For some reason when I woke up this morning I really wasn’t feeling the run I had ahead of me. Could it possibly be due to the fact I hardly slept last night? Very possible. I certainly didn’t have that real nice restful sleep. It was more like I was asleep, but I really wasn’t because I heard every single noise within a mile of my building. I remember still thinking of things I needed to do while “sleeping!” Don’t forget to email so-and-so, be sure to charge Garmin, dilute my Gatorade…blah blah blah….I didn’t even wake up to my alarm because I was already awake! I was thisclose to skipping out on the run, but I thought of how great I’d feel afterwards. Yeah right. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Today’s talk was about form and it was a doozie. There was a lot of information given. The important thing to remember, is don’t feel like you have to work on everything all at once. Take a few minutes each run to focus only one thing.
Here is my recap attempt about a very detailed talk regarding form:
Running with good form causes the body to work more efficiently and expend less energy doing so. In the process, reduces the risk of injury.
Have as close to perfect posture as possible. Stand up, take a deep breathe in, let it out, and relax. Let the shoulders drop, but don’t slouch. Keep chest open.
Chin should be pulled in, not to the point where you look like you have 12 chins, but also not to point where somebody confuses you with Jay Leno. Keep your chin in and relaxed.
Shoulders should be down and back. They should not be high and near your ears. If the person next to says they can’t see your ears, this means they are too high! Take a deep breath and drop those shoulders down.
Abs should be drawn in. Not sucked in. Darn, I need to work on this one.
Don’t tilt the pelvis to the point where the back arches. Think about the pelvis being forward and leading your run. Find a happy medium between being a “happy cat” and “angry dog.” Yeah, I’m still trying to process this one.
Knees and feet should be straight ahead. If your knees are going one direction and your feet are going in a different direction, then you’ve got a lot of work to do.
Shhhh. Run lightly and quietly. If it sounds as if you’re trying to get 20 lbs of mud off your shoes while running, you’re too loud.
Overstriding causes the heel to land first and in essence you’re braking. Minimize that braking action by having a shorter stride. To check stride: while maintaining perfect posture, look down. If you see your heel, then you’re overstriding.
Arms should be close to a 90 degree angle. Keep them relaxed and swing them naturally. Don’t even think about making them a 110 degree angle, or even a 50 degree angle. You never know, race officials may whip out a protractor and measure you. Try to keep it around 90 degrees. Also note, arms dictate the rhythm of the feet. Swing them faster and the feet will follow. (I might put that on a T-shirt).
Keep hands loose and relaxed. Don’t clench your fists as if you’re about to punch the person running behind you who keeps clipping your heels because they’re overstriding. Pretend you’re holding a fragile potato chip between your fingers ever so gently.
Stop gritting your teeth and relax your jaw! Running is not supposed to make a person look angry. That is, unless the person running behind you continues to clip your heels because they’re overstriding.
Keep your head looking up and look ahead about 20 yards in front of you. If you keep your head looking down, that’s where your body will go.
– Stretching is uber important.
– Ice wherever it hurts, 20 minutes every 2 hours to reduce inflammation.
– Self massage using something called The Stick, or a foam roller.
– Sports massage is different from a relaxation massage. What does sports massage do that relaxation massage doesn’t do?
- Decreases chance of injury
- Increases athletic performance
- Faster recovery
- Reduces pain and tightness
- Specific targeted detailed work for knee pain, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, back pain, etc.
After the speaker program, it was time to get our run on.
Wanda gives us the sign for 7 lucky miles!
Runners are ready to take off!
Whoa!! Look at the line for the bathroom. 😉
“You guys are going to have to hold it because we’re taking off in 3…2…1”
Found Jim Morrison out along the route. However, his left knee appears to have some inflammation going on. He should definitely get some ice on that very soon. And he should probably ice his left arm as well while he’s at it.
“You People Are Strange.”
Passing by another group who look focused on their run.
When we finished, mentor Gloria told us secrets I vowed never to share with anyone. Wanda also looks like she could go run another 7 miles!
Wanda: “I can’t believe Gloria is sharing these crazy secrets with us.“
I intended to go run another 3 miles after the 7 because I wanted to hit my 10 miles for the day. I only made it another mile because I could tell my little pinky toe on my right foot was developing a blister. Ugh!! Why can’t I just get these 10 miles out of the way?? If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Luckily, it didn’t turn into a full on blister, but it was definitely raw and sensitive. I’ll be sure to wrap it up this week and tackle those 10. I will! I will! I will get those 10 miles done this week!
I finished 8 miles for the day in 1:34:26 and the splits were:
mile 1 – 12:01
mile 2 – 11:59
mile 3 – 11:24
mile 4 – 11:22
mile 5 – 11:43
mile 6 – 11:46
mile 7 – 12:04
mile 8 – 12:03
After the run, my sister and I headed over to our favorite coffee shop for some coffee and picked up “This Tasty Treat” that “was baked from scratch.” From scratching what, I do not know.
All I know is that it was non-vegan and I made the conscious decision to have half of it. I’m telling you I’ve been watching It’s Complicated waaaaay too much and that scene with Meryl Streep baking Steve Martin a chocolate croissant has been engrained in my mind. Every time I watch that scene, it just makes me want a chocolate croissant!! I had high expectations and even though it was okay, I probably wouldn’t have it again. I got it out of my system.
So I didn’t feel so great after the run, but I’m happy I made it out.
