONAL

AND COMPETITIVE

RUNNERS SUSTAIN

OVERUSE INJURIES

DURING ANY

12-MONTH PERIOD