As I reflect back on my disappointing 10k, I wonder what I did wrong, aside from being wholly unprepared. Was there anything I could have done to do better? Could I have done something to prevent injury and other mishaps throughout the race? In my head, the answer was a resounding yes!
Yes, I could have been better prepared by being able to run a 10k ahead of time.
Yes, I could have done more stretching before the start of the race.
Yes, I could have eaten something like a banana or even some kind of energy gel before a race, even if it's a little overkill.
Yes, I could have been better prepared for the road course layout.
Still, while those were things that I could do, I still had something nagging at me. Was my running style the problem? Since I'm not a runner, do I just suck at it? I always assumed that I would run and I would know what felt right. Well since I felt so wrong through the race, maybe that was my body's way of telling my head that what I'm doing isn't the right way to do it.
One of the things that stood out in my mind was how loud of a runner I was compared to others. I passed some folks and also got passed by others through the race. What I did notice was that my foot strikes were loud. I smack the pavement with each step. Others tended to glide and hardly made any noise. It wasn't all just in my head, was it..? No, I was pretty convinced that when I run, I will smack the ground with the force of Thor.
Over the last few days, I rummaged through message boards and Youtube videos and Google to help me try to figure out what I might be doing wrong. Could my running style contribute to my shin splints or any of the other maladies I was facing? Is there a particular style that might at least ease the pressure I put on my shin? Well, apparently based on my findings, that whole foot striking thing wasn't good and was a likely contributor to my shin issues.
It seems that I have a long stride, which I don't disagree with. I'm not a tall guy. When walking with a group of friends that are taller than me, I tend to compensate with longer strides, not with smaller, faster strides. It's not a huge surprise that I would do the same thing when running. With a long stride, I'll strike the ground with my heel and the rest of my foot would come down hard and smack the ground.
For the next couple of weeks, I decided I'd try to determine if I can avoid shin splints with a mid-foot strike. I know this won't come natural for me as I'll need to shorten my stride and I'll just feel like I'm running really goofy as a result. Still, I'd rather run goofy than to consistently be in pain from the running. I'm going to focus on where my foot is landing as I run, try very hard to make sure I'm not striking with my heel, and do a few other things to try and glide in my gait than to try and stomp a mudhole through everything. I'm also going to be more aware of my posture as I run.
There are plenty of other things I can do to try and find improvement, but I'd rather take a few at a time than try to implement a whole bunch of changes at once. If I find success with my foot strike and my posture, then I'll move on to breathing and stretching and cadence and yadda yadda. I'll post my results in a few weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment