What a beautiful day for a running clinic! I showed up at Born To Run at my appointed time, but due to some DMV waiting issues (who hasn’t waited overly long hours at the DMV), Mac wasn’t there. We rescheduled for later that day, which worked out great b/c I got to eat a huge lunch since I was starving. One thing about training is that I get to eat a lot more 🙂
At the next appointed time we were both ready to go!
First, Mac recorded my current running gait. Yep, sure enough, I was still pointing my toes and making contact with the ground ahead of my hips. That’s probably where the strain on the ankles is originating – oh, but it gets even better!
According to Mac, when you run, you want to have your pelvis tucked under. Think of your pelvis as a bowl that holds water. When it is tilted forward, all the water pours out, but when you have it tucked under and level, all of the water stays in the bowl. Okay! Sounds great! Let’s do that!
*tucks under pelvis*
Yikes! My hip flexors are SUPER tight! Wow! When I try to take steps, my quads are super tight, too. Hmmm. Mac said that the best exercise for running is lunges since it strengthens running muscles and actively stretches them. I can’t do lunges. Melissa been trying forever to get me to do lunges. Okay. Enough with the negative attitude. I’ll try again, maybe.
He proceeded with a few tests to see where I was in terms of running posture, and we determined that in addition to the pelvis, I would work on quicker heel recovery and getting my knee and foot up at the same time in order to produce a more cycling-like motion.
Now, we started with the drills and practicing. One of the drills was simply marching in place – more of running in place, but with knees and feet coming up at the same time. This is to replicate how your knees and feet should be working when you run. After each drill, I would run 40 yards and turn around and run back. Mac would assess what I was doing and give me a new drill.
Another drill was a leaning from the ankles. A run is a controlled fall. So, you have to be able to lean from the ankles to create the fall. I have quite tight ankles and feet, which means I don’t really know what this would feel like. He told me to lean against a fence, pull up a knee with the foot in the position it would be during a run, and switch sides. Wow! My ankles were definitely letting me know that they were not cool with this one! However, I get what he’s talking about. Those stretches that Travis gave me now have an application! Yippee!!
Finally, we closed with Mac asking me to run while holding onto his forearm with my eyes closed. And I did. It was so phenomenal, scary and freeing all at the same time. I felt so light on my feet with my eyes closed, and I was able to navigate changes in the terrain just by feel. He said that when I closed my eyes, I immediately straightened up my body and shortened my stride. Wow. Just wow.
After this he asked me to run for 30 seconds and count the number of times my left leg made contact with the ground. 54 times. Multiply by two – to include the right leg, too. 108. Then, double again to get one minute – 216. What? I’m only supposed to be making 180 foot strikes per minute. I’m doing tons more work than I have to! Yay!
He then video taped me after just one hour of work, and I was tucking my pelvis more (Consequently, tucking my pelvis made me look more like a runner, to me, at least.). I still put my foot out a little more than I need to, but with practice I can get that under control by making my heel recovery faster.
Things to work on:
1. Keeping pelvis tucked.
2. Flexibility in my ankles.
3. 45 times my left foot strikes the ground in 30 seconds 🙂
Thanks, Mac! That was awesome! You not only gave me good running posture advice, but all of the tiny exercises/stretches I’ve been working on all this time have application. This one fact makes all the difference. Knowing why I have to do something actually makes me work much harder because I can see how it will impact my performance!!! LUNGES – here I come! – Maybe….
Tags: barefoot running, running