Flexibility – keys to agility and speed

Do I have your attention now? Most people would like to go faster I’m sure, so let’s get down to it.

Almost every book on sport, whether its running, swimming, cycling, hockey, etc, will talk about the importance of stretching. It’s usually one of the first chapters with some guides and visuals to help you along. Stretching certainly does make a difference as it helps the muscles and body stay looser, move blood, and get us ready to run (or swim or ..) or helps us recovery. There’s also plenty of scientific evidence to back this up as well.

I have to admit I rarely stretch. I walk out the front door and usually run right from the front step. If I have to wait for my Garmin to locate satellites I’ll do a little, but only a minute or so. I’m just anxious to get to the main event. I will also freely admit that when I do stretch and do it consciously it feels really good to slow down and feel the body. It’s another great feedback mechanism. Even better for me is going to a yoga session where there’s a combination of listening, stretching, strength, and focus.

What about speed you’re asking …

When I ran the Tunnel Marathon a few weeks ago I felt great until the last four miles when both calves and my right hamstring cramped up. In a matter of seconds my form went all to hell. I went to a nearly straight legged run (which for me is hard to do) to keep my legs from bending and cramping worse. With a straight legged run, my hips twisted in weird ways and that cascaded up my back to tight shoulders, a stiff neck, and a rough armswing. Not only was this very uncomfortable, but my speed dropped as well. For almost two weeks after the marathon my legs were still very sore and I could feel the residual nature of the cramps. My form wasn’t as bad, but it was similar.

What occurred to me while in this awkward form was how limited my range of motion was and how severely that affected my form, and therefore my speed. When I can bend my legs, extend them back, and lean forward with my upper body, my form is quite natural and I can almost pick almost speed I want. If I can’t bend my legs, or push off, or have limited upper body motion, my stride can only be short, and that’s never good for speed.

As I’ve loosened up and recovered from the marathon, the looseness has come back. And just as easily the ease of running is back in place. And while I’m still tired, it’s somewhat fluid to find a good speed.

The other part of this is agility and this is more aimed as trail running. On a trail, it necessary to watch the trail and constantly adjust stride for rocks, roots, puddles, or whatever else is in the trail. If you’re loose, your agility is much greater and it’s much easier to bound around to find good foot placement. I accidentally took a trail in the first two weeks after the marathon that had lots of rocks and really needed that ability to bound around. Being still sore and tight, the trail was very difficult even to the point of walking at some points. So again it comes back to looseness in the body.

Off to stretch – after all I like running fast, especially down fun trails. After all this is about Dancing with the Dirt!