Will it work?!


I'm not gonna lie .... there have been a few occasions in the past three months when I've thought "I wonder if this gait change really will make me faster." 


Actually, that is a lie.  What I actually thought, was: "...will this gait change actually make me SLOWER?"!!


My goal, as I explained in the first entry (second sentence!) of this blog, was that "I hope this will lead to an improvement in performance."  That improvement in performance, as I progress from late 40s to early 50s, is probably not so much about getting faster, as not slowing down.  Aside from the incredibly talented (and dedicated) David Heath, my 800m times over the last couple of years would give me a comfortable national medal and possibly European. 


But there is a risk that my old gait worked for me, and I'd spent 7 years perfecting it, and strengthening the muscles that drove it.  Now I'm starting again - will there be another 7 years before I've fully honed this new gait?  It's possible.


Nothing, however, will weaken my resolve.  I'm hooked on this new gait, it feels much smoother, I love running in shoes that weigh 1/3 of what my old shoes weighed, and being completely vain, I know that I look more like Mr Farrah than Mr Bean!


There's a bit of me that wants to fast forward to the end of this film to see how it ends.  I won't truly know until the summer of 2017.  Next summer (2016) will not be a true test, because I'm not hitting enough mileage this winter.  This time next year, winter 2016/17, I will be back up to the 80km/50miles per week, so summer 2017 is judgement day.

"Treat it as if you are starting a new sport."  One of the most important lines in the whole book, in my opinion. Page 40

So, put yourself in the shoes of someone who really is running for the first time. You started running just 3 months ago.  You've got up to 20 mins at a steady pace, you ache a bit sometimes, you feel it the next morning! But you're pretty chuffed with how you're getting on, if truth be told. 

So when I got carried away, distracted by club mates (!) last week, and ran for 45 minutes, I pressed stop on my watch with a bit of a grimace.  And sure enough, I ached for two or three days afterwards. 

Just like a beginner would if she or he were to do the same.

This really is like starting a new sport.  But, like learning any new sport, it's fascinating and exciting!

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!!

Breakthrough ... albeit a small one!!

This mornings run marks the 7th in 7 days.  All of them 20 mins or less.  All of them at an easy pace.

This was in marked difference to the previous 10 to 12 weeks, where I had been running every two or three days, but trying to make up for the gaps by running harder or longer than I should have.

So, this week was like calming things down, taking advantage of the things I'd learned (consciously and subconsciously), and really concentrating on landing under the hips.

And the last 2 or three days really feel like I've cracked it.  Everything is going very smoothly.  And all the aches and pains have gone (aches and pains brought on by trying to run too hard using muscles that just weren't ready for it yet).

So, more of the same next week.  And the week after. And the week after.  In fact I think I'll keep going - easy short and frequent - for the month of November, perhaps letting myself go for up to 30 mins by the end of the month.  But certainly no speed work or tempo runs for now!

Very happy

Coldplay sang

"Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start"

Some days that's how I feel.

I found, even at week 12, I had so many little niggles and aches, I just wondered if it's worth it.

The Book says "think of this as taking up a new sport".  Well, does that mean I need to put in another 10,000 hours (10 years) to perfect it?  Of course not, but sometimes it feels like it!

It's all my fault.  A bit like a recovering addict, I've fallen off the wagon a few times, and every time I do, it feels like starting from the start.  The falls, in my case, have been that one session, or that parkrun, or that race, where I've thought "oh, I'll just test myself" or "I must be ready by now".  But I haven't been, and I'm left feeling like a bag of spanners.

The latest lapse was a parkrun, 9 days ago (19 mins).  I pushed hard in the second half because I felt good.  But it left me with aches in the feet, ankles, legs and hips for at least 5 days. 

However, Everything's Not Lost (last track, Parachutes)!!

I took 4 days off running, completely, and all the niggles have gone, save the subtlest of what feels like bruising under the heels.  I'm walking down stairs looking straight ahead, not looking like a crab.  I ran Eastleigh parkrun (grassy, hilly, 5km) on Saturday in bare feet (24 mins).  I waited all afternoon for the pain to kick in, but it never came.  I ran off road today in Merrell Gloves, and it felt great.

So this is my promise to me:  No more speed of any kind, until the muscles, tendons, and ligaments are ready to take it. 

But I do want to acknowledge that I've been at this for 12+ weeks now.  So I am going to start running every day, strictly 20 mins max (more likely 15 mins), at a very steady pace.  Off road where possible.  I'll listen to my body, and at the first sign of a niggle, take the day off.

I will behave!

I had an email from Keith (thanks Keith!).  12 weeks in, Keith gave me these balancing exercises to try.  Keith's exercise in blue, my results in black, below.

KEITH: A couple of ideas to experiment with. You only need to get the balance right now. And possibly experiment with the cadence to find what's comfortable.

 

KEITH: (a) Run along and feel the heels landing in front of you for 4 or 5 landings (heel strike)  (b)now switch and feel the toes landing way behind you for 4 or 5 landings (c) now try for a whole-foot landing - so you have decelerated, accelerated, gone at constant speed. Repeat a few times with the feet going less in front and less behind until you can subtly feel yourself precisely balancing

MY RESULT: The deliberate extending brought back memories of a heel striking past!  As you would expect, brought about a deceleration.
Then switching to toe landing, behind the hips brought about scuffing of the shoes upon landing, but apart from that, did not feel that unnatural. Moving the landing so far back also required some leaning forward with the hips, but I could start to feel what you mean by balance.
Bringing the feet back under the hips felt comfortable. And then I was able to move slightly back and forward with the landing, and interestingly, I think that the balance point is possibly a few millimetres behind where I have been landing the past few weeks. But we're talking millimetres here!!

KEITH: While running raise the back heel slightly and feel an acceleration. then raise the back heel less and feel the deceleration. This too is a balancing exercise.

MY RESULT: I was raising the heel, then dropping the heel, to feel the acceleration and deceleration. I could easily feel the effects here! I know you're not suggesting that the runner raises heels to accelerate, rather that the runner leans forward from the hips. But it was interesting nonetheless. Again, the balance point was clear. I think I'd already had a go at this one, without realising, because of when I was filming at the track on Friday, a the UK National Jumps Coach (happened to be at the track) pointed out that he thought I was raising the heel too much - he was right - I was accentuating the movement for the camera!

KEITH: Wile running fast start lifting the knees slightly you should feel a deceleration - now stop lifting them - this too is a balancing exercise.

MY RESULT: Not as successful as the other two experiments, but I ache a bit today so never quite got up to what you or I might call "fast"! But I did notice that it brought on what you might call "prancing". And also the deceleration you talk of.

A couple more videos, 

Here are a couple of drills from the book.  At the start of each drill (and mid-run sometimes too) I like to raise my arms to check my posture.  One of the best bits of advice from the book is to simulate reaching up as high as possible.  You'll see this at the start of each drill.

In this clip are a mixture of drills, particularly "Keith's Game Changer"
In the first clip, I experiment with the bum flicks, leaning forward, standing upright, leaning forward once more.
The second is more of the same
The third is some high knees
https://youtu.be/HmcBYOcr9Og


In this video, I take a trip down memory lane, and demonstrate how not to do it, in shoes you shouldn't be wearing!
https://youtu.be/-b9Kc5zz9rc