Top Running Tips: Lengthening Your Stride – My Run Diary

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Now is the time of year when it can be hard to get your runs in. The holidays are coming. The weather might not be the best. You might also be getting complacent. Work on lengthening your stride! There’s no better running tips.

 
 

Diary of a Running Chick: November 28th, 2016

I have a tendency of pitter-patter my feet when I run. If I’m sore or injured this bad boy rears its ugly head. When its cold or I’m tired, I fall into this bad habit. One of the best running tips I ever received was to lengthen my stride and it works! I’ve been adjusting to the changes of my body, being 21 weeks pregnant, and it’s definitely much different running with a baby inside of me. This little tip has gone a long way towards comfortable runs.

Running while pregnant is why I’m focusing on lengthening my stride, but its great for anyone experiencing discomfort. I wish I could describe how it feels to run this way. I’m slower, although my man says this is not important. Its harder to speed up and when I hit a point of discomfort, I tend to pitter-patter my feet! All that does is make the run harder, so I’m correcting things one run at a time.

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On my run this morning I worked on lengthening my stride. I’m lucky to have a downhill at the very beginning of my run, making it easier to spread things out. As I started down hill I began to lengthen my stride and open myself up. It felt a lot better, but I know I can still lengthen it even farther!

I quickly noticed something funny after opening myself up. I always seem to resort back to the smaller stride. It’s not any more comfortable and honestly, it probably adds more discomfort. But I just fall back into it. Yet I was able to catch myself doing this and ultimately on my morning run I felt so much better. There were still periods of discomfort, but I felt stronger and I know lengthening my stride gives me much more freedom with my runs!

 

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I plan on running throughout my pregnancy, so this technique is especially important. Running is what makes me who I am. It’s the thing I long for when I wake up in the morning and it has allowed me to have an extremely “easy” pregnancy. But the key to enjoying these run is to embrace my lengthened stride!

That is my goal from now until the end of the year. I need to get back to making my runs effortless. For a long time I was implementing a longer stride and flourishing in my runs. Just earlier this year I was running faster than I had all year! I know I can get back to there!

Whether your pregnant or not, lengthening your stride during a run really helps. But it does take reminding yourself to do it. It does take being more present and not just going through the motions of a run. You also need to check in with yourself throughout your run. For me its the perfect time to do this! Over the long-run it’s going to keep you running longer and it’s going to make your runs even more enjoyable!

 

I’m always looking for ways to improve my runs with running tips like this one. There are a myriad of different things you can do, and lengthening your stride is one of the easiest. Improving your form will not only make your runs more enjoyable, but will also help you to stay healthy!

 

Mandi Mellen is Lead Editor, Staff Writer, and Featured Vlogger at BuzzChomp. She’s an actress, writer, and producer. Get lost in her youtube comedy channel PillowTalk TV. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Instagram

 

 

Photo Credit: Yours truly!