My MIL sent our oldest son a book last year for Christmas which I just devoured. I don’t get through many books just for fun these days with 3 kids, homeschooling and work but this one caught my attention right away and I actually read it to finish! That says something right there. I highly recommend it. It’s called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Check it out on Amazon here. It’s a really fun story and exciting take on ultra runners and some of the history behind the sport. Since we live in Colorado I found the parts on the Leadville 100 fascinating. And the characters- well- they’re real people and they are all an eclectic crew for sure. So… post reading my husband decided he was going all in. Turns out you shouldn’t do that (some stores have even taken out barefoot shoes as people were injuring themselves trying to switch overnight!) so we’ve taken a few steps back and looking at slowly creating strength in feet and calves, firing the right muscles and transitioning slower. My big focus is just running with better form so I can keep running and not have nagging returning injury. I chose a few things to work on from the Primal Blueprint running recommendations and took a quick video to see how I’m doing. This is key- take a video!! I thought I was over my body and landing on mid-foot. Once I analyzed it on video a bit I realize where I can continue to work- mainly all the pieces. I really felt like I was under my upper body but when I saw the video I can see I need to get my feet under hips more. I plan to work on changing cadence to work on this further. And I’m a heel striker- like most of us in shoes. So…continuing training to land more mid-foot, lift my toes/foot up as I pick it up and keep my arms in the sagittal plane (forward/back). I highly recommend taking a quick video of yourself and watching yourself run. Then ask yourself what shifts you can make personally to align with running technique that feels good and keeps you ready to run in whatever capacity you use it in your life.
