Why I Started Running (Again).

By Nicholas Hald, Physical Therapist at Physio Performance

Like many, I’ve had a hit or miss relationship with running. And, if you’re like me, something (or small humans!) has taken priority over committing lots of time to consistent training and running. I’d love to hear similar stories from all of you, and I’d like to share a bit with you!

First, I'd like to brief you on my running experience. I participated in middle school and high school cross country for a successful program in Scottsbluff, NE. I was coached by Nebraska Hall of Fame Coach Jim Barker (who won 11 state championships!) and was forever shaped by his coaching leadership. I had a successful individual career, placing in the top 15 at the state meet 3 times, and contributing to a state championship in 2000. Of course, I greatly enjoyed the competition and camaraderie of cross country, however, it wasn’t necessarily my passion. 

Soccer was! 

At that time in my young life, cross country was my way of preparing my fitness level for soccer. And, generally speaking, I was usually the most fit person on the team. I went on to play college soccer, and at that level, I excelled at the endurance conditioning workouts (don’t ask about the speed workouts!) and continued to be one of the most fit players on our team. 

After College, I attended Physical Therapy School at Regis University in Denver, where I kept up with recreational running, but didn’t commit a ton of time to it, which is basically the relationship I’ve had with running the last 10 years.  My wife, Ramsee, and I have 3 young children, so committing a lot of time to consistent running wasn’t a priority.  (Ramsee is also a PT at Physio...shameless plug for her Women’s Wellness site here!) 

It’s all in the community! 

We moved here from Scottsbluff, NE in March of this year. Talk about a time to move your family. Who knew there would have been a global pandemic when we made the decision to move late last year! Even with the unpredictable turns of the last year, I am still so thankful to be a resident of the beautiful Black Hills. An added bonus is I got my first chance to be part of the Black Hills Running Community! I was first introduced to the running community after helping Mike Albin with the Sundance to Spearfish Marathon, providing recovery work for runners at the finish line. It was so cool to help with all the people involved and the running community here has been such a supportive and welcoming group!

So why is this “Community” important to me (and you too!)? I think not having a group of fellow runners to surround myself with has played a part in why I haven’t been consistent with running. Also, for me, the science and psychology behind why people do things is fascinating; just ask my wife, I’m always asking how and why. That’s the way I am, even if it drives her nuts!

While studying the science of learning, I am continuously learning the overwhelming physical and mental health benefits of physical activity. My goal with this blog series is to provide a resource for runners of Black Hills (and others, of course!) covering a range of topics, including injury prevention, performance improvement, nutrition/fueling, hydration, benefits of cross training, recovery strategies, and more! 

For starters, let’s begin with a couple benefits that I would consider Home Runs!

The first one is obvious. Improved health of your heart and lungs! Decreased Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF) is associated with all-cause mortality. Basically, the healthier your heart and lungs are, the more likely you are to live a long and active life! For those interested in additional reading, here’s a good article!

AND, in our current COVID-19 world, this one is SUPER important: Improved ability to fight off infection. An article in The Lancet was just released, reviewing 55 different articles on the relationship between physical activity, immune system function, and infectious disease within communities. Here’s a quote from the discussion section of the article.

 “This study shows that higher levels of habitual physical activity are associated with a 31% lower prospective risk of infectious disease and 38% lower risk of infectious disease related mortality.” Additionally, other findings indicated regular physical activity may enhance the effect of vaccinations! 

Not only are you less likely to become infected, but you also are less likely to become seriously ill or die, and physical activity will enhance the effect of a vaccination once it becomes available! Overall, it’s a no brainer, win win type of scenario if you ask me!

These are only two of the hugely impactful benefits of running, and if you are on the fence about increasing your physical activity, these 2 benefits are a major reason why you should!  If you are not sure about where or how to get started, I’d love to help! There are a number of ways a Physical Therapist like myself can help get you started with training, help you improve and optimize your training, and get you on a good plan to decrease injury risk to keep you pounding the pavement! Feel free to reach out to me with questions, I’d love you help in any way!

