Data Point Number Two

Did a bunch of reading about stride and proper running form today. Came away with the thought that it's not necessarily the stride length that matters, unless you are seriously over striding and hitting the ground with your heel and a locked knee, (I'm not.), but rather the turnover of your stride that is important.

Coaches seem to agree that a turnover rate of about 180 steps per minute is optimum. I started counting mine after I got comfortable this afternoon and found I was running at about 150. So, I upped the turnover to about 170 and found a comfortable pace that allowed me to run without any knee pain.

Unfortunately, that turnover rate and my natural stride end up being fixed at about a 6:55-7:10 pace. I cannot run more than about a mile at that speed before I have to start walking intermittently.

In any case, even with about a mile of fast walking to rest during the run, I was still able to cover the 3.145 mile distance in 29:04 without any noticeable knee pain.

So, I now have interim goals of increasing the distance I can run before I have to start walking to rest. At least, I've potentially found a form that may allow me to be pain free. (Because the last thing I'm going to do is run if it screws up my knees.)