Whenever I run at larger events I always find it interesting to see the way other people run and how much it can vary from person to person. And whilst there are some traits that you might see more often in stronger or weaker runners, there are always people who surprise me by running faster or slower than their style suggested at first glance.
Can you describe your running style? What does it look like? Does it have any quirks or things that make it recognisable to others? Has it changed over time?
People have always told me my running is very jumpy and that it makes it very recognizable. To me it doesn’t feel jumpy, it just feels like running. It’s always been like this and I have never tried to change it.
Some watches or footpods will measure your vertical oscillation. Lower is better. The more energy you are spending lifting your body vertically, the less energy going into a horizontal speed.
If you want to run more efficiently, try running barefoot. Extra vertical oscillation would be painful without shoe cushioning and your body would adapt to a more efficient form. Then with shoes back on, try to mimic the barefoot form.
I already run barefoot occasionally and my running style doesn’t change and I have no pain when doing so. Well, actually my running mechanics does change but as a function of speed and not if I’m wearing running shoes or not. You’re wrongly assuming that “jumpy” means extra vertical oscillation. This is not necessarily the case. The ideal running form changes with speed and from athlete to athlete. Moreover we can talk about the most efficient way of running overall, which is very slow and with little vertical oscillation, or the most efficient way of running at a certain pace. These are very different questions. Also you probably shouldn’t diagnose poor running form on the internet based on such little information.
I have a feeling we actually agree on many things, but unsolicited advice especially based on unjustified assumptions just bothers me a little.