90 plus. A treadmill is a great tool to help with altering low stride rates. Try placing a mirror in front of the treadmill to monitor your form and foot plant.

20 second hill repeats:
Where - Find a hill that is fairly steep (five to seven per cent incline) that takes about 20 - 30 seconds to reach the top.
What to do - A seven to ten minute warm up, then sprint two sets of (6 X 20 seconds), walk down to the bottom of the hill for recovery and repeat. Recover three minutes between sets. After the hill repeats do three 20 second stride outs on flat ground. Followed by a ten minute cool down run.
Technique - Head high, chest out, forcefully push off on your big toe. Sprint up the hill using your arms, knee drive and a strong big toe pushoff to drive you up the hill.

Head up - Chest open - Elbows back
Where - Use a treadmill or practice this alone on trails or where you can focus. Practicing this skill session using a treadmill and a mirror is a good way to give yourself instant feedback on how you actually look when running.
What to do - On an aerobic run, run as long as you can maintain strict form. Stop, walk, and recover. Repeat this until finished. It is important that you recover enough so as to keep the correct technique.
Technique -The head needs to be held high, not bent down. The chest should be slightly lifted and open, the elbows relaxed and bent at about 90 degrees. Allow your arms to swing from the shoulder joint. Do not twist your upper body. Your fingers should be relaxed and your hands should brush your hip and not cross over the midline of the chest. Concentrate on pulling your elbows back without your shoulders twisting side to side.

Toe Running
Where - Trails
What to do - After your warm up, lace up your lightweight training shoes. Do two 2 sets of (5 X 60 quick steps). Recover 90 seconds between repeats and three minutes between sets. Finish off this workout with one mile of perfect running from at a very easy aerobic pace. Visualize and practice running light, floating like a butterfly!
Technique - Run on your toes with very light quick steps. As soon as your toes touch, use the energy stored in your calf muscles to rebound and push off with quick prancing steps.

Computer relaxation
Where - Anywhere
What to do - Visualize a computer screen in your head and continuously scan your body from head to toe for tension.
Technique - Start the scan at your forehead and release the tension form the forehead, eyebrows, jaw, neck, shoulders, wrists, fingers and abdominal area. Try a slight grin when you run. It's hard to be tense when you are smiling! All the power needs to come from the hips, legs, ankles and toes. Everything else just wastes energy.

Bike to Run skill
Where - Indoor bike and a treadmill
What to do - Bike ten minutes and run three minutes at an easy aerobic pace. Repeat this four times.
Technique - Ride in the aero position and immediately get off the bike and practice a quick transition. Then run three minutes with relaxed form at a cadence of 90 plus strides per minute. All aerobic, we are only concerned with technique, quick leg turnover, and transitioning. Put the treadmill on one percent incline and set it at a constant aerobic speed (7 mph = 8:30 mile pace).

I am aware that everyone has his or her own individual running style and that running technique is a much debated topic. But try a few of these skills and drills this season. You might get faster!

Alan Ley
IronmanV@aol.com