Triathlon Open Water - Water Running

Important Note to the Viewer

LESSONS: 24 VIDEOS

Trailer

Introduction

What if you could find a way to increase your running strength, speed, flexibility, and endurance – without pounding out mile after mile on treadmills and hard pavement? What if you could find a way to beat the weather – to get in a great run, even when it’s too hot, too cold, too icy, too humid, or too WHATEVER for outside running to be safe or pleasant? What if you could find a way to train that’s gentle on your body, and will help you keep running for the rest of your life -- a way to get off the endless treadmill of injury, rehab, recovery, injury, rehab, recovery? There’s a better way to train! Hi, I’m Barbara Hummel, and I discovered the hard way – after way too many injuries – that water running is the perfect way to train, even when you’re not injured. Water running revolutionized and re-energized my training, and it can do the same for you. This video will show you how to get started. It will teach you more than a dozen different water strides that feel remarkably similar to running on the roads – except for the pounding. It explains how to gauge your effort by measuring heart rate and cadence. It will help you combine the different strides into workouts that can be as tough – or as easy – as you want to make them. Need to get in some hill repeats? A tempo run? A speed workout or Fartlek training? How about some long slow distance? You can do them all in the pool and feel great after every one. Let’s get started! You’ll soon discover the many benefits that water running can bring to your training.

Getting Started & Troubleshooting

Getting started in water running is easy. A pace clock comes in handy, but all you need is your bathing suit, a flotation device that’s pulled snug, and a few square feet of water. The flotation device will help you maintain proper running form, and lets you focus on your legs rather than air. Many people think that water running involves running from one end of the pool to the other, with your feet making contact with the bottom. This is great exercise, but, as you can see, it doesn’t look very much like running on land. You’ll find yourself bounding rather than flowing smoothly, and you don’t want to introduce bounding into your running style. Water running should ideally be done in deep water -- deep enough so that your feet never touch the bottom. A depth of 6 to 7 feet is adequate for most people. Once you’re in the water, spend a minute just getting your balance, and establishing correct posture and running form. Try this. Let yourself hang in the water for a moment. Release all tension in your hips and let your legs drop from your hips. Your body should be in a comfortable, erect position, with head, neck, torso, and legs aligned one on top of the other. Now start moving your legs in a gentle running motion – but maintain your alignment. This is your most basic – or Standard Stride – in the water. Keep your body in a relaxed, erect position. Hold your arms and elbows as if you were running on land but, as you can see here, you’ll need to open your hands slightly and use them to hold your place in the water. The hands are cupped and are moving in a sculling motion. The stride should happen equally in front of your body and behind your body. Stride forward, then follow through with each leg as you kick backward. Let your arms and upper body move freely with each stride. Don’t think about doing anything special with your ankles or feet. Let them move naturally with the legs. Look straight ahead, not down. You should feel as if there is a string attached to the top of your head and it’s being pulled upward to hold you in a “sky-hooked” position. If your chin and mouth are several inches above the surface, as mine are here, you may be working too hard with your shoulders and arms. Just relax. Release all tension in your neck, shoulders, arms, and lower back. Concentrate the effort in your legs, and let your body sink until your chin and mouth are right at the water line. Having the water this close to your mouth may take some getting used to, but it will help you achieve better form and posture for running. If you move forward all the time, you may be dog-paddling – or digging – with your hands and arms. You should also check your posture. Make sure you’re sky hooked, with head, neck, torso, hips, legs, and feet aligned one on top of the other. If you still move forward, your rear end may be sticking out. If you think you look like this in the water, try to relax your lower back. Let your legs hang for a second, then start again with an easy, long stride. If you feel as if you’re spinning or bicycling, rather than running, slow down. Try a slower cadence and lengthen your stride. Instead of kicking up with your knees, think about reaching forward, then pushing back with your feet. Make your stride happen more behind your body than in front of your body. Practice Standard Stride at an easy to moderate pace until you begin to feel comfortable and coordinated in the water – and until you feel like you’re actually running rather than bicycling. This could take one or two sessions – maybe even more. Try to be patient while your body adapts to a new environment. To add interest to your first workout, throw in a few “pickups” to experience an important law of hydro-physics: In order to move your legs twice as fast in the water, you need to expend three times the amount of energy. After several cycles of Standard Stride at an increased pace, back off to an easy pace, or to an easy breaststroke kick. Pickups will convince you that water running is aerobically taxing – and that this is one heck of a good way to increase your fitness, strength, and speed – with no pounding on your joints.

