From: cpk@sequoia.cray.com (Chris Kruell)
Subject: Re: Men's marathon
Followup-To: rec.running
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 12 Aug 92 08:17:12 CDT

In article <1992Aug10.175247.6706@mic.ucla.edu>, rush@eggneb.astro.ucla.edu
(Brian Rush  Bored Grad Student) wrote:
> 
> In article <1992Aug10.234613.17211@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com> dick@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com (Richard Chimenti) writes:
> >In article <36681@sdcc12.ucsd.edu>, jalfano@sdcc3.ucsd.edu (Clams! Clams 4 sale!) writes:
> >|> During NBC's prime time coverage of the Olympic 
> >|> men's marathon, there was some third commentator
> >|> at the desk who would comment on the runners' 
> >|> "stride angle" and angle of hitting the pavement.
> >|>   Am I the only viewer who found this guy's comments
> >|> ridiculous?  
> >|>                   Joe Alfano      jalfano@uscd.edu
> >
> >You are not.  The fellow spoke to three factors which in my opinion
> >overlooks 90% of the physical, mental and environmental factors
> >involved.
> >
> >That is not to say that the points he makes are not valid.  He was,
> >however, blatantly incomplete.
> 
> The 10% he mentioned can be the difference between not even making the
> olympic team and placing top 6 or so in the olympics.  In a way, he
> was not incomplete at all, since the things he mentioned are
> overlooked by many runners, whereas the 90% he didn't mention are
> noticed and worked on by everyone and thus not as big a deciding
> factor in close races.  That guy definitely knew what he was talking
> about.
> -BR   
> >
> >-Dick Chimenti

I agree with Brian.  Not only are form and efficiency often overlooked
by many runners, but form and efficiency have a great deal to do
with endurance and physical and mental factors.  And it doesn't matter
if you're on the verge of being world class or on the verge of trying
to finish a 5k race.  The better (i.e. more efficient) your form,
the better you're going to feel later in a race, which definitely
feeds back into your psychological self-evaluations as a race proceeds.

Regarding the men's marathon commentary, I haven't watched all of 
NBC's coverage yet, and I only saw the first 10 or so miles last 
night.  I thought the added "stride commentary" opened up new
insights that most purported fans of the sport don't really
know anything about.  There's only so much you can take re. "so-and-so
just opened up a 10-meter lead on the pack", "mr. jones overcame
the traumatic death of his parakeet to be here today", etc.  
The insights re. stride angle was something I hadn't heard about
before, though where one lands, and how high one bounces are
commonly (or so I thought) coached techniques.  The more energy
you can expend going forward, as opposed to going up and down, or
"braking" yourself, the better you're going to run.

Sprinters, jumpers, and throwers aren't the only ones who need 
to practice technique--distance runners can benefit greatly, too.

In article <1992Aug10.224344.17733@panix.com>, paul@panix.com (Paul Gatker)
wrote:
> 
>  Ridiculous? Now I finally know why I can't run sub 6 minute miles! I have an
> improper leg angle and I'm running with my "brakes" on. Once I make the proper
> adjustments I expect to reduce my 5k times by at least a minute. And when I
> stop my leg crossover and excessive bouncing I will save close to a city block
> of running in the race! It all makes perfect sense to me. I'm ready to blow
> away all my pr's.

Well, I'm glad to see you learned something ;-) ;-) ;-)

Chris Kruell
cpk@sequoia.cray.com
Newsgroups: rec.running