Blog Post

How do Tarahumara Indians Develop Speed and Strength in Order to Live Race Great Distances and Live a Healthy Life?

Rare Video Footage of Eric sharing his wisdom in New York City at the "Born to Run" Conference in November 2010

What Eric covers in this video is the following topics:

• Structural Issues – Body and biomechanics was failing. Failure of traditional methods that always lead to injury
• Biomechanics
• Training Focused on Speed and Economy
• Training Short Hard Fast Sprinting to recruit new muscle in the legs to fire versus tradition LSD (long slow distance)
• Speed First then Endurance
• Short and fast Hill repeats and sprints to fire and strengthen muscles (speed, strength, and power)
• Anaerobic training boosts in performance
• 7:35 Starts the Section: How do Tarahumara Indians Develop Speed and Strength in Order to Live Race Great Distances and Live a Healthy Life?
• Tarahumara ball playing game starts as a kid
• Tarahumara hip muscle strength
• Eccentric strength training with downhills and bounding
• Concentric strength – uphill

Eric is training me for Marathon des Sables #mds running accross the Sahara Desert in Morocco in April 2011. You can see my video of a test Eric had me do in Sept 2010 time frame a month or so after I complete Ironman Lousiville with Eric's Coaching Support. Hit this link on my Beyond Limits Magazine to see the WHAT NOT TO DO VIDEO.  

Compare this to Eric's drills here on his latest vid blog post. I have been working a bunch on improving form since this test. It is taking enormous patience to get my body to respond to the athleticism needed to do it, but I just know it is best for me to master it for long term body health. See Eric's Forefoot Run Drills and Technique Video here.

Check out his email interaction with me after this run. It is interesting to see how he tore my technique down just from observing this test. His email to me:

"It was good to see your form.  You are a little bit on your heels.  Watch your video again and pay attention to when you are running the back stretch on the track, running towards the camera.  Notice how you can see the bottoms on your shoes…this means you are heel striking.  You can also see it from the distance shot.  We will work on this."

 

I hope this helps everyone. I was a college runner and thought i knew everything about running. I can assure you after working with Eric, I definately do not. :)