This time we are going to do a quick running analysis on Letesenbet Gidey as she broke
the 5000m WORLD RECORD last October in a time of 14 minutes and 6 seconds. She was able
to beat the previous world record by 5 seconds, which was set by Tirunesh Dibaba 12 years.
This was an incredible performance to watch and was truly an amazing achievement. Now,
just by looking at the data, the race was paced perfectly as she ran the first 2 1000m
splits in 2:51, followed by the third in 2:49, the 4th in 2:48, and the last one in 2:47.
The reason why I say that is because for long distance races, it may be more beneficial
to start slower and build up the pace, otherwise known as doing negative splits. However, when
doing this, you dont typically want to see large spikes in the splits, but rather a very
gradual progression....which was the case here. By doing so, this may maximize aerobic
capacity and therefore her performance.
Now, another thing to point out is the consistency in her movement. When some people run hard,
like in a race, it is not uncommon to see people fatigue toward the end and have a different
running pattern when compared to the beginning of the race when they are fresh. In this race,
by looking at different sections of the race, you can see her consistency. She stays smooth
and strong throughout the entire race. She almost made this look too easy, especially
for a world record attempt. This speaks to not only her physical attributes, but also
her mental disicipline.
Next, lets dive a little deeper and look at specific parts of her running. One thing to
look at is her step rate or cadence, which is basically how many steps she can take in
a minute. Here, she is going at a rate of 180 steps per minute. This type of step rate
seems to be more commonly seen in elite distance runners. Now, remember, just because this
is the case, this does not mean that this is the best rate for any situation. This can
be largely individualistic and can depend on the situation. For example, if you are
running at a lower intensity pace, you may actually run at a step rate of around 160-170
steps per minute. Then, if you watch sprinters, they have much higher step rates that can
be around 300 steps per minute. Based on this, your preferred step rate may change depending
on the intensity as well as be affected by other factors, like terrain.
The next thing people may point out is her foot landing. Here she lands closer to the
heel area, which is known as a rearfoot strike. Now, some people consider this a bad thing,
but that is not necesarily true. As I mentioned in a previous video, no footstrike is inherently
bad as no research has consistently shown that one has a less likelihood of injury when
compared to the other. Rather, there may be a different array of injuries that may occur
on your preferred landing pattern over time. This may be due to the fact that the landing
pattern itself does not change the amount of force placed on the body, but rather distributes
it differently. In the case of rearfoot striking, less load is placed on the calf muscle complex
and more of it is around the knee when compared to a forefoot landing.
Next, lets briefly take a look at the front view. First, lets start at the top with the
arm swing. Here she presents with a pretty smooth and rhythmic arm swing. There does
not seem to be any abnormal assymetries between each side, which may clue into assymetries
in the legs. Next, lets move on the the hips during this midstance phase. Referencing one
of my previous videos in this phase, you can look to see if there is any excessive hip
dropping, which does not occur here. She seems to present with pretty good hip coordination
and control. Also, you can look at the knee position. Here, she does not really present
with any abnormal knee movement, with the knee staying pretty much in line with the
hips. Now, probably the more interesting thing to see here is the feet. Initially, this seems
pretty wild. It seems like there is a crazy amount of overpronation occuring at the foot
to make this happen. However, that may not be in the case. There is a similar incident
that occured with Joshua Cheptegei, but this picture is closer with more detail to see
what may be going on. Instead of the foot itself going into overpronation, it seems
like the foot is slipping to the side within the shoe. This is important to understand
as this is an example showing how the shoe can actually impact your visual assessment
of an athlete running. Now, I can go more indepth on shoes, but I will probably save
that for another time.
And thats all the time I have for this quick running analysis. Overall, Gidey is an incredible
athlete. She has already made some pretty big accomplishments in running and I am really
curious what she will continue to do! I hope you guys enjoyed the video! Let me know your
thoughts as well as any questions you may have. And as always, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!