I went to Beijing for the Olympics and was literally right across the track from Usain Bolt. And when he gets to full stride, for every two steps the other guy's taking, he's just taking one.
A perfect run has nothing to do with distance. It's when your stride feels comfortable.
Already in 2007 I thought I would be able to break the World record in the near future. That time Sammy Tangui was the pacemaker in Lausanne. I liked the way he was running. He is tall, he has a strong body and his stride is similar to mine. I told him in one of the coming years I would need him when I try to break the World record.
Mel Gibson taught me to run properly. You've got to pump your arms and move your feet faster, or you just don't look cool.
One can remain more sure-footed by taking small steps, but perhaps achieve greater speed by taking bigger steps. Of course, one also runs the risk of setting out in a completely erroneous direction. Surely the important thing isn't the length of our steps, but that the objective is clear.
Sandy Koufax is a great teacher. He just talks about competitiveness and being aggressive - about stride length, power, how to spin the breaking ball. The way he explains pitching is simple, which is something you don't see a lot.
A lot of people think track, you just run, that's all you do. No. There's a lot of technical aspects to it as well. A sprinter is not just going to get out of the blocks and start running. You do that, you're going to get embarrassed every time.
You hope all good athletes run on the balls of their feet. You don't want them coming down heel first. The perfect style is the foot to come down with a slight supination and on a tilt to the outside.
I never knew you were supposed to push off of your feet when you walked. And I tried it, and I walked much faster.
I thought you got faster by running on sleds. That does get you faster, but the most important thing when it comes to speed is getting your technique down. Technique, that's the main thing when it comes to speed.
Long jumping sounds simple - you run fast and jump well. But it is about getting all the technical bits right.
I try to look for tempo in my run-up to make sure my knees are lifting up instead of going long. That brings an energy to my run-up, try and make myself feel as tall as I can.
I had a baseball swing my whole life. When I was growing up, everyone had a different, very specific softball swing that was very short. And I had a big stride and I had, you know, a baseball swing, and people did not like it.
A runner's stride is not perfectly efficient.
The 'Tarahumara' use their legs 'as designed.' By running at a young age with minimal footwear, they naturally develop the best biomechanical use of their legs. Cushioned shoes restrict foot movements and allow for over-striding. Short strides are natural.
I guess I had to learn how to run properly. I spent a lot of time on a giant treadmill, like one of those wheels mice run around on, and got filmed doing it to improve my form.
