The secret to injury free running is Cadence.

For the last two days, all I have done, is Christmas Shop. No running, no yoga, only shopping. It has been really overwhelming for me because I hand make most of my presents. I will show you a sneak peek of my hand made gifts in a future post, but if you can’t wait you can check out my tumblr blog Cashmere & Silk. Anyway, when I was Christmas shopping, I stopped to have a latte and read the UK Runner’s World. While I was reading I came across this…

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Ever since April/May, when I began to focus on running form, I kept hearing the word Cadence. Cadence is how many steps you take per minute while running. The secret to injury free running is a Cadence of 180 or higher.

A couple years ago, when I was in New York City, I stopped in the Asics running shoe store and they evaluated my running form by taking 3D images of my feet and video taping the way I ran barefoot on a treadmill. By doing this I learned a lot about my feet and stride. I discovered that while I run I tend to over stride and because of this my cadence was in the 160s, below average.

When I first began to run in my Newtons, I decided to read the book Natural Runner, written by Danny Abshire, the inventor of Newton. In his book, he pushes the importance of having a cadence of 180 or higher. In order to achieve this, he tells runners to have a short, quick, bouncy stride, where your feet land under your center mass. Be light and quick on your feet. Imagine yourself running over hot coals.

Because I have the Garmin Forerunnner 50, which has a foot pod, I am able to measure my cadence. I have been recording it for some time now, however my garmin has always said it was between 80-95, which is disappointingly low. Turns out my garmin only measures the one foot, that the foot pod is in. Duh! So looks like I am right on target.

If you don’t have a foot pod to measure your cadence, you can download a cadence app on your phone. Listening to a faster beat song helps too.

© 2012 sweatdaily

photography and 11.5 mile Training Run


“How many of you like to run with a phone or something else to capture images of your run?” –Newton Running
Above is the facebook status of Newton Running, and it already has close to 600 likes. I am happy to know that I am not the only one who enjoys taking photos during my runs. I will admit that I was late to jump on the smart phone wagon. I know, call me crazy, but about two months ago I bought my first smart phone, the iPhone 5, and I am in love. This phone goes everywhere with me, even on my runs.

really bad picture of me. but great picture of my new iPhone 5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I use to run, carrying nothing with me. But I always regretted it when I came across something really cool I wanted to record- by snapping a photo or video of. But now with my new phone I am able to do that. My two favorite new apps are Instagram and Map my Run.

I just started using Map my Run. I still use my Garmin, but I am just experimenting with a couple new apps. I just wish Map my Run recorded your Cadence, because I think my Garmin’s Cadence my be inaccurate. I just downloaded an app to measure cadence, but I have yet to try it.

11.5 Mile Training Run

Anyway, lets get to it. I felt pretty good on my 11 mile run. L came and picked me up yesterday morning. We headed down to the south side of the MVT. I felt cold at first so I had my gray Nike fleece on, but I new I would warm up, although it was 48 degrees out, the sun was bright.

After the first mile, I ditched my fleece on the side of the trail, I knew it would still be there on the way back.

2.5 miles on the MVT. Looking over the GW parkway. It was a Beautiful Fall Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L and I continued on. I like the south side of MVT because it is so beautiful. Although, it is a paved path, you feel like you are on a trail run. You also run so close to the Potomac River that you could fall in. I also like it because it is much more hilly. Annapolis will be all hills so it was a good practice.

In it for the long run!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we headed back and I hit mile 10, I realized I was making better timing then I thought. We ended up finishing in 1:48:00, running an average of a 9:23 min/mile. I would like to run an average of a  9:00 min mile for the race. Which I am pretty sure I can do. I am still debating on which shoes to race in though… Distance U are lighter, and I feel faster in them. The Gravity are a bit heavier, a little more supportive, but sometimes I feel like I am dragging in them towards the end.

RUN ANALYZE

SUMMERY from my Garmin

Distance: 11.5

Time: 1:48:00

Average Pace: 9:23 min/mile

Best Pace: 8:46 min/mile

Calories: 938 C

Cadence: 96 – which can’t be accurate. I use to have a cadence of 160, which is lower than average, but not that low.

Future Goals

The plan for this week is up my weekly milage a bit! I am going to have plenty of time to get some good runs in with days off thanks to the Thanksgiving Holiday. I also plan to strength train, stretch, and continue to work on form.

Questions for You

  1. Does anyone know of a good Cadence App?
  2. What is your favorite running app?

© 2012 sweatdaily