You just heard the starting gun of the race, you’re angled 45 degrees, driving your legs and doing great. Now what? After the first few strides, gradually lean up with your torso so there’s a 5 degree lean. Your stride length and frequency should hit top gear. Your eyes should be focused straight ahead. Within 20 meters you should have some of these technique points:
- Minimal Ground Contact Time – Think like you’re running across hot coals. You’re applying as much force as possible down and back. Elite sprinters like Andre DeGrasse have contact times around 0.1 seconds on the ground!
- Leg Kick – The back leg (hip, knee, ankle) fully extend during propulsion. But then your knee should kick back up towards your butt as the leg swings through. This decreases the lever of the leg, making it easier to swing forward
- Posterior Pelvic Tilt – This point is really important. Posterior tilt is when the pelvis slightly tucks under. Having a bit of tilt allows the runner to drive the hip tighter. Why is this important? It allows you to apply more force down to the ground and can increase stride length by about 3cm!
If you look at the final stretch of an Olympic race in slow-motion, often the top runners are in posterior pelvic tilt. While the losers are in forward pelvic tilt!
