by ·Comments Off on Running Soft: Arm Swings
Run for Life book

Run for Life by Wallack

I’ve been reading this running book titled “Run for Life.” Their premise is if you do certain things in your running and cross train, you should be able to continue running up to the age of 100!  The secret?  Run soft and do strength training.

Well today I focused on one aspect of this–running soft–mostly focusing on my arm swing.

During my long run–just over 20 Km (12.8 miles to be exact)–I focused 100% of my effort to ensuring my arms were just over 90 degrees bent and were swinging on the vertical plane.  Occasionally I would make sure my knees and heels were going up.

The proper swinging of arms, according to the book, helps keep the running balanced.  If you swing your arms across your body, it causes lateral stress on various parts of your body, especially the hips, knees, and ankles.  This unbalanced running is what causes the injuries.  So if you swing your arms in the vertical plane (basically forward and back), you reduce or eliminate the extra stress.

Here’s how I felt after the long run:

  • Left calf sore — I think this was sore because I was partially correcting my form by trying to bring my knees and heels up during the run; normally my left foot drags, which causes the uneven wear on my left shoe compared to the right.
  • No knee pain on either leg — Last year or the year before I felt serious pain on the right knee; later after the right knee recovered, I felt pain or soreness on the left.
  • No hip pain — I normally feel pain on the right hip.  This time around I felt none.  That is a good thing.
  • Hamstrings sore — My heels don’t go up enough, which means that my legs, on the turn over, would be limited in speed; since I did better heel kicks, it would only make sense that my hamstring are sore since the hamstrings are doing extra work.  Note that by bringing the heel up, the leg is shorter on the turn over, allowing the leg (as a unit) to move faster from the back to the front.  This is just plain physics.

Run for Life is probably the most comprehensive book on running I’ve ever read.  The information in it are very relevant for all ages, especially for those over 40 years of age just trying to stay fit.

I will share more useful information over time; for now think about arm swings as part of the overall process to run soft.

by ·Comments Off on Listen to Your Body: Post Marathon Run Soreness

The kinds of pains you get a day, a few days, or even a week or two after a marathon run can say much about what you need to do in order to help improve your future runs.

Here are some of the pains I’ve experienced:

  • Sore quads
  • Sore hamstrings
  • Sore left ankle

Sore Quads

The CIM is a hilly course.  The uphills gave my quads a beating just on the edge of cramping up.  This means that I should do more hill work.  Unfortunately, the only hills available in the Central Valley within running distance are the over passes over highway 120.

I will have to incorporate various quad exercises in my cross training routine.  This can include:

  • squats
  • squat jumps
  • lunges (including carrying dumbbells)
  • jumping switching lunges

Note that I don’t go to gyms; all exercises I do doesn’t require any extensive use of equipment.  As a matter of fact, I prefer no equipment at all.

Sore Hamstrings

I read in Men’s Running magazine that the cause of sore hamstring is not getting the heels to go high enough.  In addition, they  also mention that getting the heels up helps with the foot turn over, and as such, results in covering more ground in shorter amount of time.  This translate to speed.

The one way you can incorporate getting the heels up in your run is by thinking “touch – lift” during your run.  The idea is not to have your foot spend too much time touching the ground.  So if you are finding yourself losing speed even though it feels like you are going harder, then think “touch – lift”.  By keeping this in mind, you can focus on getting your heel up, and close to your butt.

According to Mens Running, this is suppose to help with sore hamstrings.

Sore Left Ankle

My left foot, showing indication of over pronationMy left ankle felt sore after running the marathon.  I didn’t really notice it until one day after the run.

I didn’t even notice what caused it until two weeks after the run.  The root cause is a badly worn shoe.  My left foot just likes to hit with the heel first, resulting in the heel of my left shoe to get worn out first.

To be exact, my outer left heel hits first resulting in an over pronation.  The pain I get is similar to a sheen splint, except the pain I get is on my inner ankle, just above the ankle, towards the heel.

Because of the pronation, the inner ankle tendon is getting more stretching than it needs.

To correct this, I will need to do three things:

  • get better shoes (I didn’t have this problem when I was wearing the Saucony Progrid Mirage running shoes, where the heel to toe height difference is very minimal); at the CIM I used my Nike Pegasus 26.
  • fix my form; this may be a bit tough to do, but with the right shoes, I should be able to achieve this.
  • do ankle strengthening exercises

Conclusion

The long CIM run produced leg pains that dictate areas I need to look at.  The quad pains were indicative of the need to do more hill work or quad work outs.  The hamstring issues I felt were indicative of the need for better form.  Last but not least, my left ankle pain pointed to the need for better shoes and form adjustment.

You might say that a marathon run can make your body feel pain everywhere.  Yes that is true and generally normal; but parts of your body that feel the most pain is indicative of something.  So make sure you pay attention; your body is telling you something.