Posts Tagged ‘running form’

In the past, when I tried to change my heelstriking ways, I’d focus on my feet, aiming for a flatter landing.  After a while, I’d assume I had it all figured out until a photo would show me otherwise.  I suspect this false response happens because:  A) heel cushioning in shoes and  B) our heels only touch down for an instant, the rest of your foot is what grabs the road and pushes you forward.

For being a heelstriker, I never felt like I landed on my heels.  No wonder I couldn’t fix it…I couldn’t identify the problem to begin with, so eventually I gave up trying.

This time, however, I really feel the difference.  It’s been 3 days of running this new way, with only occasional switches to the old way as confirmation.  The old way now feels like I’m attached to a  Nordic Track – it’s that different.

Even more telling is the sticky area behind my knees.  My feet are rising higher towards my butt so my calves are touching my hamstrings.  This is also new and different.

Not Just Legs
Recently, I read a post on Letsrun about armswing that struck me as sensible and confirmed what I’d read before, that the forward swing is merely a recovery stroke and the backswing is what helps with momentum.  I lack a good backswing, never sending my elbow as far back as “real” runners do.

So in the last couple weeks, I’ve occasionally been visualizing a rope around my waist with 6″ hanging off each side, that I hold onto.  This keeps my arms from swinging too far in front while giving more play behind.  But most importantly, it opens my chest, which in turn affects the posture I’ve been trying to fix with core work, which is further affected by correcting the overstriding.  Nothing is isolated in this, it’s all working together!

Yesterday, I had a speed session in which I focused on form from start to finish.  It went well:  same as last week (9.25 mi with 6x.5 mi w/90sec rec’s) averaged 3:20s though it was hotter and way crappier dewpoint than last time, so I was pleased.  Concentrating solidly on form made the session go by pretty quickly, but I didn’t use the rope/arm visual because running fast naturally brings those arms up higher than a pretend 6″ of rope allows.

However, I did find something interesting in relation to arms with the new stride change:  You know that our arms coordinate with our strides naturally.  Now that my landing feels behind my body rather than in front, my arms naturally want to go back farther to match the legs.  So, the same way you can pump your arms harder to go faster, I was messing around with opening my backswing to lengthen the stride behind me.  I may be reading too much into this connection, but it has entertainment value.  More experimentation to come.

Video of Heel vs. Midfoot Before/After
This isn’t me but it might as well be – I recognize myself in the left frame completely.  An interesting thing to notice is the difference in ground contact time just as I’d described in the last post.  It’s clearly less in the right frame than in the left.  That’s my goal…less skiing, more flying.

As you guys know, I’m always trying to improve my running form, or at least, I go through periods where I pay concerted effort to certain things that bother me, usually after I see a new ugly race photo.  Right now, the core work I’m doing is paying off – it seems like the corrections I make on my back while running are less A to Z, and now more like A to J.  Getting closer anyway.

One thing that has always bugged me about the way I run is my gait, which I used to call my heel-striking, but to be honest, the heel strike itself isn’t the concern anymore, since many an Elite heel strikes and I don’t get any injuries from doing it.  What does bother me greatly though, is this:

That straight leg is an constant irritation though I’ve tried a few methods to keep it from happening, like cadence training (maybe because I’m short, I can go 180 bpm and still have that stupid leg) or trying to run forefoot or at least more midfoot, but that’s something you can easily think you’re doing without actually succeeding.

This morning, however, I read a few things in a fantastic blog called The Science of Running that made me think about the issue in a different light.  Specifically, in one article where he talks about running form and a cue to running more forefoot is to think of striking behind you.  Another article had something fascinating about pawback, talking about the difference in how long a heel-striker’s foot will stay on the ground and that you really don’t want any pawback (I’d never heard it put this way).  You want the leg to come down, touch and go again.

So I took it to the road this morning and discovered that these two ideas are a powerful combination and  could be the key to me finally getting the gait I dream of, or least tamp down my current one.

I started with the idea of striking behind my body, which was major.  That combined with the upright core was a new and different feeling, like I was running on hot coals, very quick and light.  To contrast, I ran my usual way and boy, drag city!

I never realized how much ground time I have per step with my usual running gait.  The feeling I got when reverting to the “normal” way, was that I was pulling myself forward or hoisting myself  along a rope (land, pull, land, pull), whereas when I ran focusing on my feet behind me and no pawback, it was a thoroughly more vertical feeling, almost like Pose technique looks.  Very exciting!  This just might be the answer to my noob gait.

Doodads

Weekend running catchup – nothing wild, easy 9 and 13, bringing the week to 59.5 (I took Tuesday off).

Good stuff on the financial front!  Got picked for 2 new medical voiceover projects (which means a few sessions each) and today I did a commercial in the morning and am on my way now to a medical VO…love those doubles.  Plus, Google is finally giving some of my money sites some love, so that’s picking up too. I’m in a good mood today!

When it comes to running form, bad race photos tell all.  I’m grudgingly grateful for the information they provide, despite the cringe fest.

