Running Drills For Triathletes: 7 Drills You Should Do Before, During, and After Your Runs To Improve Performance

There are many ways to incorporate running drills into your training. For most Triathlon programs, running drills are all thrown into the same bucket as something that is done at the beginning or end of a workout. At Purple Patch, we use specific exercises before, during, or after workouts to create maximum performance gains. Like tools in a toolbox, it is about knowing when to use each running drill.

Let’s Start Improving Your Performance:

1. Running Drills Before A Run

2. Running Drills During A Run

3. Running Drills After A Run

4. Free Running Drill Videos (CTA)

Running Drills For Triathletes To Do Before A Run

These running drills are all about getting you prepared for your run and should typically be performed after a dynamic warm-up or light jog.  

The key benefits of these drills when done before a run are:

--Priming the central nervous system

--Facilitating a full range of motion in the joints

--Priming the elastic response of the body’s connective tissues

--Improving muscle sequencing and communication

Lateral Shuffle

As it sounds, this is a simple shuffle pattern that works on engaging the lateral leg and glute muscles. Perform about 10 facing right, then return to where you started facing left, then repeat.

DO:

--Keep the feet and toes facing forward

--Drive through the trailing hip/leg/foot

DON’T:

--Let the feet cross

--Take long strides

High Knees

High knees are a standard running drill, but often performed with poor posture. The idea is to stay stable and supple in the upper body while driving the range of motion in the legs. For a warmup, this drill is less about the speed of the movement and more about keeping your core and spine engaged and tight with large hip flexion. Perform about 20 total, allowing your body to travel forward slightly. Turn around and repeat back to where you started.

DO:

--Keep a straight spine, tall chest

--Engage your core

--Drive the thighs to about parallel to the ground

DON’T:

--Bend your chest down like an abdominal crunch

--Try to get your knees as high as possible

Skipping Variations

There are many different skipping drills, but in a warmup, A-skips are most common.  These can be hard to master for some due to the coordination, but they are a great drill to promote precisely that--muscular coordination. The idea is to create relaxation and engagement phases while using the body’s elastic properties--essentially the rubberband-like ability to stretch and produce force. Perform about ten each leg, traveling forward, then turn around and return to where you started.

DO:

--Keep a steady rhythm 

--Engage your core

--Apply moderate force into the ground

DON’T:

--Be maximally explosive/forceful

--Lose your tall posture

Fast Feet

This running drill is all about moving fast while not moving fast forward. That means having light, quick steps in the feet but not running ahead. Visually think about being on the world's smallest bicycle, and your feet are quickly turning the pedals over at a cadence above 150 RPM. Your arms should be trying to move even faster than the feet to make the whole body connect.

DO:

--Use your arms to increase foot speed

--Keep your core engaged

--Keep a slight bend in the hips

DON’T:

--Drive the knees up

--Move forward quickly

Running Drills for Triathletes To Do During A Run

Some running drills can be incorporated during a run. These are typically a little more ballistic or powerful in nature.  

The key benefits of these drills when performed during a run:

--Waking up the muscles on longer and lower stress runs

--Improving engagement in the posterior chain

--Recreating near-perfect running form without stressing the body

Grass Strides

These running drills can be great for ‘waking up’ the muscles during a run. They should be performed on a soft but reactive surface, usually grass. The key is to ramp up, then down in a controlled manner just a few times during the run. These are not hard efforts, but rather they are times when you can re-focus on near-perfect running while cycling up, then down in your gears. They should last no more than about 10 steps in total, and have plenty of recovery between them.

DO:

--Increase your stride length

--Accelerate and decelerate through the stride

--Drive off the foot through the big toe

DON’T:

--Sprint

--Go above 85% effort

--Run for time

Hill-based Strides/Bounding

These running drills are a staple in Purple Patch and are generally performed on an incline. Find a moderate hill or incline during a long, easy run and take about 10-15 seconds of hard (not max) strides of perfect form up the hill. You are looking for posterior chain engagement and large hip extension.  

DO:

--Engage your core

--Pump the arms back

--Drive through the hips

--Drive the ground away behind you

DON’T:

--Use them as a stand-alone plyometric exercise

--Do them with maximal effort

--Try to cover a lot of distance each bound

Running Drills for Triathletes To Do After A Run

The focus is to keep the joint range of motion up (long runs can cause a limited range of motion to be ingrained). They also remind the body of perfect posture while fatigued after the end of a run.  

The key benefits of these running drills performed after a run:

--Waking up the muscles after longer and lower stress runs

--Improving engagement in the posterior chain

--Recreating near-perfect running form with good focus

Grass Strides

Perform these drills on a soft but reactive surface. Ideally, you perform these drills with bare feet. The idea is to train the spring-like properties of the body in a safe and controlled manner. Accelerate up to about 80% effort, then back down in a very controlled way. Let your stride naturally open up a little longer in the beginning and end of each stride. Perform each stride for about 10-15 seconds, with 30 seconds of walking in between. 

DO:

--Extend through the hips

--Go barefoot

--Engage your core

--Let your stride lengthen

DON’T:

--Travel up and down--only forward

--Sprint

--Decelerate rapidly

Running drills can be incorporated into your training at different times to create different outcomes. The key is to utilize them when and how they can provide the most value. Use these tips to integrate proper running drills into your next run workout. Who knows, you may just get a little faster.