Nick

nick.hald@bhphysio.com/ 605.716.7748

A little Geek Speak on 100m sprinters...

Below is part of an analysis of Su Bingtian--100m sprinter for China and fastest Asian-born athlete ever in the 100m. (note--Su gave me permission to share this). I'll highlight some of the anthropometric differences between someone like Su and Usain Bolt. Taking these factors into consideration of the athlete you are working with/training is critical to identify how to optimize their kinematics between 0 and 100m. 

Su is 5'8" and approx 150 lb which definitely puts him on the opposite end of the spectrum when compared to Mr. Bolt--who stands at 6'5" and approx. 210 lb. VERY different athletes even though they compete in the same event. Last year in the 2015 World Championships 100m semifinals, they faced off. Link to race here - Su is in lane 6 and Usain is in lane 7. If you watch during the first 40-50m, Su has an excellent start and leads Bolt until about 8.5 seconds into the race. Bolt is notorious for his 'slow' starts, but in my opinion (any many others'), this may actually be a reason for why he always ends up in first 100m later. A very good article written by Krzysztof et al (2013) did a kinematic analysis of the 3 best 100m performances ever (of course, all owned by Mr. Bolt). Their main findings were these:

1) When compared to other world-class sprinters, Bolt is able to achieve the optimal ratio of stride length vs. stride frequency. Remember that when constrained by 100m, if one of those variables increases, the other must decrease. Now, the idea of stride length vs. stride frequency is likely well known to many track and field coaches who've been doing this much longer than I have! Many people like to attribute Bolt's greatness to genetics (likely true--it's no secret that a longer stride can be favorable), however, to my knowledge this was the first time that someone examined why Bolt's running is unprecedented from a kinematic standpoint. In being able to optimize this ratio of stride length:stride frequency, he was able to get up to a blazing >27mph (12.3 m/s) during some 10m sections of the races. On average, he took approx 41 steps in 100m, while his competitors took an average of 43-48 steps. Again, no surprise that he takes fewer steps if his stride is longer, but their point was he found the optimal ratio based on his frame.

2) Bolt is able to maximize his time on the ground by most likely applying more force directly into the ground than the other runners. This is potentially why he often has slower starts. During that time, each leg is in contact with the ground for a bit longer, however while doing so he is creating a tremendous amount of power. I wish I could put a force plate underneath him to measure the amount of force he generates! 

Below is Su out of the blocks on the same track that he ran on against Bolt in the Youtube link above. As I mentioned, Su is excellent during the first ~70 m of the race (especially the 0-40m mark). In that distance, Su is likely at an advantage partly because of his size. Because of his shorter legs, he is able to take more steps and generate power more quickly than most. From other assessments, I found he has excellent triplanar stability. Because he is so structurally balanced--meaning he is very strong in the frontal and transverse planes, he is able to keep much of his power/strength directed into sagittal plane motion (down the track). 

I drew what I'd estimate the ground reaction force vector to be in the last 2 pictures. It's important to note you can't 3-dimensionally appreciate how that vector would be oriented (meaning if he was weak, that arrow might be pointing into the screen toward the green grass or out of the screen towards you). But, because he is very structurally balanced I would point the vector straight down the track. 

When working with more amateur/younger athletes, I think this is one of the most important things a coach/trainer/therapist can work on. Strengthening in the frontal/transverse planes will give anyone a great platform to 'push' from and accelerate down the track. The 'shooting a cannon out of a canoe' vs a stable platform is never overused in my opinion.

Another thing that is important to point out is how 'vertical' that force is being applied. In long distance runners, you would want it to be more horizontally oriented, signifying that they are not wasting energy by 'bouncing'. However in sprinters their objective should be to strike the ground with as much force as possible, as quickly as possible. 

Check out the article I referenced above--it's a great place to start for anyone wanting to learn more. Hope this helps! 

My 2 cents---Thanks, Dan