One Size (Doesn't) Fit All
It has been two weeks since the Alistair Brownlee and Gwen Jorgensen were crowned as Olympic Triathlon Champions. While both the men’s and women’s races were highly tactical and attrite from the gun and particular on the bike leg, great running performances from both Brownlee and Jorgensen were key to their securing their titles.
But here’s the thing: they both run differently. That’s right, if you take a closer look at both athlete’s running form, and foot-strike in particular, you may notice that Brownlee runs on his toes while Jorgensen is more of a heel or mid-foot striker. Yet they both could be described as gazelles in running terms.
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It has been a few years since Christopher McDougall’s excellent “Born to Run” launched barefoot and forefoot running into the public conscious. Much has since been written and debated about the merits of this notion and a whole sub-industry has sprung up (and in some countries come and gone) around the minimalist footwear movement. And while the notion of going back to our Paleolithic roots does have substance and validity, the fact of the matter is that not everybody has the strength or ability to run in such a manner.
Yet foot-strike is but one component of the greater scheme of running technique, the latter being an equally debatable - and often dividing - topic. There are those who argue that attention to how an athlete runs is everything and they are right, to a point. Good posture and form are essential to effective and injury-free running, which is great until the athlete gets injured. Not to disparage those who extol the virtues of concentration on the “how’s” of running but there is a tendency in some quarters, particularly in the amateur ranks, to over-emphasise drills and complementary exercise like yoga, weight training and Pilates in favour of actual running.
A great mentor of my mine during my youth once stated that improved running performance is wholly dependent on “time on the legs.” Given that this guy was an international-level triathlete and running was his strongest discipline only enhanced the credibility of his prophecy. So it was with great interest that I listened to a recent physiotherapy podcast featuring Joel Filliol and Paul Westwood. Both Filliol and Westwood have extensive experience in the realm of elite triathlon as a coach and physiotherapist respectively. The fact that that Westwood actually saw himself as a coach during his time with Filliol’s squad only enhances his credentials. He views the role of a high performance (HP) sports physio as all-encompassing in terms of time spent with the athletes, where just watching their behavior and body language as well as getting to know them as people is perhaps just as important as the work he does on the plinth. Subjective is as critical as the objective as far as both Westwood and Filliol are concerned where keeping things simple and sometimes not doing anything are more effective forms of treatment than being reactive and applying ice-packs, compression gear or multi-coloured tape. Niggles (read: aches and pains) are often part of the process on athletic progression they both reason and are necessarily grounds for actual treatment.
I can remember conversing with a former Olympic Champion about the very topic of pain and injury management. Injury prone throughout her career, the athlete in question did not view her spate of running injuries as setbacks. Rather, she saw these periods as critical in realising her limits and gaining an innate knowledge of her body and how it works. Without these periods of downtime she simply would not have become the athlete she is or be able to figure out how best to prepare for championship races with her coach.
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As Alistair Brownlee gradually pulled away from his younger brother Jonathan in his upright and tip-toeing style, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his head during the various periods of injury that he’s experienced over the past few years. His running style is almost like that of a middle-distance track athlete and he has actually spoken about his desire to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in the sport of athletics. Were a coach to try and change the way he runs might be catastrophic, especially in the long term. The same would apply to bronze-medallist Henri Schoeman, who runs in a more heel-striking manner and has had his fair share of injury-woes over the years.
These guys and their coaches, just like the women’s podium of Jorgensen, Nicola Spirig and Vicky Holland, have figured out what works best for them, which, in many cases, flies in the face of conventional wisdom and that thing known as the textbook.
What follows are some images of the male and female podium’s respective running styles but be careful: if you try to copy your favourite athlete, danger could be on the horizon.
