Wednesday 18 November 2015

You should take this, the longest gap between posts, as Good News!


This means that things are going very well in the world of smooth, floating, under-hip landing running. 


My strategy of strictly restricting runs to 20 to 25 mins, at no faster than 4:30/km (ish), but increasing frequency to every day, has really paid off.  I feel that the new posture is becoming automatic.  And this is giving me the opportunity to get the feel for micro-adjustments.  For example the balancing-exercises that Keith suggested two weeks ago (heels higher/lower, knee lift) and also concentrating on relaxing shoulders.


In fact, the only part of my body that aches now is my neck!  Clearly I'm consciously and artificially holding it back, or trying to pull my shoulders back, or something - probably in the quest for getting the head, hips, and landing-foot in alignment.  So I'm now working on relaxing the shoulders, letting them drop, and thinking more about not bending forward at the waist.


I'll let you know if it works!


Oh, and I won't pretend that I'm not just a little bit excited that Keith and Heidi are working on the second edition of the book as we speak!!

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the update, David - fascinating reading.

    I'm some considerable distance behind you on this exciting journey, but have started to enjoy some exhilarating moments of 'flow' - bowling along comfortably at speed and feeling great afterwards. Am confident that, if I keep up the practice and drills, I'll be able to hold that good form and feeling for longer.

    Also looking forward to the second edition.

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    1. Yeah, I feel that, at this relatively early stage, we've been shown how good things could (will) be when this becomes the embedded style. Now there's a year or two of work to embed it. Like Keith says, "think of it like a new sport", and as Matthew Sayed says, there's now 10,000 hours required to perfect it!

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  2. Very pleasing to hear & following closely and have actually been tweaking the text and some illustrations based on your experiences. Neck ache - that's weird - probably because for years you have had the head forward to balance the legs in front. Might be worth consulting a good physio to start to rectify that - I expect it's a body adjustment to the better-balanced running. There might be some specific exercises for you :-)

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    1. I read an article the other day that said the facia (is that the right spelling?!) is like a sweater/jumper ... if you pull it in one place, then there will be tension somewhere else. Anyway, not too worried about it, just an adjustment thing..

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  3. David - re speed control - I suggest running by feel and letting the speed be whatever happens. So just go for good form and keep the effort level under control - as you become more precise and stronger then the speed will increase for the same effort :-) Restricting the speed artificially might affect your form :-)

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    1. Good point - thanks! I was considering leaving the watch at home for 3 months, but I'm afraid I'm a slave to Strava. I know I have the discipline to ignore it, so I shall just run to feel. In fact I haven't worn a watch in a race (800m of course, but even 5km) for a few years now, so I'm quite comfortable with this concept. Cheers

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  4. I'm enjoying the Blog David,keep it coming. I am also on the OyF journey.You would not believe how much stick I have been given by family and friends for wanting and trying to improve/change my running technique.

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    1. Ha ha! yes! They don't understand our passion, do they!! Case in point: the comments I get for running barefoot are priceless! Either from track athlete friends who think it's some new-age earth mother type thing (interestingly, the older athletes and coaches remember when it was much more the norm to train / race barefoot - it's the youngsters who react more), or from the parkrun community (who I can hear gasp as I lap them!). But none of it is malicious, so easily channelled into positive energy! Thanks for your comments, good motivation to keep it coming.

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