Thursday 17 September 2015


4th Sep 2015


Another warm Friday lunch time session in the park - bliss!!

 

I introduced one new thing today - my first run in the Merrell Glove with the vibram sole.

 

I've noticed (and blogged) that it takes quite a bit longer to warm up to the new style of running.

In the bad old days (ie last week) when wearing heavy padded shoes, I could be out the door and up to a decent pace within 500 metres.

But with the hips forward style it can take pretty much 2km

I noticed last week that Keith talks about this in his book.  But he does say that without shoes warm up is sooner.

I really don't get that floating feeling at all in the first mile.  In fact far from it. [Edit: three months later, I still don't]

 

At the park, I did about 8 "Keith game changer" exercises, bare foot, moving into a run of about 80 meters.  The last 6 or 7 reps were at the highest cadence I could manage

I concentrated on trying to feel if I was slipping back or forward during landing and take off, and in fact you can make small adjustments that mean you can feel it, and also small adjustments that mean it FEELS like you're making a perfect landing and take off.

 

After those reps I tried Heidi's "toe fist" exercise, and got cramp in the left foot!

 

Then I put the shoes back on and ran the 1 mile home.  Wow.  Talk about floating.  Now warmed up, the same route home felt like a different running altogether.

3 comments:

  1. Foot exercises. don't hold for more than a few seconds :-)

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  2. Hi David, Keith and I are loving your blog. Roll out your feet for several minutes with a hard spiky ball before and after your run. This releases your foot, ankle and calf muscle. Don't try the foot exercises mid run. They are strenuous ballet poses, designed to strengthen your feet. Do it as a separate session. Cheers, Heidi

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    Replies
    1. With experience, I can now say that the spiked ball is "Heidi's game changer"!! I know you didn't invent it, but thanks to your highlighting it, the spiked ball has turned into the one piece of kit that I could never live without! Thanks so much!

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