Falling Forward

Hey, I put some new shoes on,

And suddenly everything is right,

I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,

It so inviting,

Oh, short on money, But long on time,

Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,

And I'm running late, dont need an excuse,

'cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes

(Paulo Nutini)

Well mondays night's run was a 5-ish mile trip round Stonehaven, and despite the new insoles the Saunconys were feeling, well, a bit...err solid and clunky. So that was it - definitely need new shoes. With the best part of 400miles on them, the Sauconys had had there day and needed to be retired so it back into Run4It to try the ASICs they had got in for me on. I have to say they felt good and compliant in the shop, and since they have a great reputation for cushioning the heavy runner, so as long as they fitted I was going to buy them - which I did [obviously].

Tonights run was planned to be back round Scolty hill at Banchory again, but gale force, freezing winds and occasional blizzards during the day persuaded me to stick to shelter. As I headed out of the flat for a trip round Ury Estate north of Stonehaven, the ASICs felt lovely. Just like my first pair of Sauconys did. Not squishy or indistinct underfoot, but rather soft and compliant. Good choice was the first impression. The other matter to attend to was my attitude. Not my mental state or outlook on running, but the way I run. I know I have a strange running style. I seem to lean backwards with my legs pulling me forwards each step and while it feels ok for me, I know it looks bizarre. Really really odd, and photos of me running rarely look like I'm actually moving at all. I believe it is due to my highly trained [not!] super relaxed abdominal muscles as the picture below shows.

I know I need to change how I run if I'm to improve, and tonights focus was on leaning forward as espoused by several of the current running books. I have to say the whole 'falling forward' thing is a bit odd for me, not least as it means I 'm looking down slightly and not ahead as I usually do. It took a bit of concentration to try and hold that position, but I found a couple of mental images and preprioceptive thoughts to hold onto and they seemed to help. The result? I seemed to run noticably faster, but breathing was a but harder at first, and heart rate was up a bit. However when I got past my usual 5 mile warm up period that all became a bit easier and while heart rate was up, it was comfortable and breathing was slow and easy.

All told a cracking run. The first decent one in ages. 6.1 miles in 57 minutes, including a a stiff climb out of Stonehaven, and a few stops for traffic etc. What's more the shoes felt fabulous, the ITB gave no more than the slightest tiny twitch to remind me it's still there [but responding really well to rehabilitation] and I was running freely for the first time in a couple of weeks, and felt like I could have gone on easily enough. What more could any runner ask for? Not running in an evening blizzard in mid april for a start perhaps.....