Chapter 74 : running drills

Drills are an important part of swimming training. In swimming drills consist of breaking swimming down into distinct parts.  With a kickboard you give the legs an extra hard work out and the arms a rest. With a pull-buoy you can rest the legs and just exercise the arms. There are other drills when you just exercise one side at a time. In swimming there are other drills specifically aimed at improving technique.  Drills are an integral part of swimming training.     

In running drills are virtually ignored. It is easy to go for a run and feel that you have done your training. In a swimming pool it is harder to swim a few laps and have the same feeling.  

I have asked my friend Mr Goggle what he thinks of drills.
Mr G says running drills:

Strengthen key leg muscles. Strengthen not only the muscles, but the specific joints (like the ankle)

Improve the gait.

Improve communication between head and legs. Neuro-muscular co-ordination.

Improve mindfulness of good running technique.

Improve coordination, agility, balance, and proprioception.

Serve as a great warm-up before challenging workouts or races.

And my bottom line is running drills improve my running. I run well, my legs seem to be looser, more coordinated, better balanced, more agile, better able to cope with obstacles on the track or sudden changes in the track.  They seem to help jumps events and the hurdles.

I feel less likely to get an injury and feel like I am running faster. The running is more enjoyable. Less plodding. More lightness. I have no proof or evidence of anything. All I say is try a few drills. You might like them. They might help you.

How often should you do them? I am not training for world records. I do them when I feel like it. I try for a few drills every time I run. Some days I manage more.  I have a routine where I normally do them in the same order. On a good day I do the routine twice or three times. I normally do them before an aerobic run. I find them more tiring than a steady aerobic run.

If you have had an injury then certain drills may be beneficial of harmful. Be aware that previous injuries may influence which drills are good or bad for you.

Normally I do my drills on the DAC or on a local grass soccer field.

And the drills are:

Skipping

Mr G says: skipping increases stride length and knee lift, improves lower-leg strength promoting an efficient midfoot to forefoot strike. And improves balance.

I skip forward raising my leading knee as high as possible. I pump my arms as I do when running but in a more exaggerated fashion.   

I find this very enjoyable. It feels like it is helping with my balance and rhythm. It feels good and I recommend it. If you have a spare moment try a bit of skipping.

Carioca

Mr G says: carioca aids the glutes, abductors, and hips while improving lateral mobility, stability, and coordination.  Carioca lessen your ground contact time and give you a quicker, more efficient turnover.

Move sideways to the left swinging the right leg across in front of the left leg and then behind your left leg. Alternate between swings the right leg in front of and behind you. After a short period change over. Move right with right leg now leading with left leg alternating between swinging in front of and behind you. Arms high and out of way.

My experience is that carioca is confusing and can be stressful on the knees. I am not very fond of this drill.

Backward running

Mr G says: improves the glutes and upper hamstrings and general speed and efficiency. My experience is that running backwards is very helpful. It seems to help balance, co-ordination and all the right muscles. I am definitely a big fan of backwards running.

Butt kicks

Mr G says: run with short strides and try to bring your heel under your butt with each stride. I run slowly and try to raise my foot as high behind me towards butt as possible.   My experience is that this is very tiring. My experience is that this is exercising muscles I don’t normally use. Therefore it must be helping me.

Straight leg

Mr G says: running with straight legs promotes quick leg turnover and improved coordination.

Keep legs straight, run forward, land on midfoot, no high lift of feet. As quick a turnover as possible.

My experience is that this is not very useful or enjoyable.

High knees

Mr G says: run on the spot with fast strides, lifting knees high.  Improves all leg muscles, promotes high knee lift and increasing leg speed.

My experience is that this works. To run on the spot helps. It is a good drill.

Bounding

Mr G says: strengthens all muscles in lower leg.

Lunge forward on one leg.  The leading leg is bent while trailing leg is straight. Hold the lunge position for about 1 second.

I find the only way to do this is very slowly at walking speed. To slowly lunge forward from leg to leg. Not very enjoyable or useful.

Hopping/jumping

Mr G says: strengthens all muscles.

I say it helps a lot. It improves coordination and balance and strengthens muscles and tendons. One of my favourite drills. I interrupt my running with a few meters of hopping or jumping. Either single leg hops or double leg jumps. With the double leg jumps I feel that the takeoff or jump is good. And that the vibrations from the landing are bad.