Be Thankful In All Circumstances
So – running – it’s pretty simple right?
Just put one foot in the front of the other and move in a forward direction faster than if you were walking (although technically both feet need to be off the ground at the same time for you to be running, otherwise you’re probably “race walking.”)
Running’s so called simplicity is one of the reasons most beginner runners get injured, because there is in fact more to running “correctly” than you would think!
As I’m relatively new to running, my body is still adapting to the added stresses being placed upon it and, as I only having one working achilles my biomechanics are pretty shite, so basically I’m just one big injury waiting to happen ..
Or should that be happened? Because ever since I did sprints at last Wednesdays Cardio and Core session my quads and hip flexors have been pretty unhappy about anything that involves moving my legs with force (or lunging) so it was no surprise that when I went to try to sprint during yesterdays cardio and core session my quads screamed;
“F*CK THAT SHIT – ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!”
I did however manage to run around the park ok because when I distance run my feet stay pretty close to the ground and my cadence goes up as opposed to lifting my leg higher and bounding when I sprint. Which is also probably completely the wrong way to sprint, but nevertheless the leg lift was the reason it hurt to try to run with speed.
Yesterday when I got home from work, I massaged my legs, I rolled them out, I soaked in epsom salts and then before I went to bed James made me cry also massaged them. Whilst he was breaking my will to live massaging my legs he asked whether I was going to walk my planned 5k run the next day and I hesitated –
Should I?
Perhaps I should walk?
That’s probably what a normal person would do right?
Or am I just trying to take the easy way out? ..
Argh … I DON’T KNOW!
In the end I decided that I’d go to the gym (which is where I’d start my Thursday morning run from) and I’d spend a good 10-20 minutes warming up on the eliptical before setting out for a SLOW 5k. If my leg/s hurt, I’d stop and walk the rest of the way and even if I felt amazing I wouldn’t go any further than the planned 5k.
Additionally, as I’d be running slowly I’d concentrate on running with “correct form”.
Obviously I can’t correct ALL of my bad habits in one slow run, so I selected;
- Posture – keeping my head up, shoulders back and down, leaning forward from the ankles
- Landing – quick, light steps with foot landing directly under the hips
- Arms – “hold a butterfly” (long story) and don’t swing arms across the body
And you know what? Sure it wasn’t the longest run and it certainly wasn’t the fastest BUT I have to say it’s one of the best runs I’ve had to date ..
Why? Because I did it! And pain free (unless you count my bursting lungs when I went up the track to Pt Erin pools). 😉
While I was out on the track (obviously looking forward instead of down which incidentally does make breathing easier just like the youtube video promised), I was thinking to myself – you know what?
We should really do this more often, just go out and run without any expectations!
Too many people miss the silver lining because they are expecting gold.
Till next time
