The advantage of being a multi-sports athlete is that over winter there is so much choice and variety in activities – sometimes too much, a freedom that not all triathletes can cope with that well.

Options for the winter are many from single discipline training (to improve a weak discipline or enjoy a strong discipline) to the joining the duathlon circuit. Doing absolutely nothing is an option too but the road back in springtime might then be too steep and slippery, so perhaps that’s not a good idea.The more serious triathlete will benefit most from putting the emphasis on improving their weak discipline. A great part of working on a weak discipline is technique work. Most triathletes do not lack fitness in the specific disciplines. More often it is the technique (or lack of it), which is the problem.There are two major aspects to improving technique:

1. To be aware of ideal movement patterns and body position of the discipline you train in.
2. To introduce technique – drills – into your training programme. Drills are specific exercises that mimic ideal movement patterns in an exaggerated way.

An awareness of ideal movement patterns and body position will help greatly in proper execution of drills. Triathletes are used to doing drills as part of the swim training but we don’t do them as easily for running and cycling. In this article we cover five examples of running drills, which over time will help improve your technique and therefore running performance.

When doing drills, the ideal body position needs to be maintained as much as possible whilst different running movements are isolated and exaggerated. Like any workout, running drills can be done easy (walking), steady (controlled) and hard (vigorous). Until you feel comfortable with the specific drills, they should always be done easy and steady. Vigorous drills are for the more experienced and elite athletes with a solid background and good feel for what is required.

Drill 1 – The Knee Lift

This is the most simple drill whereby the knee lift is exaggerated by pulling the knee towards the chest. At the same time, the push-off with supporting leg is exaggerated in an upward direction. When doing this drill, put the emphasis on mid foot/forefoot landing, vigorous toe-off upwards, and knee lift. Arm action is also exaggerated following the normal pattern. Walk through this drill first. When running, attempt short contact time with the ground.

Drill 2 – The Stride-Out

Here the emphasis is on forward momentum by pushing off with a fully extended knee. This creates an exaggerated stride length. However, foot plant of the leading leg, on the mid-foot is still directly underneath the centre of gravity of the body. Take care not to allow rotation of pelvis stride lengthens.

Drill 3 – The Kick Butt Drill

This is technically the most difficult drill and initially the drill should only be done walking. The emphasis is on a mid-foot landing with exaggerated backward movement (scraping and clawing of the ground). You will be pushing the ground behind you, giving a more powerful drive. The heel is then pulled up to the buttock before the leg is fully extended in front of the body. It will then return to the ground in a backward movement. While most drills can be divided in a walking and running variety, this particular drill has an in between variety by which a little hop in the middle on the supporting (push-off) leg introduces a bit more time to complete the full movement of the recovery leg. During this drill it is essential to keep the pelvis stable so that all the movement comes from the hip, knee and ankle.

Drill 4 – Heel Kick

Kick backs should be performed quickly although the ground is covered slowly. The heel is kicked against the buttock by exaggerated flexion of the knee after which it is quickly brought back down, therefore excluding the forward movement of leg recovery. Arms should follow the normal running action.

Drill 5 – The Baxter Drill

This drill has the emphasis on involving the hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh in the push-off phase of the running cycle. This is achieved by pushing off from the back of the heel in an upward direction. The leg is then immediately brought back down on the mid-foot, rolls back on the rear foot once again. Hands can be placed on the hamstrings to make sure they are being activated. The leg should be fully extended at the end of the stride but not exaggerating toe-off with the calf.

• Do these 5 drills at least twice per week – either as a separate workout or preceeding your run (it is important that you are rested).
• Do each drill 2 or 3 times.
• Apart from drill 2, the emphasis is not on forward movement and therefore the ground is covered slowly. Usually a distance of 30-50 metres is sufficient for drill 1, 3, 4 and 5, and up to 100 metres for drill 2.
• A full recovery in between each drill is required. This can be achieved by walking back to the start point.

Most running coaches are very familiar with the drills mentioned and may add others to them. I fyou feel unsure about any of the drills mentioned, it is therefore advised that you contact a local running coach for some help and advice.