by Casey McGuire

As I’ll state many times, I’m no expert, though I do have an education revolving around exercise and body mechanics, and have trained many people to become stronger, more efficient, and perform better within their sports.

I’m just your average trail runner, but I am always looking for ways to improve myself and share information with others. There are many pointers and cues out there to improve technique. Mine are simple, and are not strictly limited to biomechanics.

Imagery and Torso

Imagery is important to me. Let a mental image guide the way your body should look and feel, and then simply let your body follow that image. I will often visualize my head pulled up and slightly forward (typically the direction runners like to go) by a string from a puppeteer (sounds a bit odd, but you know me). It may seem funny, but my body is kept straight this way, my hips are aligned properly, and my head is up and looking directly forward.

Along with that image, I like to think of a rope attached to my stomach pulling me forward. This allows my body to be guided forward with a fluid motion while it remains in good form. Together, both of these mental images keep my shoulders back, my chest forward a bit, and a good firm and efficient trail running position for my entire torso in space.

Run Naturally

Some techniques may differ slightly, but this is how I prefer to run. The greatest tip about technique I believe I can give is to be completely natural in all aspects of your position and stride. I mean, don’t follow techniques that seem to throw your body outside of some realm of movement or range of motion that is unnatural to you. Every body is different, and must function accordingly.

For example, and this will have to do with stride, the average person typically walks with their toes at a 5% to 10% angle pointing outward. That does not mean everyone has this angle. My feet point straight forward when I walk, for instance. This angle is important when it comes to being functional. While doing leg strengthening exercises, such as squats or presses, it is important to keep the same angle of the feet that they are accustomed to with walking. The leg muscles work in a natural and comfortable fashion, which only becomes more imperative while increasing the demand of them with resistance.

The same is very true for trail running. Now, the legs will be increasing the impact that structures and joints will be withstanding, and repetitively for distances. It is best to keep natural positions. Overuse injuries are easy to acquire when the body does not follow normal patterns of movement that it is used to.

Similarly, and just as another example, if you overpronate (foot turns in toward the midline of the body when you step), keep overpronating! Find shoes with motion control to help you a bit, but do not try to change the nature of your body.

Stride

Again, this is just what I do, but it works for me. The first lesson I ever learned about stride actually came long before I ever started running. “Don’t bounce! Run Forward!” I try to keep my head at a level position without a lot of up and down motion. Since one of the goals of trail running is to actually go forward on a trail, it makes sense to put effort into concentrating on pushing the body forward. Bounding upward is simply a waste of energy.

I was not born to run distances. I was a halfback in soccer for many years (with hyperactivity), and made to haul ass. So, it was a bit of a long process to go from completely toe-striking, and getting my heals from kicking myself in the butt often to a decent endurance stride. As a trail runner, I keep my feet low to the ground now (helps go forward and not up), and though I don’t keep too fast a pace, my heels rarely go about knee level behind me. To lengthen the stride a bit, and for faster runs, my heel will come up a bit further.

* By the way, either toe-striking or heal-striking are both fine, depending on which you are comfortable with. I am more of a heal striker until I may add some good speed, and then I tend to toe-strike a bit. Both are typical with trail runners.

Improve and Mimic

Remember that it is your body, and to keep it running naturally. However, only an ignorant trail runner assumes they cannot improve, or evolve with, their technique in some fashion. I have been on trails for over 8 years now, and tweak little things with my technique often.

Another good tip I can leave you is the same with any sport. Watch the best of the best do their thing, and mimic them a bit. There are reasons that Tony Kupricka and Scott Jurek can put in a hundred miles straight and are still lucid afterward. They are efficient with their techniques and very natural in form.

Also, listen to coaches advice. Athletes are certainly blessed with the genes and have been taught quite a bit, but coaches are the ones who know how to train those blessed. They are educated and informative about specific details within a sport, and the best runners have them.

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