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From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
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* '''Step Width'''. Changing your step width should be done carefully and gradually, as it will change the stress on your legs and hips.
* '''Imbalance'''. By far the best approach to detecting and resolving imbalances is to get an evaluation by a good sports doctor. They will check your range of motion and strength of various muscles and in many cases can resolve these problems.
=Running Form and the Treadmill=
It's commonly believed that the running form is different on a [[Treadmill]] when compared with running outside, and there is some scientific support for this belief. A comparison of runners on a [[Treadmill]] and outside found statistically significant differences in their running form, including knee movement, peak ground reaction force, joint moment, and joint power trajectories<ref name="Riley-2008"/>. However, the study concluded that the differences were small enough that evaluating running form on the [[Treadmill]] was still viable. Another study concluded that the differences between outside and [[Treadmill]] running were too large for [[Treadmill]]-based analysis to be acceptable<ref name="Youlian-2009"/>, while a third study concluded that [[Treadmill]] running was a reasonable representation of outside running for most, but not all subjects<ref name="Fellin-2010"/>. Interestingly, the studies generally showed a higher [[Cadence]] on the [[Treadmill]]. For most runners these differences are probably not a big deal. However, you should take care when transitioning from a period when most of your running is on the [[Treadmill]] to running outside or vice versa. This is especially true if you train for a race using only a [[Treadmill]]. It is best to try to transition from one to the other gradually, and possibly reduce your training volume during the transition.
=Analyzing Running Form=
With the exception of [[Cadence]], most aspects of your Running Form are not easy to check yourself, so here are a few techniques you can use.
* '''The scrape'''. If you hear a scraping sound it means your feet are still moving horizontally when they touch down. If you hear this scraping sound, try to feel with your feet if your foot is pushing forward against the ground on contact or backwards. The most common situation is that your feet are pushing forward due to [[Overstriding]].
* '''The slap'''. A hard slapping sound often indicates a high impact is occurring. This can occur for various reasons, and it's best to get someone to watch your running form or use [[High Speed Video Analysis]].
* '''Symmetry'''. Your feet should sound the same, nds and any difference indicates an imbalance that should be corrected. This imbalance could be in flexibility, strength, leg length or some other factor.
==Visual Inspection==
The simplest way of having your running form analyzed is to get someone to watch you run. Having them watch you run on a treadmill [[Treadmill]] is easiest, but be try to notice if your Running Form changes between outside running and the treadmill[[Treadmill]]. Some things the observer should look out for.
* First, check the runner's [[Cadence]].
* Looking at the runner from the side:
<ref name="Ounpuu-1994"> S. Ounpuu, The biomechanics of walking and running., Clin Sports Med, volume 13, issue 4, pages 843-63, Oct 1994, PMID [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7805110 7805110]</ref>
<ref name="Arellano-2011"> CJ. Arellano, R. Kram, The effects of step width and arm swing on energetic cost and lateral balance during running., J Biomech, volume 44, issue 7, pages 1291-5, Apr 2011, doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2011.01.002 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2011.01.002], PMID [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21316058 21316058]</ref>
<ref name="Youlian-2009"> HONG, Youlian. "A Kinematic Comparison of Running on [[Treadmill]] and Overground Surfaces." XXVII International Symposium on Biomechanics in Sports. Vol. 1. 2009.</ref>
<ref name="Riley-2008"> PO. Riley, J. Dicharry, J. Franz, U. Della Croce, RP. Wilder, DC. Kerrigan, A kinematics and kinetic comparison of overground and [[Treadmill]] running., Med Sci Sports Exerc, volume 40, issue 6, pages 1093-100, Jun 2008, doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181677530 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181677530], PMID [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18460996 18460996]</ref>
<ref name="Fellin-2010"> RE. Fellin, K. Manal, IS. Davis, Comparison of lower extremity kinematic curves during overground and [[Treadmill]] running., J Appl Biomech, volume 26, issue 4, pages 407-14, Nov 2010, PMID [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245500 21245500]</ref>
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