Step Up! (eBook)

On your marks!

This is how every race up the Empire State Building started, followed by the deafening noise of the horn. What then ran for a good 10 minutes as an automatic program in body and mind was the result of thousands of hours of practice. It looks so easy on TV, but what’s behind it?

4.1Mindset and Attitude at Full Speed

It is different for every runner, but there are commonalities.

1. Think about the goal

If you know at the start what you are running for, you are ahead of the game. Whoever does not forget the goal in the meantime will reach the finish—and perhaps his own goal. Whoever is preoccupied with the aches and pains of the race, the imponderables of the ascent, and the difficulties of the external factors will lose concentration and therefore stop focusing on the finish and his own goal. Learn more about this in chapter 20 with instructions for and practical examples of practice.

2. Unconditionality

There are a thousand reasons to stop and give up in a tower run (and in everything in life). The question that arises:

•Why give up or continue?

It’s no different in the stairwell, and the question is loud and pressing.

•Why am I doing this to myself?

•Why didn’t I stay at home?

•Why?

There is hardly any escape from this endless circle of pointless questioning. Question after question, the energy is directed in a way that does not lead to the goal. That is why I have always answered this question in advance:

•Why? Because I have decided it.

•Why am I here? Because I have decided it.

•Why does it hurt so much? Because I am ready to give everything.

•Why am I not at home? Because I have made up my mind.

•Why am I doing this to myself? Because I’ve decided to do it.

•Why am I not running a little slower? Because I have chosen to do this. Because I have chosen this unconditionality.

It may sound a bit intense, but it has pulled my body and mind from the edge of collapse in many races. Why? Because that was my limit to which I ran. It was about testing limits, and the slogan dictated the pace: nothing is impossible.

At the time, there was no alternative to this strategy for me. Today I can offer you an alternative, because not everyone wants to maltreat their body and mind in order to to be a few seconds faster at the finish line. Besides, it is not possible for every brain to live with such an unconditional will. Learn more about this in chapter 19.

4.2View Direction

How the track looks, where the curve is, and where the railing is are all important elements for arriving quickly, successfully, and without injury at the finish on the observation platforms. It helps to focus exactly on the steps and the handrail at the beginning. After a few floors, it is ideal if you have internalized the rhythm of the stairs; look ahead and scan entire flights of stairs. One look just to make sure everything is okay, just like the last set of stairs. This saves focus power and allows you to concentrate on other things.

It’s best to keep your eyes straight ahead and to not hang your head. You can tell from the common saying that it’s good to keep your head upright. By looking ahead, you’ll be more powerful and light-footed on the steps.

Another trick is to look ahead at the turns or landings; direct your eyes toward the coming landing and your body will run toward this focus point. Visually fixing the steps and handrail at the point where you want to run helps you move forward.

4.3Stair Technique

Step by step towards the goal; anyone can and does run stairs. But anyone who has ever stood in front of 1,000 or more steps will soon be confronted with the question: How am I supposed to do that?

And the saying “Anyone can do it” is only of limited help; it is too superficial. Even if it seems trivial, running stairs is technically and coordinatively demanding and increases with increasing speed. The layman notices this when he wants to copy the professionals. There is a difference.

4.42-2 Technique for Winners

How many steps do you take per step? I have answered this question a thousand times. Take two is the worldwide credo for winning tower runs.

With 3–4 steps per second as the average speed, the ascent in the professional men’s field is too fast to touch every step. The frequency is too high for one to sustain it. This would be similar to riding in the Tour de France with a small chainring and the riders pedaling rapidly for hours like they are in spin class. That’s inefficient. The stair running version of a large chainring is two steps per step.

Few in the world run this technique for a complete race. Until 2009, the Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world, with 508 meters to the top, 390 meters in height, 2,046 steps, and 91 floors in the stair race. There it is usually only the winner who keeps up the two-step technique; the other 5,000 runners manage their techniques differently.

4.51-1 Technique

Each step is touched with a frequency as high as possible as you climb up the stairwell. When you try it, you will notice that this technique works well and easily. Also you will feel that it is a somewhat choppy movement, compared to the technique of taking two steps at a time.

With the 1-1 technique, you can still move forward very quickly, power out, and run toward your goals high up on buildings and towers. Because you need less maximum strength to do this, it’s the main technique for women in the tall buildings, whether you’re aiming for top ten finishes or are a leisure runner.

The downside to this is that it’s not quite a fluid movement, and the feeling of flying on an inclined plane does not occur. If you want that feeling, you can test the 2-2 technique on short sections and feel the difference and then apply the following 1-2 technique.

4.61-2 Technique

This is the combination of the two techniques. You start with two steps per step and later take each step separately, then go back to two steps per step. This way you can vary the effort and make it ideal for you. The muscles are stimulated in different ways, between a varied focus on speed and strength.

The change of technique has an additional coordinative component, especially for non-stair runners (e.g., from game sports). This is increased by changing the technique on each floor or even on each landing. The constant change of rhythm will be familiar to game athletes and provides an additional mental training stimulus.

4.7Weight Shift

The body automatically shifts the weight when it comes to the turns on the platforms. The upper body leans in toward the handrail and the turn is made more easily. In very narrow stairwells (e.g., in the Hotel Park Inn at Alexanderplatz in Berlin) mirrored movement is also possible. With outstretched arms and a slight shift of the body’s center of gravity toward the outer wall, you can easily push off the wall to make the turn. In addition to shifting your weight inward and outward, shifting your weight forward and backward is helpful on flat sections.

On the steps, most runners have a slight upper body forward lean (i.e., a small bend in the hips). This changes the workload ratio from the calf and core muscles toward greater use of the thigh muscles. On flat sections (e.g., when changing staircases or when you want to sprint away flat after the stairs at the top of the observation deck, helipad), you then need to shift your weight backwards, making your running style more upright and stretching your (lumbar) spine. This makes it easier for you to achieve longer stride lengths and run faster.

If you have a few meters or a few hundred meters of run-up to the first step, you should then reverse the posture sequence. Stay as upright as possible on the flat part and arrive at the steps with a feeling of: “I’m running into the stairs” and initiate a slight forward lean of the upper body.

4.8Foot Placement

The two questions I hear most often are:

•Where do you place your foot?

•How do you place your foot?

The answer here is what everyone will feel during the practical test: The fore/midfoot is the best option. Stepping onto a flat foot or the heel makes the running slow, sluggish, and heavy, because the preload in the foot is missing.

By taking a step up, you will notice the important role the calf muscles play in stair running. They generate the power that springs you upward from the ankle. This effect depends, of course, on the level of training, but try to experience and take advantage of this effect by placing your foot on the step and giving an upward impulse like a small spring.

The foot should be placed on the step from the top if possible. Pushing into the step does not make...