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By Andrew, February 8, 2010

Swimming for Running Form

Running and swimming couldn’t appear more different from another, yet if you look at the fundamental level of each they couldn’t be more similar.

Have a look, quite literally, at the core of each sport. Like most movements in sport, they both require similar core requirement. A stable core is required in both sports to allow the generation and transfer of power. Whether it be from the foot strike or the catch of the stroke, core recruitment is essential for the athlete to find powerful and efficient form.

Developing ones core strength to meet the requirements of fast, efficient running for extended periods of time (running at the end of a triathlon) is done predominately through exercises, drills and running itself. However, if you would like another alternative, look to swimming.

While swimming many many meters recently and throughout my time as an athlete I have found several benefits from swimming that cross over to running and promote improved form.

Swimming is a constant battle of balance. Fore/aft and laterally a swimmer must balance themselves well to swim straight and swim fast. A lot of the balance required is found through the swimmers core. It is the entire trunk along with the hips, glutes and upper hamstrings that give a swimmer balance. By swimming we not only strengthen these muscle groups but we also learn to activate them.

Some specific parts and drills of swimming that I’ve found to benefit my running are the following:

• Band Only Swimming (band around ankles) – Here you learn to activate your trunk and upper leg muscle groups to prevent yourself from sinking.
• Kicking – This is a great way to strengthen your hips and legs with no impact. Focus on initiating the kick from you hips while keeping them stable.
• Dolphin Kick on back – Great for strengthening hips and glutes. The two groups should oppose each other here to create a whipping action in your lower legs and feet.
• 3 second pause – Kick 3 seconds on your side with hand outstretched then take a stroke to roll onto the other side. Initiate the roll through a your core and hips.

These are just a few, experiment with other drills while keeping a stable connected core. You’ll be able to hold proper run form much longer, and throw down a good run split like these guys here.

RtoL Brownlee, Gomez and Petzold show great run form with a strong connected core. Notice the forward hips that lead to a powerful extension of the rear leg.

-Andrew Russell

Checkmate team member

www.andyrussell.blogspot.com

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By Rory, January 19, 2010

As some of the team members are in Hawai’i training, I thought that I should direct you to Andrew Russell’s latest blog post. It has a great video of how convenient running is in Hawai’i. Ben Collins is shown swimming in Waimea Bay in our last post. Meanwhile, winter plods along for the rest of us as we get ready for the 2010 race season.

Andrew and Ben will be training together (along with a bunch of other Canadians) in Maui until Ben heads to the US Olympic Training Center. Stay tuned! Sounds like a good time, eh?!

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By Rory, January 7, 2010

Via Ben Collins:

Sunday I raced in a local “biathlon” put on by theWaikiki Swim Club which consisted of a 5k run followed by a 1k swim. This “Christmas Biathlon” was supposed to be held last month, but lucky for me they had to postpone it until I was here on the island and ready to race. These local community events are really fun, and a great way to reconnect with other athletes in the area. Equal in enjoyment for me, however, is the ability to bring humor to a race where the primary goal is to have fun.

So, I wore a pink Splish suit with big bubbly eyes on the front and my K-Swiss K’Ruuz. I figured nobody wanted to lose to a guy in a little pink suit, and with my K’Ruuz it would be pretty hard to beat me. One guy, Brandon Laan (6th at the Honolulu Marathon this year!), did outrun me, however, and the swimmer of his relay was Bill Goding (we used to duke it out at swim practice a few nights a week). They beat me, but nobody else did!

[From left: Todd Iacovelli, Stefan Reinke, Ben Collins, Bill Goding Brandon Laan]

From the gun I followed the lead of Todd Iacovelli and Brandon, both very good local runners. I did my best to stay on their heels, and when Brandon put in a surge at mile 1 my legs shouted at me for not having done any speed training since early November. Brandon gained a few meters on us and I pulled ahead of Todd to try to close the gap. I didn’t see Todd again, and about the time I got back in Brandon’s draft he surged again, creating a 20 second gap over the next few minutes, which remained for the rest of the run race.

I crossed the timing mat at the start of the swim in 15 minutes 50 seconds – 23 seconds after Brandon tagged Bill to start the swim. Jumping into the water, I felt like an old rubber tire trying to swim. Running and swimming are different muscle groups, so I didn’t realize how much of an affect one would have on the other. Somehow in triathlon there’s not so obvious a connection between swimming fast and running fast. It took me a long time to start swimming smoothly, my tummy felt like it was dragging on the bottom, my arms couldn’t seem pull any water, and every wave knocked me around like a turd in a toilet bowl (sorry, for some reason that was the first image that came to mind).

Coming back into the finish I finally started feeling a bit stronger. Bill was LONG gone, but my legs were able to kick again, and my arms were able to pull again, so I kicked and pulled as hard as I could and when the bottom came up to meet me I stood up to hear my fans shouting and telling  me to go away. Apparently, in the pre-race briefing when they said, “keep all the buoys on your  right” they meant “keep the two turn buoys on your right, and the final buoy on your left”. So I went back out and swam around the buoy, I lost very little time and it didn’t make a difference at all in the outcome of the race. After a few more people went to the wrong side, however, they sent some volunteers out to direct the swimmers to the other side. All was well.

