Cadence

It was pointed out to me recently that my running cadence was a bit low or could do with being a bit higher. There’s lots of sources available that will give you a perspective on Cadence It’s the amount of times per minute your foot or feet strikes the floor. I learnt about it during a course I took on Chi running many years ago. If you’ve just returned after reading about Chi running I hope you haven’t dismissed it. I can assure you that It was a well spent day that has influenced my running and perspective enormously. The instructor, himself a runner, was approachable, informative and engaging. There’s a book, I’m avoiding linking because I’d prefer you didn’t get it from that link. Go to a bookshop! The book is called Chi Running. So here we go, cadence. The idea of having a high cadence is linked with looking after your feet and your joints. Having a higher cadence ensures that my knees and spine are more aligned and the major muscle groups are supporting the movement. There are much better articles about this and better qualified people you can refer too.

My point

Lots of us are using some pretty high tech equipment to log our runs, connected to various apps and websites where we can analyse the data. There are lots of metrics. Most of us are looking at two metrics, pace and distance. They’re important, faster pace means personal bests. Doing the distance is a reassurance that you are actually going to reach the finish of your next event. Those two metrics however, they are part of a process and that’s where cadence comes in. It’s also a metric that your sports watch will measure.

Having a higher cadence will help you get a better pace and cover the distance more comfortably. So anyway, I set up my watch to show me cadence and cadence only and last weekend that’s the only thing I looked at. I tried to think about the pitter patter as my feet touched the ground, my only goal was to place my feet on the ground as often as I could. Hard not to when you’re running. Anyway the result was a very enjoyable run and the pace and heart rate, more metrics, were actually pretty good. Once more I felt my feet on the ground, not slapping the ground in an attempt to go faster but more of a gentle caressing of it. I also seemed to have time to think about how everything else, my arms, my heart rate, my mind, all seemed to mesh. The objective was simply to move as easy as I could. It was refreshing too. You might also try doing this bare foot on a suitable surface. That’s when you really discover that you’re actually running on your feet and not a thick wedge of foam. Nothing wrong with foam but sometimes it helps to re establish a connection with the ground and the part of your body that’s dealing with it.

Since that day in 2018 or whenever it was I discovered Chi running I have thought a lot about how I run. Lately though, I’d forgotten about cadence, wrapped up in the world of pace and performance. So thanks to the person who reminded me of it. He knows who he is. This whole cadence stuff reminds me of Ashley and I running in West Bromwich in 2019 when he was doing a fantastic walk-run program to help his knees. It reminds me of the times on marathons when it starts to hurt and I actively start to count my steps and pitter patter along.

It helps.

So cadence might just be a bit more than the amount of times your foot strikes the ground. It might prevent injury, help you go faster but above all it might help you enjoy your running that little bit more.

That’s a metric worth supporting!

incidentally those shoes above were my inov8 trail shoes that I ran my first ultra in.

Denmark 2021.

Thats my next blog entry!

Be ready for some video action!