As a lifelong sloucher, the pushups & chinups I’ve been doing this past year have helped quite a bit, but I still tend to fold at the middle when running.  It varies by degree and might not even occur when I’m fresh, but it’s there in most of my race photos.  I’ve read enough articles and books on running form to know that slouching isn’t just ugly, it inhibits your breathing and distributes weight where it shouldn’t be, which in turn affects your speed and endurance.  Major bad stuff.

To fight it, sometimes while running I make a point to pull my shoulders back and straighten my spine but that tends to tire me out since I lack the basic strength to hold it there. So when I mentioned in the last post how I wished my back was as straight as the Up With People guy (or anyone I’m ever photographed running next to, for that matter) Ewen made a smart comment that it’s not my back so much as a bent core.   Uh…wow, lightbulb moment.

I’ll be honest, I never do core work because my abs look good and I figured core work was all about doing sit-ups.  Instead, I’ve always blamed my bad form on my upper back and shoulders.  But the more I look at all the Boston race photos, I realize I had it wrong, it’s not the top of my body at fault, it’s a weak middle letting the upper body fall forward.

This is a very cool discovery because it’s fixable and the payoff in running improvement could potentially be big.  As for my plan of action, Jim led me to a great article with some simple core exercises for runners from Greg McMillan that takes only 15 minutes 3 times a week.  Totally my speed.

I figure by Fall, I should be in excellent fighting shape with yet another solid training cycle under my belt and a more upright form to go with it.  Sure, I will still despise bad race photos and am guaranteed to have many more in the future, but for now, the bad ones are worth their weight in gold.

Last night I went to that Running Clinic I mentioned a couple posts ago, where they videotape you so you can get form pointers from a coach – albeit a Tri and certified Pose coach.

Now, back when I started running and was sucking up anything I could about running form, I spent a few days checking out the Pose site, so I’m well acquainted with the method.  The Pose site has a good collection of videos along with an active forum so there’s lots to see, but after lurking a bit, I realized it wasn’t for me:  the method makes running too complicated and after seeing how many people (overwhelmingly young and male) send in their video submissions to be critiqued, only to be told to go back to the drawing board, seemed to me to be a waste of time.  I just wanna run.

Since the clinic was held by a Pose coach, I knew there’d be some Pose talk but figured it’d be worth it for the video. My imaginings were that we’d all go outside and be taped from the side and front, then would discuss the findings in detail.

The reality was that we were instructed to run through the middle of the Physical Therapy office, a carpeted area of about 20 feet, where we were shot once from the side.  I, along with everyone who attended, wore running clothes though I might as well have had on a cocktail dress since we only ran from the front desk to the weight machine.

After we’d done our “run”, the clinic began.  The first half was spent on watching a useless PowerPoint presentation talking 100% about Pose and peppered with some meaningless running quotes and ideas that didn’t go anywhere.  It seriously sucked.

Finally we get to the videos.  The first one comes on.  We see the first of our group on the screen, running earnestly through the PT office, head totally down, staring at the floor.  Apparently head position is not related to running form because it didn’t get a single mention.  Fists at shoulders didn’t rate any notice either, nor arms crossing centerline.

It was purely and only about how our feet were in relation to Pose.  Stupidest waste of time ever.  He’d stop the tape for each of us as soon as we hit “Pose” (mid-stance) and then would tell us how Not Pose the rest of the steps were.

Oh, and one of my readers, Joe will especially love this, because he’s got a great post going now about heel-striking.  Basically, the coach said almost all of use were heel-striking, and then he’d stop the tape before the landing to exclaim about our crappy foot position.  Eventually it was like in Borat, when Sacha Baron Cohen had the bar full of people sing “Throw The Jew Down The Well” – only it was people going “heel striking” and then the coach would accompany it with the word “BAM”.

The problem is, heel landings aren’t necessarily bad, overstriding is (which was not mentioned once).  And many of the heel-landings were actually midfoot when the shoe actually hit the carpet.  That’s why I was pleased with my little scene, I saw I wasn’t overreaching as I expected and my landing looked pretty good (I got the first “this is almost pose” comment, though received a BAM, so that means I’m a loser).

Anyway, the clinic resulted in a great workout…for my eyes, I rolled them from 6:30 to 8:15.

On a happy note, I got to sit and chat with my running friend from the park, Christine (who got the dubious kudos of being “closest to Pose” out of everyone).  We haven’t done much more than wave at each other in passing, so it was fun getting to know her a bit better and she was very nice about letting me snicker in her direction.

And now I better get my ass moving -  it’s 8:20 and already 82 degrees with a killer dewpoint of 74 and I’ve got a 12-mile progression run to do “last 5 miles moderate” (as per Hudson).  With that dewpoint, it’ll be “last 5 miles miserable”, for sure.

Have a good day everyone and may you all celebrate that millisecond where you happen to find yourself in Pose.  Now that’s running.

Kicking it in, eyes on the finish line.

Some race observations:

I’m at the start, standing by these two women, when I overhear them talking about the weather so I butt in and ask how it will change their race.  One of them (who won #1 in my AG with a 19:43) tells me to expect 30sec. to 1-min slowdown.   Then I asked do you start with that in mind or does your body tell you what to do, they said, “oh, your body will set the pace.”  I already expected a slowdown but hearing it could be 1 whole minute freaked me out some.   At that point, I had no idea what to expect but knew I was going to start about 10 seconds slower than originally planned.

