One Step Forwards…
One Step Forwards…
Today has been one of those days. Another day where I suddenly feel like my running has taken a step or two backwards. A couple of weeks ago now, I felt like I had major epiphany with my running, a final realisation of what I had been missing. I had finally got it and this inspired me to write an article about reasons why I thought people do not ‘Get It’. Everything I said I still firmly believe although I have to come to terms with the fact that I have been doing something wrong. I have been thinking far too much again about what I am doing while running despite my best efforts not to. When you focus on a certain perception then that tends to be obsessed about while you run which creates tension and can lead to injury because you try to amplify the feeling. It’s like me saying to you: “Whatever you do, do NOT push that button”. You will be itching to push it because you want to know what happens when you do. In a similar way I had become hooked on the ‘bounce’ and gradually started forcing it to make it bigger and better. Unfortunately there comes a tipping point where the ‘bounce’ if forced turns into a hard push which can only be achieved by actively going too far up on your toes and pushing with lots of muscular tension when you land. This is not good and causes injury. Precisely what I do not want to happen.
I have a plan and it involves stopping myself from thinking. I am going to practice running in bare feet lots more and crucially I will use the rule of thumb that states whatever I can do comfortably in bare feet I will do with running shoes on. Tonight I tried running like I am quite sure I have been running and I could not do it in bare feet for more than a few steps. This is a good sanity check. From now on I will run lots more in bare feet and attempt to run just the same when I put my running shoes on. This should carry my natural and efficient running style through to whatever I wear on my feet with time.
The plan is to rest my feet because I am in considerable pain – especially with the left one. I also plan to stop over thinking. Running is simple. Not easy to DO but it is simple. You just use gravity and your bodyweight balanced on top of your legs to create unbalancing and shifting of your body by sustaining a fall in the direction you wish to travel. Simple isn’t it?