ITS BEEN A LONG TIME

It has been around a month since my last post and now that we have hit the streets I would like to share some advice and tips that I have received and figured out since I began running.



Since we are now off the track sometimes we will be going up and down hills. The biggest thing with hills whether going up or down them is to keep your chin up and shoulders back. This will allow you to intake oxygen/breath easier. A major flaw in alot of new runners is to lean forward up hills which effectively can minimize oxygen intake. Usually keeping your upper body quiet is recommended whiel running, however when runnning uphill it can sometimes help to pump your arms a bit more to help bring you up that hill.



When running downhill the biggest mistake is to let your momentum take you down the hill. This can work on very grdual downhills but not when the grade in the road is steep. You want to keep in control by shortening your strides and having your foot strike the ground right underneath your body and not in front of you. If you lengthen your stride and have your foot hitting the ground in front of you it can cause alot of stress on your legs as your actually stopping your momentum. And just like on the uphills keep your chin up and shoulders back.

Lastly you have probably been noticing lots of gravel on the sides of the road right now. I dont recommend running on the loose gravel but if you cannot have both feet away from the loose gravel male sure while your running on it to shorten your stride to increase your stability on it. It doesnt take much to slip on the gravel and if one foot is on bare pavement and the other in the gravel an injury could happen. And while running on certain streets you may notice the sidewalks are banked which can be difficult to run on. In this case run on the road facing traffic and as close to the sidewalk as possible. Running on banked and uneven sidewalks can possibly lead to knee pain and other injuries if done on a constant basis. A great place to run is the waterfron from Kwinitsa all the way to Bobs on the Rocks. Its flat well lit and there are always other people around.

Thanks everyone who is coming out and if you have stopped please come back....we miss you and you can still make the 5km at glory days or even the 10km!!!!!