During the winter, I used my training sessions to focus on correcting bad habits.

In cycling, I concentrated on developing a round, full pedal stroke, which includes not only a push at the front, but a pull at the back. A member of my race team complimented my pedal stroke at a training race about a month ago, so I knew I had made some progress.

While running, I focused on where my foot falls and on keeping good posture. You should try to minimally contact the ground and put more emphasis on landing on the forefoot; this reduces probability of overuse injury. I also had the bad habit of slouching when I'm very tired, which reduces off my ability to breathe deeply. I still do that sometimes, but looking at recent race photos, I can tell that I have greatly improved.

At the race on Saturday, I noticed that several runners were slapping their feet down on the pavement, making a lot of noise. It's not efficient, and it causes injury. Efficient running entails looking (and sounding) effortless. The best runners look as if they are gliding through the air.

One thing I like about running is that I can tell if someone is being taxed at their maximum capacity by the sound of their breathing. I passed a few runners during the race who sounded like they were about to hack up a lung. In that state, my competitors would not be able to catch up with me. It sounds like torture, in my opinion, to be at max HR, suffocating, for distances over five kilometers. It's better to start out at a comfortable pace, then increase pace until the end of the race. Once I started running negative splits, it became second nature to me. However, I still have some room for improvement in longer distance races.