If you want to run faster on the trails you need to keep your body relaxed as too much body tension will compromise your form. This in turn will tire you out and slow you down because you are not as efficient as you can be.
When trail runners try to speed up by increasing effort levels they increase body tension. Increased body tension shortens stride length and restricts breathing, causing the trail runner to slow down. A relaxed body means you breathe better and run faster.
I wasn’t able to keep relaxed before I learned the tell-tale signs were that I had to look out for. Like many runners, I tend to carry tension in my upper body. Now I maintain awareness of my hands, arms, and shoulders.
My shoulders starting to hunch up toward my ears and tightly clenched fists are usually the first indicators that I am carrying too much tension.
Often when I carry upper body tension my stride becomes unbalanced leading to niggles. I am pretty sure that my occasional shin splints flare-ups have come from trying to push through the resistance of a tense body.
When I am straining against the resistance of upper body tension I often clench my jaw and my running partner starts frowning as if he is fuming-angry.
How To Relax While Running
While out on a run I do a quick body check every couple of miles. I go through my mental list of cues that upper body tension is compromising my form. I start with checking for tension in my face, then shoulders, and then arms.
Once I have isolated the areas of my body that are holding tension, I can start relaxing them. I start with my face and work my way down. You can do the same by following these relaxation steps while you are running:
- Unclench your jaw and soften your eyes
- Take a deep breath, and exhale forcefully
- As you exhale, give your arms a quick shake
- Return your arms to their normal position, keeping your shoulders down and slightly back, staying relaxed
- Make sure your hands are unclenched like you’re holding raw eggs
- Focus on keeping a smooth stride, instead of straining to speed up
Relax Your Mind To Relax Your Body
One of the reasons that many of us run is as a way to shed the stresses of our day-to-day life. So it is only logical that many of us carry the stress of our day into our run. This stress can cause our upper bodies to tense up can compromise our form as we head out taking the first steps of our run.
Without the awareness of that tension, we can slip into a feedback loop of straining to increase our pace which in turn creates even more upper body tension.
Another source of pre-run stress that some of us feel is the stress of race-day. Those start-line nerves can cause us to tense up, ruining your chances of running a personal best right when you most want to.
I can remember being on the start line for a regional 10k championship a couple of years ago. When there were about 2 or 3 minutes to go before the start my heart rate was already spiked up to over 120 beats per minute. That was hardly the ideal state to begin a championship race.
When you next toe the line for a race, use your heart-rate monitor as a tool to measure your stress levels and bring them down using the methods I discussed earlier. It worked and I was able to calm my mind and lower my heart rate before the race started.
Once the race has started, one very effective way to relax your mind when you feel some anxiety creeping in is to focus on your breathing and stride.
Counting strides for a minute or two can distract your anxious mind from what you might be over-thinking and bring your attention back to your body and restore calm. In the same way, when you focus on breathing deeply and rhythmically can also center you and bring down your heart rate.
Using Visualization To Reduce Anxiety
I can remember when I ran competitively in high school, cross-country and middle distance on the track, our coach would have us do visualization exercises before an upcoming race.
The rationale behind that was so we could work through any feelings of anxiety ahead of time. What I noticed was that I’d often feel more relaxed on the start line as I’d been through the race so many times before that.
These days my goals are far simpler. If I finish the race injury free I’m happy. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
What I try and do when I am at a race for the first time at a new venue is jog through the finish arch a couple of times during my warm-up. That way I can already visualize finishing the race and reduce my anxiety levels.
Using Mantras To Calm Your Mind When Things Get Tough
There are many runners who find that having some sort of personal mantra they can repeat to themselves while they’re running helps to calm their mind when things get tough as they inevitably do.
There is a cliché in ultra-trail running that if everything is going well and you are running pain-free and with an easy flow, don’t worry because that feeling will pass.
What you can do is choose a short sentence or phrase (usually no more than a few words) that helps inspire and center you, and when you feel like you’re losing control or you’re starting to strain.
Repeat your mantra over and over again in your head to distract you from those negative thoughts that are trying to make you quit and spur you on to the finish line.
Four-time Ironman world champion, Chrissie Wellington, would write the names on the back of her hands of family members that had made sacrifices in order for her to train. Whenever she hit a rough patch she’d look at those names and make herself tough it out so that her family’s sacrifices would not be in vain.