Beginning to Run Thread

[Catrin]

Yes. People with poor ankle flexibility tend to have problems at push-off. This does 2 things, makes it harder to use your glutes properly and shifts your contact points forward. What I mean by this is the initial contact with the ground is too far out in front and the push-off occurs too soon and not far enough behind the body. In this type of stride, the hamstrings get over-used pulling the body forward over the forward foot at initial contact. There is a shift in where your overall forward movement comes from, making it come more from your hamstrings pulling you forward (kind of) instead of it coming from your glutes pushing you forward.

Thanks Wahine, I am going to have to think about this but I understand what you are saying. I am going to experiment again with trail running on Sunday and I will see how things go. I have noted that it takes much longer to bother me on dirt. Given the source of my ankle inflexibility, is there really anything I can do to help this? I do a ton of ankle mobility work that has, over time, helped both my ankle and calf out a lot. I will also also try to be mindful of just where that left foot is striking in relationship to my body.

[Catrin]

Tried some trail running today. Between walking/running I covered 1.56 miles in 23:54 minutes...which is really bad but I wasn't doing it for time. I had a deep tissue massage a few hours before and I wasn't about to push things. Hamstring complained at first but it got over it as I started (after warming up) by walking/running 1 minute each. Then my running split gradually increased. But THEN my cranky knee got, well, cranky. It is prone to do that if I've not run for awhile.

During the deep tissue massage she found some adhesions in my foot and found a quite tight IT Band - she said my hammie wasn't all that tight. So back to work on foot, calf, and IT Band. I know what to do and I've been backing off on that since I've not been running much lately. There at the end my knee wasn't complaining near as much so am not really concerned about it - it was just complaining because it was having to do a little work.

The deep tissue massage was very interesting, never had one before. She had a tool to work on adhesions with and what she found in my shoulder wasn't unexpected. What WAS unexpected was how effective she was with some of my neck stiffness/soreness. She was very, very careful with my neck but the results were nothing short of amazing. Pity I can't afford to see her a couple times a month! Now I am off to pour some Epsom salts into a hot bath :-)

[Wahine]

About ankle ROM restriction. It is typical to have ongoing restriction after the type of ankle injuries and surgeries described but by continuing to work on mobility, you will maximize your situation and really, if you have 50% or more of your original ROM, it shouldn't limit your running.

Good job on your run today. Keep up with the massage if you can.

[Catrin]

Thanks Wahine, the information is appreciated. I DID have some high hammie aching last night as I was relaxing on the couch, so will keep working on mobility. This is just something that I will always have to do and that is ok! Movement > No Movement! She also told me my rhomboids on my "bad" side are pretty much scar tissue, most of her work was in that area. I need to figure out how to fit her in my budget!

[BikeDutchess]

An update on my run/walk progress: I was doing pretty well keeping to my training plan until I hit some 9+ mile long runs, when my left hamstring started protesting. Luckily my son was home for a visit soon after that and could evaluate me. He said there didn't seem to be any injury, just overall weak hamstrings, and gave me some strengthening exercises. At the same time I also asked my personal trainer (who is a great runner and also coaches runners) to assess my running form. She gave me several form pointers, including advice to shorten my stride even more (getting at what Wahine wrote about shifting the contact point) and focus on softer landings. It is amazing what a difference just these few tweaks made! I got through my next long run without having to resort to limping the last few miles. My last long run was this morning, just shy of 12.5 miles. My goal for Disney is still to finish within the allowed time of 3.5 hrs, with a stretch goal of 3 hours. If I can maintain the same pace I did today, I'll squeak in a fraction of a second under 3 hrs. Let's hope the lower altitude and flatter terrain will help offset having to deal with the crowd of 12,399 other runners. I'm getting excited about the event!