I’m going into day 4 of my training.   I have to say it’s been nice not have to think about what I will be doing.  I am excitedly (nervously) waiting for this weeks schedule to arrive.    The only thing that I do know is that I will be running every other day or at least that’s what I’ve done the last 4 days.  I do believe that this will continue as I work on recovory with my foot.

Today is swimming which I haven’t done since last summer.   Oh my, how did that happen?   I was supposed to swim all year long while the boys were in school.   I guess it is true that time has a way of getting away from you.

I will say that I did start to embrace the 11+ miles on my 6 mile run yesterday especially because I went mid morning when it was starting to get hot.   I also thought about how when I ran Philly, I basically ran the entire marathon at a 10:20 pace.   My normal pace.   I need to be able to regulate my pace.   Let me control the pace and not the pace control me.   Now just because I had this Epiphany does not mean that it was easy to keep the 11+ place, but I did it.   I hit my target and I’m not sure if it was the heat, the extra miles, or the route; but I did feel less choppy than I did the first day.   I still had to keep track of my pace, but I didn’t feel so jerky.  I even hit my target pace all 6 miles.

11:36, 11:19, 11:27, 11:34, 11:25, 11:25

I’m happy:)

One of the other things that I was thinking about while I was running was my form.    This gave me something to think about as I’ve never really given it much thought other than to make sure I had good posture.  Well according to Meb from Meb for Mortals there is so much more to think about.

Things like:

Landing position – feet should land under body and need to be careful of overstrides

Core and Back – core should be engaged

Arms – should swing in direction moving, not back and forth (to me this sounds the same, but it’s not).

Shoulders – (this is the only one I was already doing) low and level

Head – Meb says to pretend you have an egg on your head to stay in proper posture

When all of these things come together it is a beautiful thing!

This picture explains why Meb is an elite athlete.  He readily admits that he does form drills EVERY day.   He also knows that the average runner (hello, me) will not do form drills every day, but does suggest to build them into your weekly routine.  His job is to run and run well.   His job is to train.   For most of us, we barely have time to get done what we need to get done.   Although, it really isn’t such a bad idea to pay attention to our form.   Not for speed, but as an injury prevention measure.

I also think that if I work on my landing just maybe this will help with my feet issues. I have a feeling that maybe I have been overriding.   I also hope that my inserts are the magic that I need to take away all that ails my feet.  Bad form can lead to bad things.

Don’t let this be you

as I know it’s me

Who knew that there was so much to think about?

How’s your form?