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  • [dramatic music]

  • - This form right here is pretty extreme.

  • He is very technical but almost over the top.

  • His legs are coming up so high that it's too high.

  • You're working against yourself at this point.

  • Hey, GQ, I'm Allyson Felix, and this is The Breakdown.

  • [upbeat music]

  • First up, Forrest Gump.

  • [serene music]

  • So, right off, this is not what you

  • really want to be wearing when you're running.

  • It's gonna be restrictive.

  • This is actually, obviously, street clothes.

  • Anytime you're gonna run for a really long period of time,

  • you wanna make sure that your shoe is comfortable,

  • has the right amount of cushion,

  • the right amount of support and is pretty light.

  • - [Forrest] That day, for no particular reason,

  • I decided to go for a little run.

  • - So this is actually not horrible running technique.

  • His arms are actually swinging very nicely.

  • Good arm form, when you're sprinting is really pumping hard.

  • You're really have a nice swing going

  • and it's very frequent.

  • Typically, you can't hold that type of form

  • for much more than 400 meters.

  • It's unrealistic that he would be able to be going

  • for any real distance with that form.

  • It is a bit unique 'cause it looks like

  • his chest is really poked out forward.

  • And so, there's not really much of an angle.

  • Typically, when you're running at that speed,

  • you want to kind of be angled

  • and have some momentum going forward.

  • If you are trying to go as fast as possible,

  • you want to have a forward lean.

  • You're sprinting.

  • You really wanna be on the ball of your foot.

  • It's hard to be able to sustain that over time.

  • So if you're running for a longer distance,

  • more into the middle of your foot is fine.

  • You do want to get up as much as you can.

  • But realizing that you need to be in a comfortable position

  • to be able to handle the mileage that you're putting in.

  • - [Forrest] When I got there, I thought,

  • maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County.

  • - So at this point, the form has really broken down.

  • And you see his arms are flailing around.

  • That's typical when you're tired

  • and when you've been running for quite some time.

  • When you're really formed up and everything is perfect,

  • you're typically sprinting,

  • and you're not able to do that for a long period of time.

  • - So you just ran? - Yeah.

  • - This is really typical, I guess,

  • of what you would see of someone who's been running

  • for a really, really long distance and time.

  • You're in a more relaxed position

  • and your arms aren't really pumping very much.

  • You're just doing what you can to get by

  • and to be as efficient as possible.

  • He's got a nice cadence going,

  • a nice swing going and he's moving nicely.

  • Next up, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

  • [dramatic music]

  • This form right here is pretty extreme.

  • He is very technical, but almost over the top.

  • His legs are coming up so high that it's too high.

  • You're working against yourself at this point.

  • Everything is just over-exaggerated.

  • His arms are almost pumping too fast and too quickly

  • where it's counterproductive.

  • This is also very unrealistic.

  • You wouldn't be able to hold this speed

  • and this form for this long.

  • 100 meters, maybe 200 meters,

  • you could hold this type of speed,

  • but it would have completely broken down and fallen apart.

  • His head was extremely stable.

  • Everything seemed to be almost a bit exaggerated.

  • You can have some movement

  • but you just don't wanna be bobbling all over

  • because it's wasted energy.

  • So you really want to be efficient.

  • You really want to lock into a target

  • and really hold it there.

  • [tires squealing]

  • [horn honking]

  • Yeah, the conditions that he's running in are awful.

  • But you would not be able to keep up that speed,

  • that form with them, let alone, probably,

  • be able to see where you're going.

  • Weather definitely affects your running,

  • especially for sprinters.

  • The hotter the weather,

  • the better result you'll have.

  • It's easier for your muscles to warm up.

  • The longer distance you go,

  • athletes really like the cooler temperatures,

  • because you're really out in the elements,

  • you're feeling it more.

  • But I love running in the heat.

  • I love hot, humid weather.

  • For me, it just feels like

  • it's perfect conditions to run fast.

  • But everything affects running.

  • The wind, how much wind is at your back,

  • or if you're running into wind, if it's raining.

  • All these conditions, because we are competing outdoors,

  • it can all have an effect on your performance.

  • Typically, races don't get canceled

  • unless there is lightning, hard rain and powerful winds.

  • There might be a wind reading after the race.

  • And there are certain winds that are over the allowable

  • for record purposes or for times to count.

  • We run in rain, people have ran in snow.

  • It's just really, once it becomes dangerous

  • with lightning, where stuff is canceled.

  • [man speaking in a foreign language]

  • I'm really conscious of my breathing.

  • In sprints, it can be easy to hold your breath.

  • It's a really intense thing,

  • there are a lot of nerves going.

  • It can be easy to forget to breathe.

  • So just really being conscious that I'm taking

  • enough breaths and really getting that air in.

  • Next up, Race.

  • [crowd cheering]

  • [man speaking indistinctly over loudspeaker]

  • So, at this point, he's just entering the stadium,

  • really taking in that enormous crowd.

  • And all of those external circumstances

  • can definitely really affect performance, for sure.

  • It is incredible walking into an Olympic event.

