NFLR and Krempels

Wednesday, November 13, 2013 · Mike Davis

Good morning and happy hump day! With the half marathon training group having crossed the finish line Sunday we have turned our attention to raising some money for the Krempels Center. In case you don’t know anything about the Krempels Center check out http://www.krempelscenter.org/. This amazing organization helps so many people who suffer from traumas to the brain and I have personally been blessed to have met a couple of folks that have been associate with Krempels. Our first thought was to try and find an organization to support that would be more in line with Christmas, but Krempels kind of fly’s under the radar during this time of year, yet their work doesn’t take a break during the holidays. Most people wouldn’t know who Krempels is if not for events such as the Red Hook 5K and yet they provide numerous services to people of all ages that suffer with brain traumas. NFLR offering a free gait analysis with an optional donation is a small gesture on our part, but we really hope that people will take advantage of this opportunity and contribute a little token in return. I was asked by the very first person to respond; “How much should he donate?” I was not ready for that question, because I honestly haven’t put an amount that I expect from people. If we bring some awareness and little money, I guess that would be good. If we bring awareness and a significant amount of money, that would be fantastic! While the NFLR budget is not large, we will match up to a certain amount. I truly hope the amount we raise is significantly higher than we can match, but in the end whatever it is will be great. Being honest about another motive is only fair, so running a month long event for free gait analysis is also a way of introducing NFLR to the public, as well as Medical Motion Gait Analysis. This Medical Motion gait analysis system is not an app on an IPad, but instead a full service gait analysis system that allows us to dissect a step by step running gait, determining range of motion, measuring degrees of movement and much more. From this analysis we are able to determine in-efficiencies, flaws and mechanical problems, then recommend ways to correct them. If you have a particular injury that is beyond our scope we have resources that we can seek out to view your gait analysis and recommend a course of action. I am super excited about a meeting I have later this week with a potential resource partner that will fit perfect with our goal to help all runners. NFLR continues to devise ways to serve the running community and over the next few months we hope to bring more great new services! We are always looking for your thoughts and ideas, so please drop an email the Jenn@nofinishlinerunning.com. With the end of the half marathon training group I am rolling back my mileage and trying to adjust to a pair of zero drop running shoes that I attempted to run in a while back. The problem I had when I first tried them was that I didn’t take the time to train my body appropriately and that resulted in shin splints. Appropriate with any minimalist shoe is something like 5 minutes of walking followed by 5 minutes of running, for a couple miles. Of course I had no time for that and of course the results were not good! So now I am doing just that, 5 walk/ 5 run for a little over 2 miles. Not exactly building up my long distance capability, but hopefully training my gait the right way. The particular shoes I am trying are the Asics Excel 33s, which has a 10mm heel drop (height difference between heel and forefoot) which Asics believes to be the best biomechanical position, reducing the load on the Achilles tendon, calf muscles and hamstring. I like that I have greater feel of my foot strike thus giving me better gait control. So far (after 2 walk/ runs) I am pleased with things, but I need to stay patient and stick with my plan. I’ll let you know how it goes. Well it’s time to go workout. Have a great Wednesday and don’t forget to email us about a gait analysis! Mike