Dallen

December 07, 2025

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Location:

Cottonwood Heights,UT,USA

Member Since:

Oct 16, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

PR's

Mile: 4:59 (7/23/2008)

5K: 16:20 (1999)

8K: 27:50 (7/28/2008)

10K: 35:15 (1999)

10 mile: 57:49 (5/24/08)

1/2 Marathon: 1:14:45 (1999)

Robie Creek: 1:26:12 (1995)

Marathon: 2:39:14 (10-12-2008)

Short-Term Running Goals:

I think I am currently capable of a 2:35 marathon. I just need to prove it.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Sub 2:30 marathon

Personal:

Originally from Boise, Idaho. Currently in radiology residency in Chicago. I have a beautiful wife, Marie, and a baby boy, Jonah.

Will be moving to Utah July 2009 for a year of fellowship training.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Wed, Oct 17, 2007

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
6.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.00

6 relatively easy miles today. I threw in 6x100 meter strides and finished with the 18 flights of stairs to my apartment.

I have been tryint to figure out how to lengthen my stride. It is very short. With easy running my cadence is about 190 and at higher speeds it is over 200 steps a minute. I have several theories on how to accomplish this:

- consciously try to run with a longer stride

- run faster on slow days

- form drills

I don't know if any of this will work, or even if it is a good idea to try to lengthen my stride. Maybe my short stride is the most efficient way for me to run. I think it does limit me at speeds faster than about 5:20/mile.

I response to Lybi's question, I will be in Chicago until June 2009. After that I will be doing a 1 year fellowship, possibly in Utah, then I will most likely move to the Boise area.

Comments

From Darrell Wright on Wed, Oct 17, 2007 at 20:44:01

You might want to be careful about consciously trying to lengthen your stride. If your foot starts landing in front of your centre of gravity, it will have the opposite effect. There are some good exercises over at http://coachdeanhebert.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/stride-rate-versus-stride-length-ii-improving/ . But, from what I understand, consciously increasing it can cause problems. That's where the running faster will help, as you drive your knee forward faster you will increase your stride length. Pushing off your rear leg probably isn't a good way either as it should just be a pivot.

But, I haven't run a sub 5:45 mile in 10 years and I am just getting back into it. Coach Dean on that site has some great insights into this issue though.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 18, 2007 at 10:48:03

Dallen:

Fast strides is a good idea to help solve the problem of excessively short stride. It will teach your nervous system to be comfortable with putting more power in your step without excessive fatigue. If you back it up with high mileage and tempo runs, your legs will eventually develop sustained explosive power. I would, however, focus not so much on the stride length, but rather on the actual running speed. In the end, it does not matter if that speed comes from higher turnover or longer stride, the only thing that really matters is that you are able to sustain a fast pace.

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