Apprentice

I’ve been trying to get back into running after roughly a year out. Greystones Presbyterian Church want to have me work as a Ministry Apprentice next year so I’m running two races in Phoenix Park, Dublin this month to raise funds. By the way… would you like to sponsor me?

So I’m back in training. I tried to run about two weeks ago only to find I could only manage about 3K and had to stop for a breather just after the first K. It was disappointing but also somewhat expected because that’s how I was when I started running last year.

On Monday, however, something weird happened. I saw a video about how landing on the fore-foot was a more natural and efficient way to run. I had heard this previously but thought it was rubbish, imagining someone prancing about, toes pointed, like a ballerina. Then the video said to try running barefoot, and lo and behold, I just naturally landed on the ball of my foot, not on my heels.

I decided I’d try this new form out and when I did I was pretty surprised. It got pretty tough towards the end and my form did get a bit sloppy, but I went from running just over 1K before having to stop to running over 5K (just like I was running last year before I stopped running). Not only that but I beat my record time for running the mile; that’s a faster mile than I’d run before, including last year.

Now for the bad news, my calves were killing me for days and they’re still not fully recovered. I think I know where I went wrong though. I was keeping my heel off the ground when it has to touch the ground for a moment, I think I was also running too much on my toes. I ran again today, trying to correct those mistakes but my calves were still too tired so it was back to the old disappointing run. I am determined to get this right though and I have been doing further research (as you would if you saw such a drastic improvement in your running).

I’ve watched some other videos of long distance runners and noticed how they ran. Their knees weren’t pumping up and down but were swinging in an arch and their feet landed underneath their body and swung to the back instead of landing in front. I did some more research, reading up about ChiRunning, the Pose Method and the running form of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, famed for being the greatest long-distance runners in the world – running for 24 hours straight, or for 50 or 100 miles straight. Although there were some minor differences they all seemed to agree on some points: short strides, landing on the fore-foot instead of the heel (although some people say “mid-foot” I think what they mean is on the ball of the foot but not on the toes, since the middle of the foot is the arch and it’s impossible, or at least very awkward, to land on that), leaning forward and letting gravity pull you along rather than pushing with your muscles.

I’m going to keep trying with this and let you know how I get on. My first race is a 5K on the 5th of July at the Family Fitness Festival at Farmleigh in Phoenix Park. The next race is the Irish Runner 5-Miler (8K) on the 18th of July, also In Phoenix Park.