[Left: Bob Havrilak drove me to the race and took pictures. As you can see, I’m more worried about what’s going on in the pre-race briefing than looking at the shutter. Pictured is Me, Courtenay, Sarah, and Than (Courtenay’s sister and brother)]

Courtenay raced as well, and we were both the first individuals of our respective genders. Go us, right?

On January 17th is a the second race in this 3-race series. Same course, so it would be an excellent way to judge improvement, or get in on the fun if you missed it the first time around. Check out the WSC website (linked above) for entry info.

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By Rory, January 2, 2010

Via Andrew Russell:

When I took up tennis as a passe temp with friends in high school we had no real lessons or coaching. We watched Pat Rafter win the US Open and then would go out mimicking the serve and volley style, or we’d focus in a Greg Reusedski, aka scud, and learn how to serve.
Monkey See, Monkey Do

Sunday marked the beginning of a solid week here in Victoria. A lot of swimming to get done paired with some efforts in both running and cycling. For the first swim on Sunday I arrived a little early which is unusual for me. The Commonwealth pool breathes High performance and Sunday was no different. As I started to get some blood flowing the Swim Academy, coached by Randy Bennett, was in the midst of their first post-christmas session. Up until Christmas swimming for me was feeling laboured and forced. No real rhythm was happening and I was lagging behind. Warming up my shoulders that morning I found myself really paying attention to the academy swimmers. Right in front of me was high performance swimming, what better way to find a rhythm.
Monkey See, Monkey Do

The rhythm is returning and I feel I owe it to that morning of being a Monkey for 15 minutes. All of the centre athletes are so privileged to be on deck as the academy finishes their main set and cools down. Ryan Cochrane is the best distance freestyler in the western Hemisphere and he swims 5 feet in front of you….going back and forth.

Privileges are to be respected and then made the most out of.

10k swim on the horizon…

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By Rory, December 9, 2009

Collins regularly write a blog on the Garmin website, here is an excerpt.

Garmin-sponsored triathlete Ben Collins shares his training and racing experiences with Garmin fitness devices.

I decided this year not to take a break from running during the off-season. I spent so much time this year getting back on my feet and managed to make significant gains during the fall…

Read more

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By Andrew, December 7, 2009

A common practice for triathletes that experience a ‘real winter’ is to retreat indoors and put in monotonous miles on the trainer.  The trainer/rollers can be ok if you have some intensity to do, but when the coach puts ‘’3hrs aerobic ride’’ on the schedule then the trainer is no place for this.  This winter get yourself a cyclo-cross ride and learn something new that will not only make winter riding enjoyable, but also bring you gains in many aspects of cycling.

Cyclo-cross is a cross between road and mountain riding.  Everything from the geometry and tires, to brake and BB clearance; the cross-bike offers a mix of both mountain and road styles.  Cross bikes can handle everything from dirt commuter paths to some fairly aggressive, rugged single-track adventures.

Having just got in the door from my first cross ride this winter here in Canada I am full of reasons to get you on a cross bike this winter.

With cross riding perhaps the biggest area of improvement for most will be in handling skills.  Having to maneuver the bike under your body laterally and fore/aft to pick lines through trails will result in proprioception improvements.  Your spatial awareness of your bike and body will also be improved as you encounter tight passages and corners.  When you come to fallen trees or other impeding objects you’ll be forced to dismount, jump over and then do a running remount.  This is perfect practice for improving your transition splits!

Riding on trails will force you to think and look further ahead than on the road.  You will have to anticipate your next shift to the small ring and be careful of what gear you are in coming into that hairpin to uphill corner.  I often find myself totally zoned out on the road in the wrong gear.  While cross riding however, I cannot afford to do that or I’ll find myself coming to a halt on an unexpected hill and tumbling down a steep embankment.  Your ability to know how and when to brake will improve.  Braking earlier and not during cornering is required in cross riding to allow you to make it up that next ensuing, steep hill!

Your pedal stroke will become smoother.  Yes, it most definitely will become smoother.  When you climb on trails or worse, moss covered rocks the slightest hitch or chop to your pedal stroke will become apparent often causing you to lose traction and resulting power.  With time you will learn how to properly pull on the pedals while climbing.  As you become a smoother climber you will discover and utilize more muscle groups than ever on the bike.

On the trails you will often face very steep, but short climbs.  Short maximum bursts of power will now be thrown into your aerobic rides improving your cycling specific strength and short-range power.

By riding in sheltered trails at reduced speeds you will stay as warm as indoors minus all the sweaty clean up.

With improved handling, technical abilities, pedal stroke and power you will become a well-rounded cyclist.  Not only will this result in a better bike split, but you will also gain some much deserved respect from the cycling community.

Ride on!

Andrew Russell

http://andyrussell.blogspot.com/

Checkmate Team Member

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By Rory, December 5, 2009

Thanks to Andrew Russell for this. When is the team going? Stay tuned.