This morning was my 3 month review appointment to analyse how I am getting on implementing the technique. I was apprehensive about going, but not as daunted as I was the first time! My main concern was that I wouldn't have modified my running style at all, and would still be sporting all the same bad habits.
We headed back to the same park we visited the first time and did warm up exercises and gentle jogging, before she videoed me running. I still felt incredibly self-conscious especially as there were several families playing in the area at the time, as well as having to dodge the remains of snowmen ( I'm assuming these great mounds of snow, were headless snowmen!). Once she had videoed me she asked if there was any areas of my running i wasn't comfortable with, to which I said "Running downhill". I feel fairly comfortable running up hills, but when it comes to running down I seem to put the anchors down and my pace drops to a snails pace. This always irritates me as I see this as being the main area in my running that I could pick up valuable time if I could get over my fear of falling flat on my face! Anyhow, she suggested we run to a nearby long steepish road and she would give me tips etc. on running down it correctly. We spent about 20 minutes repetitively running up and then
After spending just over an hour outside we headed back indoors to analyse the video of my current running technique and how it had changed from the original session. I'm pleased to report I am now a "fairly efficient forefoot runner" (her words!). She used a metronome alongside the video footage and worked out I had mastered a cadence of 180 steps per minute, which is the lower end of the ideal cadence spectrum! Not bad considering in November I had a very slow cadence of around 150 steps per minute and was over-striding! I am now running with "baby steps" on hot sand! I have transformed from an Elephant into a Gazelle (haha in my dreams!). Next we looked at my "pose" and body posture which were now correct and my bum no longer sticks out! (hooooray!), even my arms were now behaving how they are meant to and I have relaxed shoulders, hands and arms!
So all in all a fairly positive result and I am progressing! When I look back at my last run before the "new running me" emerged I ran a 8 mile run at an average pace of 9.45 minute mile. My last 8 mile run a couple of days ago I managed an average pace of 9.13 minute mile! I am chuffed with that improvement!
When I run now I consciously think about my style and try to maintain it throughout the run. As I get tired my technique tends to "go" but it gives me something to think about and takes my mind off my jelly legs concentrating on my pose and cadence instead! When I was training for the Great North Run last summer I started suffering with knee and hip pain once I started to increase my distance and number of training sessions per week, however since working on my technique I have had no problems at all even with increasing my distance for the Liverpool Half Marathon and running daily during the Janathon challenge. So touch wood - it appears to be working for me! There are lots of mixed opinions about the benefits of forefoot running and a lot of sceptical "experts", but I am pleased with how it has transformed my performance and I am happy to continue practising these new techniques until they become instinctive and I manage a sub 2 hour half marathon!
BRING IT ON!
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