Form Correction is the key or is it...

Well a lot has been said about "form" at least in the FreeRunners group. we all worship form. Still not many of us are able to master the form. Sportsmen have a natural form or are able to learn much faster as they have better motor skills and can make their body respond faster. For non-sports people, this is a difficult task and time taking. 

Why do we have to get the form correct? It is always better to start slow and with lesser distances till the form is mastered correctly. The memory of the muscle has to be fed with this form slowly and steadily and let it become a part of the daily routine, walking, standing, sitting etc. Only then it is possible that while running you will get the correct form. I have run 1FM, 09 HMs and many long runs ( >20K) in the last 06 years. But only this year I truly understood the importance of form. I was searching for that one thing to make my run feel very easy even if it is greater than 35k. I was extremely comfortable till 25K but anything greater and I used to get pain/stiffness in my thigh muscles. What was essentially going wrong was that the entire load of running was being taken by the poor quadriceps and leg muscles. Running form should ensure equitable distribution of load on body, and if the form is correct, the hips and glute shall be the forerunners and the legs should just follow. This way, the quads and hamstrings will always be relaxed,. Along with this, the shoulders and arms also move to give smooth propulsion. Breathing of course has to be rhythmic from the stomach with inflation and deflation of the diaphragm with inhalation and exhalation respectively. Thus maintaining a good form will enable the run to be easy and injury free and hamstrings/ quads will never get tightened. I realised it when I was able to run longer and still recover very fast and was able to run much stronger.

Even though I seem to know all these facts, my form tends to get spoilt because of old memory trapped in the muscles. I am again trying to unlearn and correct my form. Muscle memory is a big game master and keeps pushing my body back to the old wrong form especially when  talking while running and thus not conscious about own form. That is why during a long run, if you are on form correction mode, it is important to be alone or with your body so that you never lose the consciousness of your form and try and maintain the correct form throughout the run and especially after crossing more than half of your scheduled run. Form correction takes a long time and effort but spoiling of form takes no time. It is just like gaining and losing weight. So Runners, let us all improve our form and become totally FreeRunners and capture larger and larger distances at our best timings. So how does a runner improve form. We have to learn to walk as if running, the posture and form. Even while sitting, we should be conscious of our form. Habits take time to unlearn and then learn. It is a painful and long process, but one that sets you free for life so that you can run, walk etc. Etc.  freely without any pain.

So I am sharing my thoughts because I have to work hard at improving my form and hopefully this would benefit some one else too. Thanks a lot to my gurus Savio and especially Jeetendran Nair, who showed me the light towards running properly. 

Tip: When you have the correct form you shall feel it in your abs and your legs shall feel much freer and lighter.