With Coach Tim, Online Running Coach for We Run and the We Run Virtual Running Club
Whenever I have a new client, I often need to dedicate a serious amount of their first session to working on their technique. It’s easy to say ‘pick your knees up’ or ‘you’re flatfooted – push off your toes’, but in reality, that doesn’t do an awful lot to improve the runner as the body doesn’t always do what the brain wants it to. This is where drills come in. By isolating and exaggerating the part of the technique you want to improve, it will become more natural to do whilst you run. Elite athletes know this. That’s why they always do drills before they want to run quickly – because they know that if they don’t run with perfect form, they will waste valuable time and effort. I often get the comment, ‘I don’t want to do this, I’ll look silly’ and my reply is always ‘you won’t look silly, you’ll look professional’.
How Will Running Drills Benefit Me?
You mean apart from looking like a better runner, feeling like a better runner, running faster times and expending less effort? Well, drills are a way to dynamically stretch your muscles. This will help a faster start feel easier and more natural. There’s also the huge benefit of avoiding strains, sprains, and pulls.
Drills will test your balance, coordination, and agility. If you struggle to do them, this could mean you have a weakness in that area. Identifying this could mean you find the underlying cause of the root cause of any recurring injuries you’ve had. Practicing the drills you find difficult will then help remove this weakness.
How Do I Get Started With Running Drills?
New runners ideally need someone to demonstrate the drills and give them feedback, so hiring a personal coach is a good idea, even if it’s just for one session for this purpose. Failing this, you can look at YouTube for demonstrations of the drills and work in pairs with another runner, giving each other feedback on the main coaching points.
Which Running Drills Should I Do?
You have a choice of several different drills. Sprinters and jumpers will often take two hours warming up, much of this consisting of drills. However, you’re going to spend a lot more time running than they are, so you might want to pick a few that are most appropriate to you. How do you decide which ones? This is also where a Running Coach can help – they can identify the ones most relevant to you and the improvement of your running technique. Alternatively, our Virtual Running Club has a range of 30-Day Challenges dedicated to using drills to improve your running, so you could join our Club and get started!
