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Athlete Acknowledgement of Risk, Release of Liability and Agreement:

I understand that this Acknowledgement of Risk, Release of Liability and Agreement is applicable to Bolton Endurance Sports Training, its coaches, associate coaches, employees, managers, members, affiliates, agents consultants and trainers (hereinafter the “Released Parties”), and I voluntarily enter this agreement. I am applying to participate in the Bolton Endurance Sports Training athletic training program and related activities (collectively referred to as “Training”) being fully aware that the Training involves risks. I accept all the risks of participating in the Training, even if they are created by the carelessness or negligence of a Released Party or anyone else. Risks of the Training include, without limitation, risks of bicycling, indoors or on roads and highways open to traffic, running, on roads, trails or treadmills, swimming in pools or in open water, lakes, oceans or other bodies of water, triathlon, duathlon, physical exertion, training and competing in large groups of people which may create the risk of falls, contact or other trauma, and other risks associated with intense physical activities. I understand these risks exist, that they are beyond the control of Bolton Endurance Sports Training and its employees, affiliates and/or coaches, and I voluntarily accept and assume these risks as part of the Training I will undertake. Additional risks are described on the accompanying List of Possible Hazards. I know there are other risks too that are not listed and I voluntarily accept them too. I fully release, discharge and waive any Claims I may have, now or in the future, against the Released Parties, even if such Claims are based on the carelessness or negligence of a Released Party or anyone ("Claims" as used in this document means any and all liabilities, claims, demands, legal actions, and rights of action for damages, property damage, personal injury or death) which are related to or in any way connected with my participation in the Training which I or my heirs or personal representative could make.

I AGREE NOT TO SUE THE RELEASED PARTIES FOR CLAIMS, EVEN IF THE CLAIMS ARISE FROM THE CARELESSNESS OR NEGLIGENCE OF A RELEASED PARTY OR ANYONE ELSE. I AGREE TO INDEMNIFY (REIMBURSE FOR ANY LOSS) AND HOLD HARMELSS EACH RELEASED PARTY, FROM ANY LOSS OR LIABILITY (INCLUDING ANY REASONABLE ATTORNEYS FEES THEY MAY INCUR) DEFENDING ANY CLAIM MADE BY ME OR BY ANYONE MAKING A CLAIM ON MY BEHALF, EVEN IF THE CLAIM IS ALLEGED OR DID RESULT FROM THE CARELESSNESS OR NEGLIGENCE OF A RELEASED PARTY OR ANYONE ELSE I UNDERSTAND THAT BY SIGNING BELOW, I AM GIVING UP CERTAIN LEGAL RIGHTS AND RELEASING THE RELEASED PARTIES FROM LIABILITY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. I ACKNOLEDGE THAT I AM VOLUNTARILY GIVING UP THOSE RIGHTS, AND AM VOLUNTARILY UNDERTAKING THE INDEMNITY OBLIGATIONS DESCRIBED IN THIS PARAGRAPH.

I am aware that there is no obligation for any person to provide me with medical care during the Training. If medical care is rendered to me, I consent to that care if I am unable to give my consent for any reason at the time that the care is rendered. I am aware that it is advisable to consult a physician prior to participating in the Training. If I have consulted a physician, I have taken the physician's advice. I grant my permission to Bolton Endurance Sports Training and to its transferees and licensees, to utilize any photographs, motion pictures, videotapes, recordings and any other references or records of the Training which may depict, record, or refer to me for any purpose, including commercial use, by Bolton Endurance Sports Training, its sponsors, associate coaches and their licensees.I understand that the Bolton Endurance Sports Training coaches, assistant coaches, members, trainers, agents and other affiliates are NOT physicians or health care professionals, and do not have medical training, and are NOT qualified to provide medical advice or consultation. I agree to consult my own physician in connection with any pain, ailment, injury, illness, reaction or other physical or medical condition that may be associated with the Training, and I specifically release and hold harmless the Released Parties from any and all liability, costs, expenses or obligations in connection with any such physical injuries or issues.I agree to abide by the rules of Bolton Endurance Sports Training in any of its training camps. I acknowledge that, if I violate any of these rules, I may be removed from the training camp and the permission for me to participate in the Training camp may be withdrawn by representatives of Bolton Endurance Sports Training. Others may violate the rules of the camps, adding to the risks of participation. No warranties have been made to me about the Training.I intend that this document act as the broadest and most inclusive assumption of risk, waiver, release of liability, agreement not to sue and indemnity as is permitted by the laws of the State of New Mexico. If any portion of it is held to be invalid, I agree that the rest of it shall continue in full force and effect. The singular of nouns and pronouns in this document includes the plural and the plural includes the singular. I agree that this agreement was made in Santa Fe, NM and that the laws of the State of New Mexico shall govern its interpretation and enforcement.If the participant is under 18 years of age, the parent agrees to the following statements: As a parent or guardian of the participant, I authorize the child to participate. I also join in the statements and agreements made by the participant in this document. I agree that, in the event participant or anyone acting on his or her behalf should make any Claims, I will provide the indemnities described in paragraph 3. List of Possible Hazards The following is a partial list of hazards that are often associated with training for triathlon, duathlon, bike racing, running, swimming, cross country skiing, and other such endurance events: Falls resulting in broken bones, sprains, strains, contusions, and equipment damage. Collisions with other athletes or vehicles on the road or trail. Drowning during open water swimming.Saddle sores, crotch rash, neck and back pain, and hand numbness related to bicycle riding. Tendonitis and bursitis, muscle strains and/or tears, and trigger points. Upper respiratory infections associated with heavy training loads. Heart attack and other heart-related symptoms.Gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, constipations (due to dehydration issues) Blood in urine or issues trying to urinate, high ketones or protein levels. Men: penile numbness, prostatitis, swollen testicles, and impotence from bicycling. Women: nipple pain from friction, vulvar swelling, groin and chest rashes, and yeast infections. Anemia, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and exposure to pollution, weight loss, immune system issues due to improper recovery and nutritional needs.Post goal race depression following your "A" race for the season. Reactions to chlorine, possible ear infections, excessive dry skin (worse in cold climates), change in hair color, and nasal infections.Heat stroke, sunburn, hypothermia, frost bite, or other conditions related to outdoor training or extreme weather conditions.

