Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Pumping.

The ITB and ham are still feeling good! I took them out for another run last night and they ran strong. This morning, we're still good. Talk about relief!

But, I think I learned something yesterday. It's called pumping your arms when you run. Did I somehow miss the lesson on really using your arms when you run up a hill? Has this always been the thing I should have been doing?

Seems like it.

I was heading up a big hill yesterday when I just started to pump my arms -- really work them, not like how I normally run. As soon as I did, everything changed. I was running faster with what seemed like less effort. Of course, the effort was still there but it had shifted from my legs to my arms. So, by engaging my arms more, my legs had less work to do.

Wow. I couldn't believe what a difference it made in my run. What's more, I couldn't believe I had been letting my arms get off so easy, for so long. Well, no longer. These arms having been pushing me up for a good 8 weeks now, so they should have the strength to contribute to a run. I'm going to use that strength from now on!

8 comments:

Aileen said...

Ooooooo...you have hills! There is one hill that I know of in Chicago, and a few "rises in the road", so that's awesome for you!

Marcy said...

Hmmmmmm I might have to use this (I don;t really pump my arms that much either . . .I don't think), since my arms are just 2 slabs of flesh that hang anyway. If nothing else it will be an added workout LMAO!

Felice Devine said...

Roisin -- Oh, do I have hills. In fact, I have hills on top of hills! So many hills, here.

I love them, really.

Marcy -- Yep! Added workout. I feel it in my arms today. There's hope for them yet!

Aron said...

someone told me that at the beginning of my training for SFM so i always focused on pumping my arms more going uphill and it really works!

tfh said...

You know, my high school cross-country coaches always did yell "Use your arms!" at me when we did hill workouts. Thanks for the reminder!

Mark Salinas said...

I pump my arms when running up a hill and let them hang when going down. Works for me!

Anonymous said...

I found that when I do a little bit of strength work for my upper body that my times for my runs improve... I think because I get stronger and so being able to pump my arms better helps me go faster.

E said...

Thanks for this post. I tried it today as I was going up a hill, and I think it worked. :)

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