Ask Coach Ken: Running requires proper technique

Editor's note: Coach Ken is a series of fitness tips and race experiences to motivate and educate airmen to become more physically fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Capt. Ken Corigliano is a tri-athlete with the Air Force team and a nationally-certified coach.

A few key facts to arm you, before we begin our discussion:

It's hot. Your body dissipates heat by conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. Stay hydrated so you can sweat; the thinner air here in eastern New Mexico at 4,300 feet allows more radiation from the sun to hit you so your body must rely more on convection and evaporation, which both use water. Your body can lose 2 liters of water in one hour. The more rapidly you are sweating, the more nutrients you lose.

Plain water does not exist anywhere in the body, it is used as an electrical lubricant and when you sweat you will lose nutrients. For every three mouthfuls of water, have one mouthful of an electrolyte enhanced drink. Interestingly, if you become dehydrated, the mucus membrane in your stomach becomes too thick for anything to pass through. Therefore, you can drink or eat in mass quantities, but nothing will absorb. You may have felt this before — being so thirsty you drink a lot of water but it just sloshes around in your stomach. Prevent this by drinking early and often.

The human body has a great design for running. True, we have heels, but those are for stopping and standing. "The frequency of running injuries is due to the fact that we spend most of our non-running time sitting in chairs, and when we do run, we wear shoes. These two factors cause us to run unnaturally, resulting in injuries," Brain Training for Runners. Runners should make sure they concentrate on proper form with every step.

USAF: Airman 1st Class Alexxis Pons Abascal

An Air Commando runs laps around the track at the Fitness Center at Cannon Air Force Base. Runners are encouraged to concentrate on proper form with every step to avoid injury.

Proper form

Since we wear shoes, sit often and rarely run, proper running form is counter-intuitive. Please keep the following facts in mind:

• Increase stride rate: Each step can have an impact of many times the body weight, thus keeping your stepping rate high (also called cadence or stride rate) can minimize impact, save energy and reduce stress.

The standard recognized cadence is 180bpm for both feet and 90 per foot (this will feel awkward, but trust me it will make you faster and stronger).

• Stand tall: Leaning forward is good, if it is very slight. Typically, several degrees forward is acknowledged as optimum. This is very subtle, if you are leaning forward any further you will cause knee cap injury or shin splints because most people who are leaning forward have excessively slow stride rates and excessively long stride length.

• Land below your shoulder: If your stride is too long, your heel will land first. That is bad form that can lead to injuries, especially of the knee. You should land on the front part of your foot (ball) and underneath your body, in line with your hips and shoulders.

• Hips and shoulders forward: Keep your hips facing forward and your shoulders straight while remaining limber.

• Deliberate arm swing: Hand is gently closed and the swing should be from the top of your pocket to your chest not crossing center line, easily extending and contracting your elbow slightly to maintain blood flow.

• Relax your face, neck and back: Keep all muscles and body parts relaxed that are not directly involved in moving you forward. It's not simply energy you're wasting but added stress to your neurological system.

Remember it's all a process. There are many systems involved in improving your running skills: your ability to inhale and convert air into oxygen, exhale carbon dioxide, digest nutrients, deliver oxygen to muscles, send electrical signals, circulate blood and a million other micro level processes. Consult a professional who has lived the life that you want to live so you can get the best advice possible.

• Shoes: This is a very touchy subject with me. Over the past 10 years I've been involved with developing a paradigm-shifting shoe design. The traditional running shoe has critical design flaws.

Your foot is a spring-type cradle design that allows a swift move from contact to forward motion. Putting your foot in a flat shoe is equivalent to wearing mittens and attempting to type.

As a result you've lost much awareness in your feet, (so much that the biggest fear with the elderly is falling), they've been wearing shoes so much that have very little idea where their feet are at any time.

You need to do functional exercises and workouts to strengthen peripheral tissues in your legs. Box jumps, high-knees, karaoke runs, jumping jacks and many others are designed to spice up your training and increase the elasticity and strength of your body in relation to running.

For the 1.5-mile Air Force fitness run, you should be running about 20 miles a week. Twenty miles per week is typically accepted as a healthy approach to living and will ensure a vigorous metabolism, restful sleep, mental focus and positive attitude. That's less than 30 minutes per day running. You spend 30 minutes watching a television episode. Your mind, body and spirit are worth the effort.