Any Runners/Joggers in the house?

[signu459]

Here is the deal, I want to do a triathlon this summer/fall. I have two of the three sports pretty well mastered. I was a swimmer all through high school and college and actually had my college school record for the 1650 (mile). So I am a distance/endurance athlete by nature. I have been cycling pretty seriously for over year now and usually get in around 150 miles a week. The problem is the running, to put it simply I run like a duck (thats why I swam). So I am looking for pointers on ways to improve my running both for speed and comfort. I have flat feet and usually end up in a good deal of pain during and after running. So any good drills or excercises and as well as good books or magazines to read will be appericiated.

Thanks in advance

Tim

[Edited by signu459 on 05-18-2001 at 10:37 AM]

[hartman]

Tim,

I used to run track and here are a few little tips

1) Make sure to never let your head wabble, it waste engery
2) Never look at your feet
3) Fix shin splints, sit down with legs out strait, put on heal on the top of your otehr foot at the base of the toes. Push out with your heal will pulling in whihc your toes. Hold for 30 sec then switch legs. Do this a a few times and you shin splints will go away.
4) Run more on your toes and less on your heals, granted this is best to short distance for speed reason but will help lower impact.

I'm not an expert, this just worked for me and is not based on science :)

Hartman

[JB]

I have never done any long distance runs to speak of.
A couple 3 mile jogs. I say jog because I am these slowest moving person on 2 legs :) My run is like most peoples jogging pace.
What helped me is:
1. don't clench your fists or swing your arms hard when running. Like the head wabble it wastes energy.
2. Try not to think about how far you have gone, or how far you have to go. Fix a rythmn in your mind, and think about that. It is hard to believe how time can go by when you aren't thinking about it :)

My tips for you from the slowest person on earth ;)

Then again maybe you don't want to follow my advise. You just might become the 2nd slowest person on earth. hehe

I have become lazy, and have not gone for a run in a few years. When I first started jogging, it was pure misery. But, then after a while, I started enjoying my self, and looked forward to my daily jog, which was usually a mile and a half.
jason

[Breef]

Take a tip from an old 82nd A.B. guy. Learn to run long distance by starting with the shuffle,Do this as you build your lung capacity up. The lungs are what get you there,along with your feet.The shuffle if you don't know what I mean is almost like running in place,not being in a hurry,but enough to raise your pulse and breath rate. You continue this as in any other exercise and add on as your indurance improves.

[signu459]

Thanks guys!!

Hartman- I did not understand how to do the streach for Shin splints- could please try to explain it again??

JB- I challenge to to a slowest man on earth race- the loser wins, or is it the winner is the loser, oh well I think you get it.

Breef- Well the lungs are already there, I cranked out 25 miles on the bike in a little over an hour yesterday then swam about 2500 yards. So cario wise I think I am in decent shape. The Problem is muscle and joint pain from running.

[Breef]

The technique I mentioned is for all areas not just the lungs. It has been used by the Govenment for decades.

[Canadian]

Most important thing you can do for yourself considering you have flat feet is to make sure that you have good quality shoes.
I also have flat feet. As a result I under pronate and am a fairly heavy heel striker. By getting the right shoes you'll ensure that your feet remain comfortable, but most importantly that your knees, hips, lower back, etc stay in proper alignment and don't take more abuse than they should. So go to a reputable running store if you don't know the particulars about your running style. They should have a tread mill for you to run on and will be able to assess your running style and suggest an appropriate shoe. The wrong shoe can actually lead to injury.

Stay loose. Running form is a huge topic so I won't go into great detail except to say: Don't over-stride (You want your foot to land under your knee), keep your hands VERY loose (This keeps your entire upper body loose and lets you respire a little easier) As far as wasted energy is concerned, make sure that your arms are consistantly swinging directly back and forth with a 90 degree bend. When you get tired it's common to start having a slight "across the body" motion with your arms. This encourages your body to move in a similar fashion and actually slows you down.

Other than that...when you hit the wall, tell yourself you LIKE the pain.

Oh, and if you start feeling pain in your knees take a break for a day or two. Last year I was in training and running 15Km a day. I ran through some pain in my knees and paid for it in the end when I wasn't able to run at all for a good 3 months and wasn't able to compete.

Good luck!

[Breef]

Your right on Andrew, and the knee is the only reason that I had to quite running. In Korea I busted all the ligments on the inside of my right knee. Could be fixed but the army doctors told me that I wasn't important enough to have it fixed. Now that sure can make a person get the willies.

[signu459]

Thanks Canadian, that is exacly what I was looking for. BIG TIME HELP!!


That pain thing is always a problem, I think for me it is the training that helps me tolerate it more. In other words the more I train the more pain I can with stand. I supposes a good deal of that is my bodys ability to withstand more abuse because it is getting in better shape. in addition you gain a great capaicty to rid your self of most of the waste products that are byproduct of hard exercise.

I remember in college that nearly every time I swam the mile I would throw up at the end of the race because of too much lactic acid in my body. Also my hands would be blue and numb from from lack of oxygen- NOW THAT IS FUN.

[olgakurt]

I agree with the good shoe suggestion and would also suggest you find a place to train where you don't have to run on a hard surface. It is worth the trip to a podiatrist to get custom inserts if you are serious about this (I think insurance covers 2x/year). I ran 10-20 miles a day when I was competing (14:58 5k was my best), but now my knees hurt so much that I only mountain bike and wish I never ran in highschool.

one exercise is to stand with your toes on a ledge/step/shelp and to raise and lower your body on your toes. This stretches the calf and shin and is supposed to cut down on shin splints.


[Edited by olgakurt on 05-21-2001 at 03:56 PM]

[hartman]

Signu459,

Curing shin splints

Ok the steps

1) Sit on the ground with your legs out strait
2) Take your left foot heel and place it on your right foot toes.
3) Push against you right foot toes with your left heel while pulling in with your right foot toes. So basically you’re pushing against each other creating opposing force.
4) Do this for 30 or 60 sec than switch feet. Do it a few times.

Hartman

[signu459]

Thanks hartman- Call me dense, I finnaly got it.


Hey Check this out, anyone ever hear of or use these? Looks pretty interesting, for $30 I might just give them a try.

http://www.flatfoot.com/

[Canadian]

Hey Tim,

I agree with Olgakurt about finding somewhere softer to run. A field or chip trail would be your best bet.

Also, I made a huge gaff in my previous post. I over pronate. I had just been talking to a team mate of mine about the fact that he under pronates and how his ball spikes were killing his feet before I wrote my previous post and it must have stuck in my head.

Olgakurt is also right about seeing a podiatrist or orthopaedist before you start training. The right shoes and insoles will make things a lot more comfortable, and thus more enjoyable.