Off Season

In an effort to not let this blog go to waste, I’m going to attempt to post here and there during the offseason. I’ve had some time to process since my last race as well as rest. I haven’t swam or biked but I have continued to run, which is what this is going to be about. I fought burn out for most of the summer. I had some great quality and volume in my training at the beginning of the season but my numbers trailed off pretty bad towards the end of the season which was bad. Both my 70.3s were at the end of the season. Anyway, I decided no swimming or biking until January. I wanted to get the passion back. I’m already starting to itch to get back into tri training. Which is a good sign.

The main thing I learned from this past season, and the one thing I’m going to make big strides to change, yes pun intended. My run. I ran great in the two sprints I did, but still struggled a tad. I ran ok in the oly’s I did. Both were hard courses that I fared well on. I ran flat out terrible in both 70.3s, 1:55 and 2:08. Both times are slower than my first ever ½ marathon, 1:54, which I ran in clunky 10 oz training shoes in pouring rain without stopping to walk. I walked a ton in both 70.3s. Now I knew that I would struggle with this distance since it was new to me. I struggled with the Olympic distance two seasons ago but did much better this past season. So I’m expecting to do much better next year.

My stride. Leading into Augusta I had some calf/soleous/ knee pain from the shoes I changed to. I also had major knots in my right hip flexor all season long as well as low back pain and sciatic pain. My legs were always sore if I did any type of long run and most of the time felt beat up. It was around this time that I started researching shoes and I found Newton (www.newtonrunning.com) I knew something needed to change. Don’t get me wrong I love my K-Swiss Kwicky’s but I knew I needed to change my shoes and my form. As I began to research natural running on Newton’s website it didn’t take long for me to see the value. It wasn’t the bright colors of their shoes that sold me. It wasn’t the cool technology that sold me. It was the testimonials of countless runners that had made the switch and were now running without knee, hip, and back pain. While in Augusta I saw several athletes running in Newton’s. They all had crazy defined calf muscles. Why did I pick this out? Well I have nice calves, but not like they did. That’s because they were using a natural running motion which puts much greater use on your calves. I was more of a heel/mid foot type striker, so my calves didn’t do as much work.

The shoes are quite expensive and I couldn’t buy them right away, and actually still haven’t bought a pair. I will in two weeks though. However, I knew from reading all the advice online and talking to a training partner who happens to be a Newton Certified coach, that I would have to ease into this. What I knew for some reason didn’t translate into what I did. I ran 1 mile on September 26th to get the soreness out and to test the running motion. It was awkward. On September 28th, 3 days after Augusta, I went on a three mile run. I had reviewed the natural running motion…found here http://www.newtonrunning.com/run-better/optimal-running-form and I had watched a few videos, and I had my 1 mile attempt of it. Of course I knew Craig Alexander was a Newton runner and we know how awesome he is. So I had a pretty good idea how the form should look which gave me an ok idea on how to execute the new running motion. Most people said to only try the new motion for ½ mile to a 1 mile at a time, a few times a week. I tried it for the entire 3 miles of my first run back. I had to switch back to my old form 3 or 4 times to let my heart rate drop. I didn’t run slow like suggested. I tried to run my normal paces. Natural running requires a much higher cadence than my old stride did. So my slow pace was spiking my heart rate because of the higher cadence. After that run I was sold. Yes completely sold, after one run, and without even using the shoes. I was sold on the motion. Despite the run being difficult because of my heart rate. I noticed my legs felt great. They didn’t feel like I had run 3 miles. Heck they didn’t feel like I had run at all. That’s the benefit of the natural running motion. It is much more efficient and less damaging to your legs. The next day my calves were pretty sore. Yeah, way to go bonehead. That’s why they say ease into it. My second run was on a lunch break with a new running buddy who is more of a jogger. He’s in his 60s. It’s good for me because it forces me to just go slow and enjoy the time on my feet. I had a lot of soreness but did the entire run without switching to my old form for a break. The next day I ran 8 miles!! I took 30 seconds at the 4 mile mark to catch my breath and to let my heart rate go down. I ran this entire run with the new motion. The following day I ran 6.2 miles with my Ragnar team. The pace ranged from 10min to 4:53. So this run was all over the place pace wise. My calves hurt on this run for sure. But being a full blooded American male running with my new team I had just met and my brother. I sure could bow out or not accept the speed challenge from my brother. So in the first 7 days of attempting the natural running motion I had run 5 times for a total of 21 miles! Including 3 days in a row which I NEVER do. Because usually I’m too sore and drained to pull off multiple days in a row. I was over joyed that legs felt great. I didn’t feel like I had run three days in a row. I didn’t feel like I had run 5 out of 7 days. My hip didn’t hurt my back never flared up. My calves…WERE STRAINED. I mean completely shot. I have having to ice and wear compression socks at this point. But continuing to be hard headed. I took one day off to let some of the soreness subside.

On the following Tuesday I went out for 7 miles with speed work. I knew within 10 feet of leaving my driveway that my calves were not ready to run. It was stupid in all honesty and I’m lucky I didn’t tear them. Not only that, but I was in my racing flats so I had less cushion. But I pressed on. I did a two mile warm up, then some mile and half mile repeats then hobble jogged home. All of this was with the new natural running forefoot strike. I haven’t used my old running form since the very first run. I took another day off then ran, painfully, a moderate 5k, followed by lots of ice and compression. Another day off. Then I ran with my running buddy again at lunch. That was last Friday. I had a 10 mile run on my schedule for Saturday but finally got smart and listened to my severely strained legs. I took this past Saturday and Sunday off but still iced a few times. Yesterday I ran 3 miles and my legs were much better. My calves were probably at 95%. But yesterdays run is what made it all click for me. A twitter friend posted this video (http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/craig-alexander-running-analysis/ ) a 10 minute analysis of Craig Alexander’s running form compared to Chris Lieto’s. Chris runs like I used to, and Craig runs like I’m attempting to now. It was the perfect way for me to see the old vs the new. It showed me the one piece I wasn’t quite getting right, and the reason that my calves were so strained. Newton uses the 3 L’s. Land Lever and Lift (http://www.newtonrunning.com/run-better/land-lever-lift) . I had the land and lever part down. But until last night’s run I didn’t have the lift. They tell you not to excessively push off of your toes, but to lift your foot off the ground. Once I saw the analysis video and heard them explain how Craig uses his hamstrings it clicked. I went out for my run and although I felt awkward, I got it right. and like all the runs before. My legs felt great during and after and they feel great today.

So that’s my ramble for the day. I’m going to start working with a running coach in November and I think with the new running motion and the coaching that I will be quite different next tri season. I’m pretty excited about it. Until next time, happy training and racing to you all.

See it. Believe it. Do it.