Sunday 13 June 2010

Flexible footfalls (12th June 2010)

I can't wait for the day when I can run around the outside of Clapham Common on the dirt track without feeling the stones, twigs, general jagged edges, etc. It's getting easier though. Two reasons it was less uncomfortable today: 1) some of the ground was slightly damp which means that the stones sink into the mud and the overall feel is like plasticine, and 2) I continued with my "new" running style (which is in fact very close to the old one I had before I started messing with it too much) which meant I was more relaxed, therefore my feet were more relaxed and the rough surfaces hurt less. It's amazing how tension in the mind can head straight into the muscles and cause them to freeze.


We did some "playing" today too. I have now mastered the art of rolling and can roll forwards and straight up to standing, just the kind of the thing I could do as a child without thinking anything of it. Pretty nifty. David was congratulatory for about three seconds before telling me I should try backward and side rolls, demonstrating them with his usual finesse, at which point I was reduced once again to.....an adult.


As I was running, I thought about my footfalls. I bet every time my foot goes down, it lands slightly differently. Every single time. So, even if my alignment isn't so great and I overpronate slightly too much, it doesn't matter because with each footfall being different, there won't be any overuse issues. Contrast this with wearing trainers, particularly if they're rigid "corrective" ones. My feet would land exactly the same every time, so the way my foot touched down would be a repeated movement over and over again - and one that was forced by the shoe rather than dynamically controlled feedback from the ground. Hmmm........

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