It is a a simple little device that hooks to your shorts, aligned with your spine and connects to your phone bluetooth. When you run, it analyzes your running form, stride, speed, cadence, running posture, braking, bounce, pelvic rotation, pelvic drop, distance, etc... and offers audio feedback and detailed reports to help one to improve their running form.
I looked it up on Amazon to see how much it cost. It was $100. Dang this sport is simply expensive. Then I started looking at the reviews. Most of the reviews lauded the product suggesting that it helped them to improve their running form, and/or increased their speed and/or decreased their injuries. I almost bought it. A few of the reviews were seemingly from avid runners who suggested that this product was great for people who had bad form. It would help them to improve their form. That sounds good, but the point they were making was that if your form was already pretty good, then it would not give you much. How can you improve on something that is already good? One reviewer stated that the device showed him/her that everything was good except for his/her cadence, which he/she already knew.
This got me thinking about cadence, so I started reading articles about cadence. Admittedly, I have never really thought much about cadence other than to think that if my legs were moving faster, then I would be running faster. Some of the articles I read suggested that one should be running with a cadence of around 180 steps per minute. Other articles suggested that 180 steps per minute was a flawed hypothesis based off of a flawed study, but suggested that the average runner runs with a slower cadence than they should be running with. Other articles suggested that a slower cadence could be the result of over striding which could cause heavier foot striking and braking and potentially more frequent injury; e.g. ITBand, achilles, heel, foot, calf, hip injuries. Some of it seemed a bit of a stretch and I began to wonder if this was one of those very common scenarios where there is a whole lot of conjecture, but no one really knows anything.
I remembered that my Garmin watch also calculates a whole lot of data that I never really found much use for, and one of those stats was/is cadence. So, I looked up a few of my runs and noticed that on the runs where I was feeling sluggish and not running very well, my cadence was around 160. So, I began looking at more of my races. Those races where I felt good, or posted a good time, my cadence was closer to 170. I began to wonder if there may be something to this cadence thing. Maybe it was simply that I was running faster, so my legs were moving faster, so my cadence was higher... or maybe, just maybe my cadence was higher and therefore, my legs were moving faster without expending as much energy as I was taking shorter steps and not working so hard and taking as much of a pounding which allowed me to run faster longer. I don't know, but I thought I would give it a try. Lately, I have been feeling discouraged because it seems that I am getting slower and having more difficulty training and more difficulty during my races. I started to wonder if I got injured earlier because of poor running form. Or maybe it is possible that I altered my running form because of my injury which caused me to slow down and struggle. Either way, I decided that it was worth the effort to try to run and concentrate on my cadence.
So, I started out on my run. I focused all of my thoughts on my cadence. I did not worry with how fast I was going or elevation or terrain or pacing, simply keeping my feet moving with short steps. There were times where I would find myself going too fast and I would slow down but I made sure to keep my feet moving at the same pace which decreased my stride. Uphill sections made me feel like the witch from The Wizard of Oz, that is peddling super fast and not going anywhere fast. Downhill sections were a bit of a struggle to not lengthen my stride.
In full disclosure, the temperature because of the rain was around 79 F instead of the normal 92 F, but I ran 3.37 miles 8:18, 8:17, 8:19, 7:47
And I felt great. I was hardly sweating and my breathing was not labored. I was considering another lap and would have taken it, but we had dinner plans and I did not want to sweat through my shirt at dinner.
Is there anything to this cadence thing, or is it simply that I had a good day, or that I was sufficiently hydrated or the weather was not as oppressive or I drew the right Tarot cards? I do not know. Maybe it is some combination of all of the above, but I intend to try it this way again and see if there is any difference or trend data.
Oh, and BTW my average cadence was 170. I'll post again after my run this afternoon. -- BTW, I don't see buying the Lumo Run at this time.
