There was a time where every running book and influencer preached that heelstriking is "bad."

Hitting your heel first can cause more impact force to travel up the leg, theorhetically causing more injury risk than striking the ground with your forefoot first.

Yet most of the best runners in the world hit the ground with their heels first.

And there's no indication that they get hurt more often than their forefoot striking competitiors.

Clearly it works for them.

The reality is where you hit the ground matters less than so many other factors in your training, so unless you are frequently getting injured, working on your form might be one fewer thing you need to work on.

Here's what really matters if you want to become a better runner.

read more (6 minutes)

ask me anything

Q:

Are there any tips you can share for breathing during the last mile of a 5K? I know we’re supposed to breathe from our tummy not our chest… But are our breaths in supposed to be faster than our breaths out? Or vice versa? (I think I’ve heard both recommended!) Is there any trick to that super heavy breathing at the very last stage of a short race?

A:

The reason you may have heard different advice is because there is more than one effective breathing pattern in high effort running. If you were to match the number of breaths with the number of steps you take, you might be inhaling for two steps and exhaling for one step or vice versa.

I personally try to inhale as deeply as I can then exhale as quickly as I can. The idea is that I'm maximizing the amount of oxygen I'm taking in while I'm exhaling the waste products as fast as possible.

But my technique has not been shown to be any more or less effective than someone who takes a quick, one-step breath in, then exhales for two steps. In other words, 2:1 breathing is likely as efficient as 1:2 breathing.

What you don't want to do is 1:1. That means one step per inhale and per exhale. There is simply not enough time to get in and out a full, deep breath at 5k race pace. This means that you are more likely to be breathing shallow "half-breaths" which aren't as useful.

Whichever pattern you choose, aim to make it sustainable for the entire race, especially the final mile, to be sure you are maximizing your intake.ere when you are ready.

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podcast

Do you have Marathon Face? Is that even a thing?

Running can affect your skin and hair, not only causing damage, but also making you look older than you really are.

Thankfully, there are ways to make sure you are not sacrificing great skin and hair for your running PRs.

You’ll learn:

• Why we chafe and how to prevent it
• How running can prematurely age your skin, and
• How to protect your hair from damage caused directly or indirectly from running.

This is a topic that’s not really discussed too much in the running world, so you might not even realize that running is making your skin and hair look older than you actually are.

I’ll also reveal what I do personally to age well and look my best, in case you’re interested.

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inspo

“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much”

—Helen Keller

Have a great run today, Coach Claire

P.S. Find your tribe! Get the accountability and support you need to crush your spring goals with the PR Team. You'll get a custom training plan, coaching from me, and all of my digital programs and products (like Find Your Flow State) for free. And oh yeah, it's also a lot of fun!

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