Wednesdays coffee

Wednesday, January 22, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Thankfully the predicted storm for this area turned to a dusting! I am grateful that my cross training this morning will be that of strength training and not clearing our driveway. While the snow has evaded us, the frigid temperatures have returned! I ran yesterday at 4:00 and my Garmin indicated that the "real feel" was 2 degrees! Surprisingly while the colder temps made it a bit difficult on my breathing, overall I was comfortable to the point of enjoying the run. The sidewalks for the most part suck, but between running on the shoulder and dealing with the icy sidewalks I did okay. You definitely can't be running super fast when you are unable to see your footing, so my pace was somewhat easy and that's okay at this point. I ran a comfortable 6. something run and as I said; I enjoyed it. After I finished, I stopped to chat with my neighbor and he thought I was crazy, and my response was; "most runners are!" I would say this; when the wind is reasonably mild, running in the cold is much easier. Elizabeth Remillong January 18 near Durham, NH Gait analysis with mom today! Done by Michael Davis with No Finish Line Running, very informative and thorough, and we both got some great advice! Thanks Mike! This was a Facebook post that was written on Saturday and I believe I may have included it in my blog on Sunday but it is so meaningful that I want to touch on it again today. The great thing about a gait analysis is that people are learning so much about how they run and are most often surprised at what they see. This particular gait analysis was interesting because Elizabeth has studied running gait considerably and had already made some successful changes to her running form, yet we were able to further her improvement by spotting a couple subtle flaws. Her desire to maximize her technique for both running efficiency and performance was obvious in her running form and her willingness to further improve was refreshing. It is certainly easier to continue running however comes comfortable to us and somewhat accept the results. I don't think Elizabeth is looking to compete at future Olympics but she would like to run faster and she understands that means getting out of her comfort zone and challenging herself. Most everyone that gets a gait analysis has something that can help either their efficiency, performance or most importantly their running health and it really is a lot of fun to see peoples reaction. My coffee is done and now it is time to get my Wednesday strength training done. I got some great information last week from one of the best sports doctors in the country and I will pass it on in the coming weeks. I have already tweaked my "functional" strength training based on this information and you can be sure that I won't keep it to myself. Have a great Wednesday! Mike