Many people tell me that they would run if they were a better runner. Many tell me they wish they could run but find it is just too much of a struggle and they find they cannot enjoy it. Others tell me they enjoy running but seem to find they cannot improve as much as they hoped.

In life, most things involve skill building. School is meant to be thirteen years of skill building to prepare you for the responsibilities of adult life. University or Trade Schools are all about skill building to help you step into vocation with confidence. Hobbies involve skill building. Art, playing music and sport, all involve skill building.

Running is no different. It is not just about fitness.

When you run efficiently, the energy cost is reduced, the propulsion and forward momentum is optimised, the jarring is minimised and the flow becomes normal.

If you start out with poor technique and you begin to practice regular running, you are likely to perfect your poor technique. Not an ideal outcome.

In my time working in AFL as a Conditioning Coach and High Performance Manager, one of the great challenges was the task of improving players running technique. Some thought it was a waste of time because they wanted to put their attention on hard training to “get really fit”. And I can see their argument but it is deeply flawed. Many coaches resisted it because they thought we were distracting the players from “the real stuff”, whatever they meant by that.

A case in point was a wonderful young bloke named Mark Chaffey. When I arrived at Richmond Football Club in 1998, we sat with the coaches and medical staff to discuss each player prior to pre-season. When we got to Mark, the coaches told us, “He is a fine player but he runs out of gas in the third quarter. He has had two big pre-seasons, but it is still happening. So you need to give him an even bigger pre-season this year, otherwise we will have to cut him. He is no good to us if he cannot run out a game.

We asked a few questions and were assured that he had a very good work ethic. When I hear those things, my attention goes straight to running technique.

A week later we took Mark out on the track and watched him run. Sure enough, it was right there for all to see. His pelvis was collapsing forward and his heel strike was heavy and harsh, which caused excessive eccentric loading through all the major muscles of his legs. This means that each time his foot hit the ground, he was doing a sort of instantaneous decelerate and push off.

We had a good chat to him and eased his worries and shared that if he stuck with us, his running would improve and he would be able to run games out well. So he worked hard. His bad habits were deeply ingrained so it took a lot of work. But slowly it all came together and he began to fly. He was floating over the ground. For the next eight years, he became one of the elite running half backs in the game.

Everyone can learn to run (providing there is not some extreme physical limitation preventing it). It matters not who you are. You can learn and get better and give yourself a genuine chance to enjoy running.

And most people can run a half or full marathon, especially if you get your running right and get the right training.

Would you like to learn to run, or improve your current running technique? Would you like to be able to run a Half or Full Marathon.

The next group will commence immediately after New Year. The cost of the program is:

• Full Group Program: $320 plus GST.
• Includes 12 Sessions Plus a one-on-one telephone call before we start to get clear on your needs and goals
• You will complete the program with a good base fitness level and a program that will carry you forward in an Excel Workbook.
• If you want to take on the training program to run the Marathon, we will have an ongoing Squad that you may choose to be part of.

This is a great opportunity to start a new year with some exciting goals. And why not, given the two years we have just come through.

If so, I invite you to Register Your Interest.