Ran a track workout with the group again this Monday and the new running form is feeling less and less awkward. Still a little tightness in my calf from the skipping incident, but well enough to workout if I don't push it.
I ran some 200s, 400s, 800s and strides with one of my star athletes and was able to maintain a forefoot strike the entire time. The things that have been bothering me the most since beginning this attempt to change my form have been a sore left forefoot, sore/fatigued calves and tightness in my upper left hamstring. I still feel the tightness in my hammy, but I think my calves are adapting nicely. I don't really get super DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) any more, but it's still a bit stressful. No pain in the left forefoot this time. My weight isn't going down significantly, so I guess the new running muscles are just getting stronger. I even tried purposely lapsing into my old heel-striking technique and it felt very awkward. That's a good sign of progress!
I didn't do any barefoot stuff that day, but like I said I maintained a forefoot strike the whole time. I also concentrated a lot on minimizing the time my feet spent on the ground with each step, which is also one of the subtle key differences between great runners and not so great runners.
Looking forward to tomorrow's group run. I'll keep updating and try to put up some posts with more interesting discussions of barefoot running, primitive running etc.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Primitive Running 3 - Worst Idea Ever?
Hey followers. Don't have a lot of time to write, but I want to get some thoughts out there before they leave my head.
During our group track workout on Monday some of us ran a portion of the workout barefoot. I've been doing this for a while now, but not everyone in the group has. Quite a few people decided to try it. Today I ran into one of the barefoot experimenters and she told me it was the worst idea ever and that her calves were super sore. Walking a flight of stairs that normally takes her a few seconds was now requiring minutes. I asked her if she thought it was an injury or just a serious case of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). She said if they're still sore tomorrow she'll consider it an injury. If not, I'm pretty sure it's just DOMS. I've had lots of DOMS myself since starting the forefoot strike/primitive/barefoot running stuff.
I also pulled my calf doing barefoot skipping during the track workout. Had an extensive warmup, but maybe my time off (sickness plus holidays) combined with going for too much on the high-knee skipping did me in. As of Wednesday the calf was well enough for some easy jogging, but still injured. Should I blame barefoot training for this mishap? Yes and no. YES because the injury probably would not have happened if I were doing my normal in-shoe heel strike, but NO because it also probably wouldn't have happened if I had been running barefoot for many years.
Guess I haven't spoken yet about how barefoot running and a forefoot strike are related. Watch this video for a quick primer, then maybe in a later post I'll revisit the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM
Cheers y'all!
During our group track workout on Monday some of us ran a portion of the workout barefoot. I've been doing this for a while now, but not everyone in the group has. Quite a few people decided to try it. Today I ran into one of the barefoot experimenters and she told me it was the worst idea ever and that her calves were super sore. Walking a flight of stairs that normally takes her a few seconds was now requiring minutes. I asked her if she thought it was an injury or just a serious case of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). She said if they're still sore tomorrow she'll consider it an injury. If not, I'm pretty sure it's just DOMS. I've had lots of DOMS myself since starting the forefoot strike/primitive/barefoot running stuff.
I also pulled my calf doing barefoot skipping during the track workout. Had an extensive warmup, but maybe my time off (sickness plus holidays) combined with going for too much on the high-knee skipping did me in. As of Wednesday the calf was well enough for some easy jogging, but still injured. Should I blame barefoot training for this mishap? Yes and no. YES because the injury probably would not have happened if I were doing my normal in-shoe heel strike, but NO because it also probably wouldn't have happened if I had been running barefoot for many years.
Guess I haven't spoken yet about how barefoot running and a forefoot strike are related. Watch this video for a quick primer, then maybe in a later post I'll revisit the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM
Cheers y'all!
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