Shorten your stride

I went up to Bridal Veil again this morning. I ran right past the spot where Derek proposed (yes indeed, he proposed at Bridal Veil Falls, though that wasn't his original plan. More on the subject...), and to Vivian Park and back. Today I went a little further than last week, for a total of 6 miles. I forgot my watch, so I don't know exactly how long it took, and I left my cute periwinkle blue hat on top of the car when I drove off. It is lost and gone forever.

I couldn't believe how good I felt, the whole time. My body is a miraculous machine. Just 6 months after creating and giving birth to a whole other human, I am able to run continuously for an entire hour, with very little pain, and without even exerting myself very hard. I was tired at the end, so I had to slow down and shorten my stride, but I still made it.

I can't remember where I got this bit of advice, but I think it was from Runner's World magazine. I used to read it all the time, and they have tips, answer questions, and tell all sorts of stories about runners, both professional and novice. So I think it was there that I read about shortening your stride. It was aimed at people who run longer distances, and are not necessarily competitive runners. They said that when your body gets tired, like at the end of your run, it is much easier to injure yourself through overuse, or poor form. When you're tired, you don't concentrate so much on keeping your back erect as just putting one foot in front of the other.

I'm sure you've heard the advice to "lengthen your stride," in reference to anything from running to working harder at the office. It comes from training sprinters who can cover ground faster with a long stride. Sometimes long distance runners will try to lengthen their stride at the end of a race, to finish strong. However, this is a good way to get hurt, especially if you don't have a trainer who can teach you how to do it right.

The best thing to do when your body is getting fatigued is to shorten your stride, and keep your form. With a shorter stride, you do not over-tax the muscles that have already been working so hard, to the point of injury. You also reduce impact on your skeletal system, not having travelled as far between foot-strikes.

When my body is really tired, but I still have another couple of miles, I shorten my stride, but pick up the speed just a tiny bit.