Last weekend I went to a running seminar and clinic put on by Newton Running at Pacers in Arlington. The Arlington store is my favorite one – mostly because it’s within walking distance of my place! It started out with a presentation on natural running, going over proper running form to make you as fast and efficient a runner as possible.They talked about balance and relaxation as the keys to running.

They also hammered home the importance of landing under your center of mass. While they noted that the most efficient running form of running has you landing on your midfoot/forefoot before your heel settles, I liked that they showed this might not be best for you if you’re still reaching your leg out in front of you. I’m usually a heel striker and have been working on converting, but if I reach my leg out then landing on my forefoot puts me another half a foot away from the center of my body than if I kept landing on my heel. It’s one more thing to try and think about while running of course, but I feel like I have a much better understanding of how I should be trying to make adjustments. I hope I can get to the point of landing on my midfoot first, but for now my main focus is going to be landing under the center of my body.

Check out Newton’s 10 Laws of Natural Running.

Naturally, they were there to promote their shoes as well, but that was the fun part. We got to try on their different shoes and take them out for a test drive. We were paired off with different Newton running coaches and went through a series of drills to the amusement of onlookers walking by the Clarendon Metro as we worked on our running form. It was pretty cool and I have to admit I really liked the shoes. I might have to try them out when I go for my next pair – which will be soon as I plan on retiring one of my current pairs of sneaks after the Marine Corps Marathon this Sunday.