Running Efficiency and Speed

Running Efficiency and Speed
by
Coach Robert Haviland

So you want to run a bit faster, or maybe you want to run a lot faster. Where to begin. First it may help to understand that two factors determine your speed:

1) stride rate (the frequency of your stride, or how often you take a stride) strive for 180-200 foot- strikes per minute. Forward lean with chest forward, shoulders back, head straight with eyes slightly down and forward.

2) stride length (the length of each stride across the ground. Center of foot strike with foot landing under your body- aim for ball of foot with power.

You could take the combined approach of trying to increase both your stride rate and stride length at the same time. However, you will find the combined effort of this approach too severe (at least initially). You’ll likely run quicker, but not for very long. You need to allow your body to adapt to the stresses of running faster and do it in a way that incorporates good technique.

Stride Rate
I like to work on stride rate first with my athletes as this establishes both proper running mechanics and aerobic efficiency that we’ll need for running faster later. Running with a higher turnover (stride rate) allows you to do the following:

  • establish a slightly forward leaning body position so your feet are landing UNDER your body, not in front of it;
  • produce a footstrike position closer to the center of your foot (not necessarily forefoot);
  • use less energy per stride;
  • rebound quicker off your ground-contact leg;
  • decrease vertical oscillation;
  • increase forward propulsion;

I’ll break each of these down in the following paragraphs but focusing on stride rate forces you to abandon premature thoughts of speed and instead establishes a good foundation for future running speed gains. You will run slower initially (on purpose) until you adapt to the new running stride. Increasing stride rate first allows your cardio-respiratory system to become accustomed to the increased aerobic demands of turning your legs over quickly (angio-genesis). Get your system used to working out at a higher frequency (despite how small your stride length may be initially) and then increasing your stride length is a simple matter of increasing strength/power.

A Higher Cadence
As I indicated above, turning your legs over faster will lead to many positive changes in your running form. To begin with taking more steps in the course of a minute (without a corresponding increase in ground speed) will have you shorten your stride length, which is exactly what we want to happen when establishing this new running pattern. Initially, I find people do very well running on a treadmill to establish the feel for an increased stride rate. Once you set the speed of the treadmill you don’t need to worry about increasing your stride length along with your increased stride rate. If you did you would run off the front of the treadmill. The constant speed in effect ensures that an increasing stride rate will result in a shorter stride length. As mentioned, this shorter stride length will bring your foot strike more beneath your body. This will allow you to run over top of your feet rather than onto them. When you over strike forward and run onto your feet (think running heel – toe) you create mini breaking actions at every foot-strike, not what you want when trying to go forward. When you land with your foot directly under your body instead of out in front you have less resistive force and are able to get off your feet quicker and thereby shorten the time your foot is in contact with the ground. Imagine you’re a ball. A ball rolls so well because it center of mass is directly over where it contacts the ground. A box doesn’t roll so well because it’s center of mass is well behind where it’s leading edge is.

By decreasing the ground contact time you’ll be able to generate more power to be used later in increasing your stride length. Imagine having the same force application for each stride. When you get on and off your foot faster you’ll create more reactive force or power. In fact, once you start this you’ll probably find that your shorter stride and the resulting power generation will have you feeling like you want to just open it up. Go easy though, maintaining that higher stride rate is quite aerobically challenging. Your muscles need to adapt to the higher stress. You need to focus on your new higher stride rate on ALL your runs in order to ingrain it into your new running form. Your aerobic system will also have to adjust to the increased load due to the higher turnover. Once that is established though (usually takes a few weeks) you’ll be able to increase the strength component of the stride and eventually the length of your stride (not how far your legs move but how far YOU move across the ground).

