Tired running

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning and pull up that chair and a cup of good strong coffee! Happily this week is moving along, but not so happily (at least for most of us), we are facing a snow storm tomorrow! Ugh... Not even knowing what the temperature will be first thing in the morning tomorrow, I am pretty sure I will get my run in early. I for one am ready for May and sidewalk running. Yesterday Kathy and I got a nice 5 mile run in and the running conditions were close to perfect for February, so that was nice. It seems that my hard work and paying attention to detail have helped me a great deal in changing my running gait (form). My knees are definitely much more involved which lead to greater participation of my gluts and hamstrings and those are all good indicators of improved running form. Still not easy, particularly when I begin to tire but that's when I am required to focus the most. Yesterday after the run I did a gait analysis on a women and she talked about her running and how her form definitely gets worse as she gets into longer runs and that's quite common. Like me many runners are able to maintain okay form during shorter distances, but as the distances get longer we start to get tired, lazy and weaker and that leads to subtle changes for some and not so subtle changes for others. Unfortunately even the slightest change has an affect on our running efficiency and leads to a greater potential for injury. Starting out with good running technique is the first step and then maintaining it is critical. It can be difficult to even know when we are changing our form because as I said it can be subtle many times and over time it becomes our norm. The women I worked with yesterday mentioned that she notices that as she tires that her heels start to kick her other foot. That is most definitely a sign of her hips caving in and her line of motion is not stable. Possibly tired adductors are the culprit with her and now she's experiencing some soreness in her hips. For her it starts with her initial running gait and gets worse as she gets tired. Like me she needs to first know what she looks like, then learn what she should look like, then work on some exercises that help her with awareness, strength and balance and then put it altogether and build a better running gait. Simple right? May not be as simple as we would like, but much easier than you might think. It is all a process and if we are patient and stick with the process we can see the changes and that helps to build on each successful change. Way to many runners take the easy way out and believe that they can't change their running gait, but that is untrue. Doing something repeatedly for 35 years has not served me well, but I have made some changes and I see the difference it has made. I have much work ahead of me, but that's okay, I want to run healthier and with much more efficiency and the effort will be worthwhile. Not to sell myself short, but if I can make changes to my lifelong running technique, I have no doubt anyone can. As I said, first we need to know what we look like? Then what we should look like. Finally we need to do things that help us become aware of, stronger and more balanced. Put it altogether and work at it! It is all a process, but one that is worth the effort. Time to go workout and continue that journey to strengthening and awareness. Have a great day and stay warm! Mike