There is a philosophy that running form takes care of itself.  The more you run, the body will find a way to do it more efficiently.  However, there are some things a runner can work on to speed up this process.

1.   Relaxation.  The whole body must remain relaxed while running. Relaxation starts with the face.  Your cheeks should “feel like jello” while running.  Tightening up the facial muscles will eventually result in tight shoulders and arms.  The eyes should be looking ahead at the ground.  Looking at the ground 10 feet in front of you keeps the neck relaxed.  The thumb should be placed on the index finger and the other fingers and wrist should be loose. Arm swing is analogous to pulling a gun out of a holster with a medium swing.  Relaxation is made possible by concentration.  To tie up means you are not concentrating on the task at hand.

2.      Foot plant.  The most common mistake in form in distance runners is hitting heel first.  If you take too long a stride, you are actually braking, for you are hitting heel first.  You want to land on the ball of your foot, then set the heel down, and push back up on the ball of your foot.  Ball-heel-ball.  To correct over-striding, do paw-back drills.  If you do these drills correctly and consistently, it becomes engrained into your nervous system. 

3.   Breathing.  Breath through your nose and mouth.  A study was recently done which compared runners who breathed through just their mouth to when they later learned to breath through their nose and mouth.  The study revealed a 10% gain in performance for the runners after they learned how to breath through their nose and mouth.

Hill running

Races can be lost or won on hills.  A runner can gain a great advantage by not only knowing how to run up a hill, but also how to run down one.  When running hills it is important to remember form and strategy.

Form

When running up a hill you want to remember three things:

a.   very slight lean if at all

b.   slightly higher knee lift

c.   shorter stride

When running down a hill you want to remember three things:

a.   relax, lean slightly forward, and paw-back your stride.

b.   let the hill help you (let it go!)

Hill Strategy

Running up and down hills takes some brain power along with physical adjustments.  You never want to try and speed up while going up a hill. Attacking a hill will only put you into oxygen debt - and in a hurry.  The secret of running up hills is to do it with as little energy as possible while maintaining your position.  Incorporate the form techniques listed above and you will be running up hills with efficiency.  A great strategy is to increase your pace once you reach the top of a hill.  Psychologically, this is a great move against your opponents.  If the hill is steep enough, your opponent will reach the top only to see you much farther ahead. 

The strategy for running down hills is the opposite of running up them. You want to let go and run down the hill as fast as possible while still maintaining control.  More races have been won (or lost) going down hills than going up them!

We will be running hills in practice to increase our running power. However, we will rarely run down them all out.  Many runners injure themselves by running down hills repetitively in a practice situation, but few have injured running down a hill in a race.

Pacing and Maintaining a Rhythm

Some of the biggest mistakes in cross-country runners is going out too fast or having too much left at the end.

Going out too fast:  various sources estimate a runner will run 1-3 seconds slower for every second they run too fast in the beginning of a race.  Therefore, if you go out like gang-busters and run 2:20 for your first 800 and your pace should be 2:30, then you are costing yourself anywhere from 10 - 30 seconds!  This is a common mistake in the big meets, for everyone is hyped and intent on gaining good position.  Disciplined runners who know pacing will not make this amateur mistake.  

The other benefit of running race pace (not faster!) in the beginning is the mental factor.  Passing runners, rather than being passed, sends positive messages to the brain, thus allowing the runner to focus on their race, not thinking about how much they are failing (by being passed).

Saving their best for last.  Another common mistake made by inexperienced runners is saving all their energy for the final 100 meters. It is easy to fall into this trap because a runner usually gets lots of positive reinforcement from spectators and teammates commenting on how great a kick they had.  However, if a runner waits until the last 100 meters to sprint to the finish, they have most likely lost 10-30 seconds. This is not obvious to spectators and fellow teammates, but should be obvious to the coach and the runner himself.  A 5,000-meter race is not about who is fastest the last 100 meters, it is about doing one's best over the whole distance.  We will put a lot of emphasis on passing runners the last mile. 

Efficient running and “putting in the miles”.  To run rhythmically means to run efficiently.  A runner who can find “his rhythm” has found a pace he can run relaxed and with little effort.  Some of the best runners run with a consistent stride, pace, and arm carry to avoid unnecessary energy use.  Their faces are relaxed (cheeks jiggle like Jell-O) and their arms move almost effortlessly.  To run with such efficiency takes practice and lots of running.  As said before, one of the reasons high school runners improve after getting in shape is because their running form becomes more efficient.  Efficiency can only occur through consistent mileage.  The more miles a runner puts in, the more efficient they will become.  This is one of the reasons the summer is so important in preparation for the cross-country season.  The summer affords the opportunity to get in lots of miles and become a more efficient runner.

Base Training

The most important training done for cross-country is base training. Base training is done during the summer.  Base training involves putting in lots of miles at a slow to moderate pace.  Runners who build up their aerobic capacity and develop a more efficient running gait during the summer have more success during the season.  They are able to build upon this base during the season.  The building of this base also prevents injuries from occurring during the season.  The actual cross-country season is too short to adequately prepare for racing.  In fact, most races occur within two weeks after the season starts.  This is too soon to get the body in running shape, let alone racing shape.  Runners who do little running during the summer will improve dramatically within the first five to six weeks because it takes that long for the body to “get in shape.”  However, had they run during the summer, they would have come into the season in running shape and improved their times from there.  I estimate a runner who neglects training during the summer is 70% more likely to get injured and will run 30 seconds slower for three miles.  This often happens with incoming freshman, for they don’t understand what it takes to prepare for a sport that is as physically demanding as cross-country.