  • I always recall the flashes of the lights from the cameras.

  • Pops and flashes everywhere.

  • It's a feeling like no other.

  • It's a stage like no other.

  • I always get nervous, really,

  • no matter how small or big the race is.

  • But on the Olympic stage,

  • there's no doubt that there's some butterflies.

  • It's all about channeling that energy in the correct way.

  • I like to visualize leading up to a race.

  • My coach definitely puts us through different exercises

  • and training and just switching things up

  • and dealing with outside circumstances and distractions.

  • Making sure that we're ready for any scenario.

  • And I think experience also just really helps

  • with that mental toughness.

  • [dramatic music]

  • He's actually digging into the ground.

  • This is a time period

  • where they didn't have starting blocks.

  • He's making little divots in the actual dirt

  • where he's running, to essentially make starting blocks,

  • something for his feet to be able to push off of

  • and to be able to get out.

  • Today, we don't have to worry about things like this.

  • But that's what he's doing,

  • is giving his feet something to be anchored on.

  • So you see here when they're starting

  • and they get in the starting position

  • and their head is completely focused forward.

  • This is actually not how you start.

  • So when you start, you want to have your head down.

  • You're not looking forward.

  • A lot of times you'll see this in film because

  • you can't see someone's face if it's completely down.

  • [crowd cheering]

  • For me, the start is always a challenge.

  • It's often that I don't get a good start.

  • I am strongest in the latter points of my races.

  • I'm always looking for that perfect start.

  • [crowd cheering]

  • His form is great.

  • It's very authentic to the way that Jesse Owens ran.

  • You can tell that the form was studied.

  • It's very much that classic way that he ran.

  • Obviously, it was a very effective and really great form.

  • In some of the distance races,

  • there is really that strategic planning.

  • Are you a front runner

  • or do you like to sit back and make your move at the end?

  • In the sprints that I participate in,

  • it's all about the entire race.

  • And so you really wanna jump on it from the front.

  • You want to get a good start.

  • You want to execute that and you want to all out sprint

  • and get to that finish line first.

  • You're not playing around with it.

  • You want to take it from the gun.

  • - [Announcer] Mariani hands off to Menchkap.

  • - Black Americans,

  • there's such a rich heritage in track and field.

  • I think about it all the time and just the representation.

  • When I go out there that

  • young girls and young boys are watching.

  • And whether they're inspired to run or to do whatever,

  • anything, I hope that they're inspired to be great at it.

  • I really feel like there are so many people

  • who have paved the way in order for me to have success

  • and for those after me.

  • It's a very rich history.

  • Next up, Get Out.

  • [dramatic music]

  • So first off, in this clip, we see it's pitch dark.

  • And that's challenge number one.

  • Running in the dark with no apparent lights around

  • would be really hard and really scary to me.

  • [dramatic music]

  • So far, the form is pretty good.

  • It's very powerful.

  • You see, the knees are really coming up high,

  • arms are really moving.

  • It's like a very quick sprint and it looks very intense.

  • It really depends on your leg length and the ratio

  • with your torso, but you want to have high knees.

  • So whatever's to a comfort level, but almost hip height.

  • If you can really get them up that high,

  • that's really gonna be most beneficial.

  • The turn is really unrealistic.

  • You couldn't be going at that speed

  • and make that sharp of a turn.

  • If you think about athletes running on a track,

  • it's a gradual turn, it's for a reason.

  • Your body cannot just maneuver in that way

  • without getting hurt or something happening.

  • So it's unrealistic, but looks pretty cool.

  • Next up, Rocky II.

  • [dramatic music]

  • I really love his form here.

  • It's very authentic to a runner

  • who's going to be running for some distance.

  • Obviously, he's a boxer.

  • And so he's out for a longer run.

  • I think it's like very suited for his body and very natural.

  • Here, you can see he starts to pick up speed

  • and he's jerking a little bit.

  • And that can happen sometimes when you go

  • from a slower speed into a sprint.

  • And especially after you've been running for a while.

  • So, technique is a little unstable.

  • But it makes sense for what's happening.

  • [dramatic music]

  • So he just took some hurdles over these benches.

  • And the first one was pretty,

  • it's a little sloppy, a little unstable.

  • But, actually, the second one looked okay.

  • I'm not a hurdle expert.

  • Yeah, he's getting over the barriers pretty good.

  • [dramatic music]

  • So now he's in a full-out sprint.

  • His legs look pretty good.

  • They're coming up high.

  • His arms are crossing over his body.

  • And so he's fighting himself.

  • He would be able to go a lot faster

  • if he had a forward motion with his arms

  • instead of fighting across himself.

  • But yeah, he's full out in a sprint at this point.

  • I run on pavement sometimes.

  • I try to do it as least as possible.

  • I try to stay away from anything that will flare up joints,

  • or shins, any of those problem areas.

  • So if I can run on a soft surface, like grass, it's great.

  • And then the majority of the time I'm on a track.

  • All right, that's it.

  • Thanks so much for watching these clips with me.

  • See ya next time.

  • [upbeat music]

[dramatic music]

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