May 11, 2008 Two big races scheduled for this week This week there are two races to which many of the San Marcos runners will be going. One is the well-publicized Beach To Bay Relay Marathon. The San Marcos Runners Club has three teams heading down, with one recruiting the fast members on the team in hopes of placing near the top of the team scoring. Those runners who choose to stay home can run in the Dragon 5K in Wimberley on Saturday, May 17th at the Katherine Anne Porter School. It is an out-and-back course along Green Acres Road and will offer a scenic and somewhat challenging course. Awards are from Wimberley Glassworks and will make the winners a very fine display on the trophy case. Years ago there was a famous scientist who discovered some laws that work in the world and often apply to runners. One is the Law of Gravity (the story goes that he was hit on the head by a falling apple and started to wonder why it fell down). If you are a heavy runner this really pertains, as footsteps on the ground really come down hard. Another is the Law of Inertia, which states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force; and if an object is moving, it will continue to move in a straight line unless acted upon by a outside force. Trying to get a sedentary person to move off the couch and get moving is a good example of this. If a runner is out for a workout, then it is easier to keep moving once you get over that point of standing still; and usually it is better running in a straight line rather than around sharp curves. Newton also came up with the Law of Acceleration, which mentions that the more force that is applied is directly proportional to the speed and indirectly proportional to the mass of the object. Simply stated, this means if you try harder to run fast, you probably will; but if you are very large, then things don’t work as well to run fast. Many runners can relate in various ways to these laws developed by Newton. That is why they are called Newton’s Laws of Motion. The one law that runners can change and become a better runner by following a few simple steps is the Law of Action-Reaction. This law states for every action. there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you push down, the body jumps up is one example. For a runner, little things can make a big difference in the mechanics of running and can make you an efficient or an inefficient runner. An example of this law in running is letting the arm motion cross the midline of the body as you run; this is the action. The reaction is the lower leg swinging outward in the opposite direction. If the right arm crosses in front of the body, the left leg will recover by swinging out and around instead of straight through. Lots of energy is lost in this motion. Some runners want to lean forward, with the idea that this will make them run faster. Leaning forward is good if you are a running back in football and want to make that opponent trying to tackle you remember you. For a runner this is not good, as in most cases nobody in the race is trying to bring you down. Leaning forward with the upper body prevents the upper leg from coming up as high as you would like and prevents a good recovery. In some cases, the foot strikes in front of the body; the action is the foot hitting the ground and the reaction is the ground pushing back. Instead of the leg pushing you forward, the leg acts as a temporary braking action and will slow you down. The hard strike on the ground in the braking action will on occasion lead to shin splints, sore feet and much wasted energy. With all these laws developed by Newton, you might wonder if he was a runner himself or if he just wanted runners to be scientific and knowledgeable about what they do when they are out on the road or in a race. Dr. Maurice Johnson - better known around San Marcos as “Moe” - is a professor in the Department of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at Texas State University - San Marcos. Moe has been a fixture in the San Marcos running community - both as a runner and race organizer - since way back when Moby Dick was a minnow. His column on running and fitness appears each Sunday in the Sports section of the San Marcos Daily Record. • Recent “Running With Moe” Columns • Home • About the Club • Current News • Club Runs • Places To Run • TX Running Clubs • Running Links • Useful Stuff Upcoming Races • Race Results • Country Roads 10K & Kids Run • ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon • “Running With Moe” Contact Us!