A Different Kind of Running

by James Skitt - 08.02.12

The indoor athletics season is already well underway with the Aviva World Indoor Trials and UK Championships set to take place at EIS Sheffield this weekend.

Whilst many athletes use the indoor season to prepare themselves for outdoor campaigns later in the year, for those required to run the banked bends of the indoor track, indoor running can place unique demands on the body.

Speaking to eis2win.co.uk last year Paul Brice, a Senior Biomechanist at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) who works with UK Athletics full time, explained, “Indoor banked tracks put unique loads and forces through the body which athletes don’t experience when they run outdoors.

“The main difference with indoor athletics is the overall tightness of the bends, which are not only banked in nature but also vary in curve severity from track to track.

“Such differences result in unique ground reaction characteristics leading to different biomechanical profiles experienced by the athlete, thus causing subtle yet important kinematic variables to alter, especially between the inside and outside limbs.”

Biomechanists can help inform athletes, coaches and other practitioners by using a wide range of tools that study the mechanical parameters of human motion.

“In the case of indoor bend running a biomechanist can help by analysing the key components that allow successful performance but also the variables that may contribute to potential injury incidence” Brice says.

“The fundamental issue is the interaction of the foot with the ground, this often occurs at high speeds and imparts large loads and force through the whole body, which can be magnified compared to outdoor running due to the banked surface and much tighter bends.”

According to Brice, the size of the athletes can also make a crucial difference.

“Taller athletes in particular tend to struggle more with the demands of running on the banked surface, not least because it has a greater effect on their stride pattern, but the issue of individual leg length makes running the inside lane on indoor track extremely challenging and difficult for the taller athlete, especially if they get lane one” he says.

So how do athletes prepare for the differences of indoor running?

“Depending on where the indoor season fits into the overall plan for the entire season will dictate its overall importance, but in reality the best preparation has to be training on a specific indoor track. The body must be familiar and prepared to tolerate such unique challenges placed on it by running indoors” says Brice.

“The athletes that train at venues like Lee Valley (UK Athletics High Performance Centre in north London) are privileged in that they have access to both an indoor and outdoor track, so for them it’s really just a case of working out with their coaches the best way of incorporating the indoor season into their schedules.”

The Aviva World Indoor Trials and UK Championships take place this weekend (11th & 12th February) at EIS Sheffield. You can get all the latest news and results on the UK Athletics website

Photography  © Getty Images