Cadence?

In article <[email hidden]>, Scott Cunningham <[email hidden]> wrote:

[snippage]

Quoted message said:

The second thing I noticed was that it felt like my legs were working a lot harder to maintain an
even mile pace. I could also tell that the workload was being distributed a little differently
among the leg muscles. My shins and inside portion of the quads felt like they got a good workout.
For others who have made the switch, how long should I expect it to take before I adapt to the
quicker stride rate and it feels good and natural?

Depends. I was a slow and sporadic adaptor, so it was a couple of years to go from 145 to 175. If
I remember Denny's experiences in working with people, a few weeks can be sufficient.

Quoted message said:

Third, it was tough to resist the urge to naturally go faster. With a quicker rate, it was tough to
hold back. I naturally felt like picking up the speed.

Some brain retraining was part of it. You ordinarily only hit this cadence at race pace, so your
brain thinks you must be racing if you're going this stride rate. This is faster to retrain, a few
runs in my case.

Quoted message said:

Fourth, it felt like my stride length decreased to compensate for the increase in turnover.

Yep. Has to. Higher cadence and unchanged stride length means faster running.

Quoted message said:

Finally, the other thing that I noticed was that when I went back to my usual slower cadence, the
biggest sensation was one of trying to slam my heel into the ground. I could also feel the braking
sensation that a slower cadence gives you.

Any other tips on changing stride rate?

My vote would be continue as you are for a bit. A number of muscles are getting used both more,
and in new ways. It does take time to develop the ones you're using more and also some time to
retrain your reflexes (on what constitutes proper stride). Few weeks time range for both.

That braking feeling you were noticing on going back to lower cadence was also one of my signs
that the higher cadence really was a good thing even for us non-elites. Irrespective of stride
rate, it's a good thing to avoid slamming your heel into the ground. I made some of my progress on
stride rate at times when I was actually trying to focus on running smoothly over the ground.

--
Robert Grumbine radix.net~bobgOpen ↗ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much evidence and ease; this
great facility makes them less appreciated than they would be had they been presented in a more
abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

As an aside:

Plantar loading and cadence alterations with fatigue.

Willson JD, Kernozek TW.

Department of Physical Therapy, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 54601, USA.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to identify changes in loading characteristics of the
foot associated with fatigue during running. METHODS: Nineteen healthy subjects ranging from 20 to
30 yr (mean = 22.3, SD
= 2.4) were equipped with the Pedar in-shoe measurement system (Novel GmbH)
for the assessment of plantar loading. After acclimation to the treadmill, subjects were progressed
through the Ohio State protocol for exercise testing until fatigue was reported using Borg's RPE
scale. Six right footsteps were recorded at 150 Hz for each subject's comfortable running pace
under normal and fatigued conditions. A series of repeated measures multiple analysis of variance
was performed for all dependent variables analyzed in this study including peak force (PF),
force-time integral (FTI), peak pressure (PP), and pressure-time integral (PTI) for all regions of
the plantar surface. RESULTS: Decreased step time, significantly smaller values under the heel for
PP, PF, FTI, CT, and PTI, and trends toward increased medial forefoot loading were identified while
subjects were running under fatigued conditions (alpha < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest
that subjects change running technique and plantar surface loading characteristics in response to
fatigued conditions through increased cadence, decreased loading of the heel, and increased medial
forefoot loading.

PMID: 10613435 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]