Junior High Running Advice

One of the best bits of running advice I ever received was on my one (yes, one) day of football tryouts in 8th grade. I eavesdropped on two coaches as they watched a classmate, Harris White, run 50-yard sprints. Harris was a black kid whose running style was very relaxed, most noticeably, his palms open instead of fists clenched.

The whole concept of more relaxed running, beginning with 'non-contributing' body parts like hands, shoulders, jaw, has hung with me through 30+ years of on-again-off-again running. Of course, my running style has been so relaxed that my incredibly slow pace is compared to the soap, Days of Our Lives . . . like sands through the hourglass.

But it has been interesting as I take one more shot at running, this time beginning on the treadmill (I HATE COLD . . . or HOT . . . even COOL and WARM), because I can see myself in the reflection of the window at the Y. I'm able monitor my hands, almost flapping them to keep from making fists, and my shoulders, working hard to push them down off my ears. Unfortunately, if I don't pay enough attention to my feet, I tend to list to one side and fall off the treadmill.

If I ever see Harris again, I would like to thank him for a running style that makes me at least feel like I'm running fast.

I'm not sure if Harris played football in high school. He was really fast, and I'm pretty sure he ran track. Thomas Jefferson's football teams (in Port Arthur, before I offend anyone) were REALLY bad in the early to mid-70s, so I kind of doubt if his speed had been tapped.

A slightly different perspective on Junior High Running Advice at: http://georgesfrontporch.blogspot.com/2007/12/junior-high-running-advice-ii.html