Platonic Form or Running Form?

Recently read Three Running Tips to Make You Faster by David Roche, Trail Runner Online, July 21, 2015. The next day, in the middle of my run, I decided to try out tip #2 “Engage Your Glutes.”

I remembered something about holding a quarter between your butt cheeks. So I gave it a try. The first thing I noticed was that my toes turned out. I knew that wasn’t good form, so I backed off a little. Better. I had a nice, neutral pronation. But that wasn’t the point. I was supposed to engage my gluts. All I felt was uncomfortable, like I has slight constipation. 

After the run I pulled the article back up and read what I had missed: “Don’t clench.” Precisely what I’d done. “Relax your hips and allow your glutes to stay together.” I’d been the opposite of relaxed. I read on to the next paragraph, where Roche writes, “while standing, relax your hips and feel your glutes engage. Your hips should move forward slightly and you may feel your spine straighten.” 

I tried that, and immediately noticed a difference in the placement of my hips. And it did feel relaxed. The next day, instead of clinching my cheeks while running, before running, I practiced that relaxed hip posture. When I started running, I noticed a difference immediately. I stopped occasionally during that run and made sure my hips were where I wanted them. Even so, I managed to knock twenty second off a mile for the same effort. 

Slightly more effort breathing. Not sure why. I finally noticed that I had allowed my spine to curve in, just enough that it was pressing against my lungs and cutting into my breath. I consciously straightened my spine and my breathing became more relaxed, even at an increased pace. 

I’ve noticed in the past that whenever I make a change to form, no matter how small, it results in unexpected changes. I look forward to seeing the results of this change.  

Is there are Platonic lesson to be learned here? I guess we could look at Plato's idea of forms, that what we see is just the appearance of the real, that there is somewhere a perfect form. The perfect runner or the perfect form? I know that I am neither a perfect runner, not have perfect form. In fact, I know that every time I read advice about form, I need to test it to make sure it works for this imperfect body.