Work on getting your running cadence (number of times one -foot hits the ground in 1 minute) as close to the low 90s (or higher) as possible. If you’re stride rate is higher than this then you’re doing well already. As an aside, almost all elite runners have stride rates in the 90s. It doesn’t matter how tall you are, if you want to run fast you have to get your stride rate up. The winners of all the top running races in distances from 1 mile to the marathon (including triathlons) are almost all at between 92 and 104 strides per minute.

Now counting your strides for a whole minute is tough. I have a hard time counting and keeping track of numbers when running/racing. To make it easier to count your strides, time yourself for 20 seconds and try to get to 30 or 31 strides for one leg.

Shorten That Leg
Your feet should have the sensation of moving up and down as you run and not really forward and back. By bending your knee as you drive your leg forward you will reduce the effort required to return your leg forward (don’t shuffle with feet low to the ground). Try this exercise. Stand upright with nothing around you. Stand on your left leg and with a straight right leg swing your right leg forward and back, increasing the speed of the swing till you’re swinging your leg as fast as you can. Take note of all the force that’s being put through your body. Feel the torque and the resulting requirement for your arms and other body parts to have to shift around constantly to counteract this swaying force (not something you want to be doing while actually running). Now, without decreasing the effort level of your swing, bend your right swinging leg at the knee. Feel 1) how much more quickly you can now move your leg, and 2) how much easier it is to move your leg back and forth (less torque through your body). So if you’re out on a run and shuffling along, you’re likely putting a whole lot of unnecessary energy into moving your legs forward. Bend them a bit more and you’ll be able to get them forward quicker (which will help your stride rate) and with less required energy.

Shorter Impact Duration
This is a great one. Studies out of the UK have shown that reducing the time your foot is in contact with the ground by only one 100ths of a second can shave minutes off your race times. Of course the time saved depends on how efficient you are to begin with. The bottom line though is if you do nothing else but get off your foot faster while running you’ll be able to generate more power in your stride and ultimately increase your stride length. So the quicker you can get on and off your feet the more force you will be able to direct into the ground which will in turn allow you to move forward faster. So think quick light steps.

Stay Smooth
Run smoother and you’ll direct more energy towards moving you forwards rather than up and down. There was this  Russian running coach who would have his athletes run through a tunnel that was just barely taller than his athletes (only an inch or so over their heads). As they learned to run through the tunnel without bouncing up and down too much he would gradually lower the height of the tunnel for each athlete, till the tunnel was just barely above their heads. They would have to run smoothly or they would take the top of their heads off. Running smoothly basically allows you to conserve energy, as you aren’t directing energy to move up and arrest your resulting plunge back to earth. The saved energy is therefore available to allow you to run longer, faster, or both. To run smoother focus on driving forward as you push off with your rear foot rather than pushing up. Because you’ll be taking shorter strides, at least initially, you won’t need to jump as high into the air to allow for your leg to get forward to catch you for your next stride. Think SMOOTH=SPEED.

Use Your Hands
You can use your hands to control the speed of your legs. If you move your hands in a relatively large range of motion then it will take a correspondingly long time for your hands to travel that distance. Shortening your hand movement pattern will allow you to speed up your hands as you will be able to move through their range faster. Once you do this then your legs will also increase their turnover in order to maintain synchronization with your hands. So faster hands means faster feet.

One other Thought
Keep your upper body as smooth and quiet as possible. This starts from the hips and works it’s way up. Stay relaxed and smooth and try to move your arms more forward and back rather than across your torso, without being too extreme of course. Along with that, try as much as possible to keep your hips and core area firm. Don’t let your hips sway from side to side or dip down as the associated hip strikes the ground.

Now for the fun part SPEED!!!
Once you’ve established this proper running efficiency you can add in the speed component. You shouldn’t find your leg range of motion change too much. It will open up a bit but not as much as you think.

A great feeling for running faster is skipping. Feel like you’re bouncing up and down off your foot, where you load and unload off your forefoot. To go faster just create more load and explosive reaction off the ground.

Remember to keep things smooth. Don’t unload off your rear foot too early or you’ll just pop yourself up into the air. Ensure you drive forward and get that lead foot underneath your body (not out in front). You should have that sensation of falling forward all the time.

Again, go into this part slowly too as you’ll create a lot more load thru your tendons, muscles and ligaments. Pretty soon though you’ll be increasing your run speed nicely with a lot less effort than it took to go that fast before.

ROBERT HAVILAND  BS MS, PT, CSCS, CES, CNC

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