My daughter had a spinal operation in July and has been seeing an Alexander Posture Technique teacher to help aid her recovery. During one of these sessions I got onto the subject of running and discovered that she was also a Pose Running teacher. After going home and researching this running method I became very interested in learning more and went on to book a workshop.
Today was the day I was educated in the pose running method!
I was slightly daunted at the thought as I knew I was going to be videoed running and was terrified my current style was going to be picked to pieces. However, more about that later!
First let me try and explain!
The pose method is all about making the most of the effect of gravity rather than fight against it. The running pose is a whole body pose, which vertically aligns shoulders, pelvis and ankles with the support leg, while supported on the ball of the foot.
Sounds completed but once you get going it makes a lot of sense.
Main points I learned today
- I change the pose from one leg to the other by falling forward and allowing gravity to do the work.
- The support foot is pulled quickly from the ground using the hamstrings.
- A slight forward lean of the body allows the body to fall forward from the ankle.
- The other foot drops down freely to become a new support.
Apparently, this creates forward movement using the least energy and effort. The end result (I hope) is faster running with no injuries!!! The cadence should be at least 180 footfalls per minute! Also apparently, this makes it much easier to learn to land on the ball of the foot and shorten the stride.
Anyhow, how did it go? Well, I found it all fascinating! When I first got there I was introduced to the rationale and history of the technique before being taken into a local park and told to warm up and run in my normal style whilst I was videoed. I felt very self conscience at this point and its very hard to run naturally when someone is following you with a video camera! However, after enduring this slightly humiliating experience I was shown some pose running exercises which I then practised under her supervision. Once she was happy I'd mastered the exercises adequately, she showed me how to transfer these new skills into my running style. We ran together whilst she gave me verbal instructions and advice. Going up hills seemed much easier using this technique but coming downhill I felt I was going to end up flat on my face! I suppose practise is required to feel confident. At the end of the outdoor session she videoed me again running in my new style before we headed back indoors to study the evidence! It was very interesting and not as embarrassing as I'd thought to watch myself running!
What did I learn about my running?
After watching the video at normal speed, we watched it frame by frame so we could analysis what I do whilst running. It was quite amusing to discover that I have one arm (my right) that does what its supposed to do and my left arm is immobile and rigid! I had no idea I did this, and it could explain my neck and shoulder stiffness I suffer after running! I also heel strike and over-stride (again explaining my knee and hip pain) as well as looking down at the ground instead of where I'm going! Quite a few things to work on!!!
However, after analysing the second video I was impressed to see that I had in fact corrected all these except my arms still weren't as relaxed as they should be! She told me to help me do this I was to imagine holding 2 hamsters in my hands firmly but not squashing them!!!
I have been sent out into the running world to practise, practise, practise!!! I have been advised to introduce the technique gradually into my runs as it uses completely different muscles then I usually use whilst running!!
I'm quite excited about going out for a run tomorrow and putting all these new skills into practise!! My homework this evening is to find some music to run to which has 180 beats a minute!!! Any suggestions welcome!
Well, Day 9 and I think my body has had enough! My Achilles is still grumbling when I'm walking and shouting very loudly at me when I am going up or down stairs so I decided to take care and err on the side of caution tonight by going to the Gym instead of hitting the streets! I don't have a gym yearly membership but use the "pay as you go" scheme as I'd much rather be exercising outdoors if at all possible, therefore I wouldn't get my moneys worth out of a yearly subscription! (I don't think!)
As I said I was being kind to my old, worn out body so I set the treadmill to a slowish speed with a slight incline, and plodded along in my own little world for 30 minutes! The most annoying thing being that one of my earphones wasn't working so I only had music blasting down one ear, a very strange sensation!
