After day 1 (see here) at the Running School I wondered whether I’d irreparably impaired my ability to run. Thinking about running – consciously commanding my legs and arms into new patterns – turned me into something resembling a manic puppet on strings. Moreover, the exaggerated movements I’d drilled carried through to my next run in the park. Luckily I didn’t bump into anyone I knew.

Three lessons later I’m considerably more optimistic. The new movements have started to feel comfortable, if not yet natural. Running School manager and coach James Dunne has gradually encouraged me to ‘right size’ the new running pattern to match my speed.

This is the theory: Initially it’s necessary to grossly exaggerate the new movement patterns to force the brain and body to change old habits. This is best done in short (20s to 60s), energetic spurts. Most of the drills are done at speed on a steep gradient. Once the brain and body has learnt the new patterns, you can practise running using the most efficient size of movement.

Sessions 2 to 4 have followed a similar pattern. Warm up is a 5 minute fast walk. Why walking? “It’s better to walk fast than to jog slowly,” says James. Walking fast apparently does more to engage the muscles you need to use to run correctly whereas jogging slowly tempts people to revert to old habits. The walk is followed by a few one-minute efforts at about half-marathon pace.

The rest of the session is drills based, and the drills would depend on what you’re trying to fix. For me the key points are to drive the entire running action with my arms, to ensure I cycle my legs correctly and to improve heel lift, particularly with my left leg. In lesson 2 this meant a lot of work on heel flicks and correcting the leg cycle. In lessons 3 and 4 we’ve worked on the arms while trying to maintain the improved leg cycle. Drills included short bursts with light dumbbells and short, steep, fast climbs.

It’s probably too early to test the new running style in a race but I’ve definitely become more confident in the technique and hopefully no longer look like a robot while out training. Also, while I know I’ve worked hard in each session, I haven’t suffered the delayed onset muscle soreness that occurred after the first lesson, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

Two more lessons to go…

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