Excerpted from CORE PERFORMANCE ENDURANCE by Mark Verstegen with Pete Williams. © 2007 by JOXY LLC. Permission granted by Rodale Inc.

RUNNING POSTURE
By Darcy Norman

Next time you go out for a run, practice running with purpose and with more stability by focusing on these two concepts.

RUN TALL. Lengthen your spine by focusing on keeping the top of your head as far away from your tailbone as possible without tilting your head back. You should feel your abdominal muscles engage as you lengthen your spine.

PICK UP YOUR FEET. Instead of shuffling down the road, concentrate on purposefully sliding your feet toward your butt as they leave the ground and then purposefully putting them back on the ground. Initially, this will take more energy and focus, so start with this progression during your long runs.

Week 1: 1 minute of running with purpose, 4 minutes normal; repeat for length of run

Week 2: 11/2 minutes of running with purpose, 31/2 minutes normal; repeat for length of run

Week 3: 2 minutes of running with purpose, 3 minutes normal; repeat for length of run

Week 4: 21/2 minutes of running with purpose, 21/2 minutes normal; repeat for length of run

Week 5: 3 minutes of running with purpose, 2 minutes normal; repeat for length of run

Week 6: 31/2 minutes running with purpose, 11/2 minutes normal; repeat for length of run

Week 7: 4 minutes running with purpose, 1 minute normal; repeat for length of run

Week 8: 41/2 minutes running with purpose, 30 seconds normal; repeat for length of run

Week 9+: Add 30 seconds of purposeful running each week while keeping 30 seconds of normal intervals; repeat for length of run.

Darcy Norman is a performance physical therapist.

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