Heart Rate and Cadence

During your first few workouts, it’s interesting to monitor your cadence and heart rate, as I’m doing here. You may discover that when you run in the water, it’s difficult to get your heart rate up to the same level as when you run on land. There are several reasons for this. The main reason is buoyancy – the power of water to exert an upward force on whatever is placed in it. Water exerts enough upward force on your body to support approximately 90% of your weight. That’s a big load to take off your feet – and off your heart. Another reason that your heart rate might be lower in the water is the cooling effect of water. You sweat when you swim or water run, but the water carries the sweat away and cools your skin. This helps to keep your heart rate lower. The important thing to remember is that when you run in the water, your heart rate will be lower than when you run at the same effort on land. It may be 10 to 20 beats per minute lower. If you use a heart-rate monitor and heart-rate zones to guide your training, you will need to take this difference into account. When you water run, focus less on heart rate and more on your perceived level of exertion. If you feel as if you’re working as hard in the water as you would be on land, chances are good that you are getting an equivalent workout. One way to monitor your level of effort when water running, and to compare it to land running, is cadence. Try counting your strides while running on land at various intensities. Do this by counting the number of times your right foot strikes the ground in one minute. Then try to match this rate when water running. Here I’m running at about 85 cycles per minute. No problem. Here, I’m water running at 85 to 90 cycles per minute. Big problem! If you could see my face…well…you wouldn’t want to see my face. This was exhausting, and I could barely keep it going for 30 seconds. When I cut back by 30 to 40 cycles – here I’m running at about 55 cycles per minute -- the level of effort is more like what it was on land. Try this experiment for yourself. When you do, you’ll find a way to monitor your level of effort in the water. Simply check your stride rate every 5 or 10 minutes when water running, to see if you are maintaining a cadence that is 30 to 40 cycles lower than your cadence on land. Once you’ve mastered Standard Stride – and this may take several sessions -- you’re ready to learn new strides that will add variety to your workouts and will help exercise different muscle groups. We’ll learn the strides here, then later combine them into different workouts.

Stride #1 - Standard Stride

Here’s another look at Standard Stride. Remember: Keep your body in a relaxed, sky-hooked position. Hold your arms and elbows as if you were running on land. Open the hands and scull to help adjust your position in the water. The stride should happen equally in front of your body and behind your body. Stride forward, then follow through with each leg as you kick backward.

Stride #2 - Hurdles

For Hurdles, imagine you’re a hurdler moving in slow, fluid, continuous motion over one hurdle after another. Extend the front leg far in front of you and the rear leg far in back. The arms should extend far forward and then push back, to balance each kick. Imagine that you’re using each hand to grab a post that’s in front of you in the water, then pull your body past the post.

Stride #3 - Race Walk

For Race Walk, extend the legs so that your knees are locked and your ankles are flexed. Keep your arms straight, with elbows locked and palms open and pointed toward your body. Move your legs forward and back as far as possible while still keeping the knees locked. Move the arms in synch with the legs, with wide forward and backward movements. When you get it right, you’ll bob up and down slightly. This is a great stride if you’re recovering from a road race or long run because it stretches the calf muscles and uses the water to massage them.

Stride #4 - Race Walk with Pointed Toes

You can also do the Race Walk with Pointed Toes. Extend the legs so that your knees are locked and your toes are pointed. Keep your arms straight, with elbows locked and palms open and facing backward. Keep the stride wide and smooth and fluid. Keep your wrists loose, and let the water move your hands up and down in a waving motion. If you move backward, use your hands to adjust your position. Notice that the strides that call for wide, sweeping arm movements boost your heart rate dramatically.

Stride #5 - Flutter Kick

For the Flutter Kick, stay erect and move as if you were doing the flutter kick, with toes pointed. Keep the stride short but fluid, and work from your hips and thighs, not from your knees. Your kick should feel compact, and your feet should remain within the cylinder or shadow of your body. Your arms and hands will naturally move down to your sides, and will move back and forth rapidly to keep pace with your feet and legs. This stride is intense, so use if for only 30 to 60 seconds at a time.

Stride #6 - Push Backs

Push Backs work the lower back and gluts, and give an intense stretch to your quads. Keep your hands on your hips to intensify the stretch. Maintain your erect posture, but think of the stride as taking place behind your body. With each stride, push the legs back as far as possible, and try to keep the forward leg from moving too far in front of your body. You’ll feel your pelvis and quads stretch out, and a powerful contraction in your gluts. This stride will help improve your push-off strength for land-based running.

Stride #7 - Vertical Kicks

Vertical Kicks give a powerful yet non-stressful workout to your hamstrings and the muscles that support the knee. Point your knees toward the bottom of the pool, while you forcefully kick each heel up. Keep the movement liquid and even, not jerky. Work against the water’s resistance as you kick the foot up, and as you move it down. Your arms and hands will naturally move more in front of the body, where you can use them to provide balance.

Stride #8 - Horizontal Kicks

Horizontal Kicks help strengthen the muscles in the bottoms of your feet – muscles that tend to be neglected when you run or bike. Sit or recline in the water with legs in front of you and knees slightly bent. Alternate pulling each foot back and extend it again to the front. The action is at the knee, but concentrate on pointing your toes as you pull back each heel.