At about 1.5 miles in, I end up by some guy who says, “Mind if I hang off you?”  I said “sure”, but then in 3 more steps I was already ahead of him and gone.  That’s when I realized I was passing people en masse.

Looking at my splits, I see my 2nd mile was 10 seconds slower but for no real reason, there weren’t any hills to speak of.  I think that was a mixture of me being afraid of pushing in case I died a premature hot death and what’s turning into my usual 2nd mile silliness where I tend to lose attention and get whiney.

But the kicker was my HR (I wore the strap but had the info hidden so I had no idea what it was through the race).  It was low. Lower than the 3mile tempo I’d done the week before at 10k pace.  I averaged 86%HRR, maxed at 92.  This is mildly disturbing to me, because if anything, it should have averaged in the 90s, either because of the heat or the 5K effort, not to mention both.  A RW forumite, Amuse, whose opinions I respect completely, thinks it’s because heat and humidity don’t allow you to get up to optimal racing intensity, which sounds sensible, though the previous week’s tempo does leave a question mark.

I’m finally understanding that HR info is almost ethereal in that there’s no tried and trueness to it.  I still find it incredibly useful, but realize there is no magic key that will tell me when A happens, B will result.  I can live with that.

Nick gets laid:

Nick said something later that afternoon that was so hot, I had to do him.  He said, “Your gait, or whatever you call it, has changed a lot since the last time I saw you race.  You’re not hunched over like you used to be.”  YES, YES, YEEEESSSS!!  As someone who’s had crappy posture forever, running or otherwise, all the pushups and chinups these past months have made quick work of straightening me up.  The last time he saw me race was December, so this was music to my ears.

My form in general has changed a lot without me realizing it (though the heelstrike looks here to stay).  I used to wonder why some runners barely move their arms, it looks weird to me, but apparently I am one of them now.  In looking at the photos he took, I see my arms don’t have much of a swing, which is fine and dandy – as long as I’m getting faster, I don’t care what they do.  One thing I did notice on today’s run though, is that they are definitely driving from the elbows which is what the books and coaches say to do, but that I could never manage to integrate purposely.  It’s cool to find this happens naturally now.

Beyond the race:

Yesterday was a lovely 9-miler, then today was a not-so-lovely 11.3.  I started out planning to run 9 but it was cool and beautiful (light rain) so I made my turnaround at 6 to make it 12.  With 4 miles to go I got this weird pain in my leg which I ran through, but eventually had to stretch.  Finally, I ended up walking the last .75.  I’ve walked home maybe 4 times ever.  It feels fine now though, so hopefully it was just a ghost.  My shoes are at 340 miles, so maybe that didn’t help, either.

My business dilemma/hell:

And now, the real pain in my ass, which I haven’t mentioned on here though it’s been a dark cloud for over a month.  Cafepress, the company I use to make and send my t-shirts, is changing something in their business model which screws all us shopkeepers out of $ starting June 1st.  I’ve been paralyzed to do anything about it because it takes forever to create products, which I’ll have to do all over again with another fulfillment company.

So I’ve been freaking out how to handle it, where to start, whether the running shirts or music shirts or scuba, etc.  After going back and forth about the best way to proceed, I finally started recreating some products last week, but I hate it, I can’t stand redoing old projects and this is sheer drudgery that’ll take weeks to complete.

On the other hand, I’ve been terrible with business this whole year, spending my every thought on running and letting all my websites languish – so in a way, this has blessing properties, as it’s making a return to creativity very inviting, at least as an alternative to this shit work.  I might just leave a lot of designs on Cafepress and concentrate on new stuff, but it’s just a mess since pricing structures will be different for each company.  Aargh!  There’s really no good answer to it at all.

If there is a silver lining, it’s that the new company offers wicking shirts, so I can finally sell running shirts that runners can actually run in.  Woohoo, what a concept.

And that concludes this epic post.  I need peanut butter.

…when Jesus Guy is back on his bench. Same two pictures, too.

You also know it’s summer when I either set my alarm or have Nick wake me to get out early enough before the sun’s in full force. Speaking as a spoiled, self-employed individual, it’s a testament to my obsession that I’d voluntarily set an alarm clock for anything, much less running.

It was worth the early rising today, had a great run – 8 w/6@tempo. I usually do 4-mile tempos with the occasional 5, but since Broad St. is almost here, I figured 6 would be the smarter choice. I was sweating like a pig but didn’t even whine once in my head about wishing I could stop early.

Worked on keeping my feet beneath my hips again, feel like I’m getting the hang of it, too, at least that’s what I gathered from seeing my reflection in parked cars (wish they’d give more than a nanosecond’s view).

Funny thing is, I started looking at more of the pics from the 5K and at one point where the first guys/gals are coming in after the turnaround, several of them are overstriding! I figured that was relegated to the less speedy, but I guess it’s a free nation as far as heel-striking/overstriding is concerned. At least I’m in good company.