Running a l-o-n-g gap!

Runing after a l-o-n-g gap of 21 days!! ran very slowly, and importantly, managed to keep a forefoot strike, though in the so-called “old” shoes (not the new cheaper ones). Ran only 5 KMs, with an average of 7:51, the HR was going up though — is it because of not running for so long? Anyway, felt good to have re-started running and finished 5k without any muscle pain. Hope to run tomorrow again.

Zoning wasn’t too good either, as is clear from the above figures. Well, there is a lot of scope for improvement!

Both legs struck by pain

The average for 5 KMs was 7:23, not good, but what is worse is that I got cramps on both legs again. What I figured is that I need about 16 runs (4 runs a week for 4 weeks) to get to feeling OK with the new foot strike, and have done only 9 so far including today’s. I was expecting a painles affair today as I took two day’s rest after the last run on the 30th (I had to, on the 1st to listen to Ayesha’s talk at the Safdar event on The Politics of Multilinguality and on the 2nd my own talk on Inclusion and Deaf Education at the Sambhavana event). The toes didn’t pain though, and just to make sure, I was wearing (as on the 30th) an extra layer of socks. The zoning was pretty OK as almost 98% of the time was spent at Zones 3 and 4. The average HR of 157 bpm was good too. The experiment is going well but the muscles had better get used to the new strike soon!

Back to basics

The little blister from yesterday subdued considerably today and I decided to run. However, I took the precaution of covering it with band-aid and also wearing an extra layer of soft cotton socks inside. As a result, I didn’t have any problem in running. I ran 6k in 44:17 with an average of 7:22. This avaerage is kind of ok though much higher than my usual average at this stage of my training but I must remember that with the new technique this is like learning it all over again. It certainly steadily decreasing since I started with the nwe foot strike (yesterday it was 7:42). In short, I am not too bothered about it yet, all I want at this stage is to get used to the new foot strike so it becomes the natural foot strike for me. After this I will work on bending the knees. Today I did work on the HR and I think it’s well under control again with a healthy average of 158 bpm. The full record of the 6 KMs is here:

record 3011

The fact that things went pretty much as planned and desired is clealry visible in the zoning which is now back to the usual major chunk of time being spent in zones 3 and 4:

zones 3011

The steady reduction in time as I progressed through KMs 2-6 is noticeable and is a sign of a well planned run. After the reading the latest thoughts of Prof Noakes about how the mind controls a race — you can win only if you want to win — I tried it on myself today with respect to the blister and some soreness in the bottom of both feet. And it worked. Of course, how I’d have done if I ran longer but at this stage it is the right kind of distance to run, I wil go beyond 10k only after my foot and muscles get used to the new style and injuries lessen.

Running is more brain than brawn

I think, what I did yesterday (28.11.09) was no flash in the pan, it really IS the matter of shoes. Even till yesterday I had at least this doubt whether the experiment is really, finally over, or was it just a fluke. Today’s run proved that it wasn’t. I ran 10k (after a long time), with a pretty slow average of 7:42 — almost like the time when it was very humid in Delhi (all of July) — and in fact, like before, there were even two rounds with more than 8 minutes a KM, but still, it was very satisfying in the sense that I am thus truly back to running without problems. Zoning too was pretty bad as almost an hour was spent in Zone 4, and 11 minutes in zone 5, the time spent in Zone 3 was disproportionately less (5 minutes).

Also, till yesterday, I was not sure if I am on the road to recovery naturally, that is, whether it’d take that much time anyway for anyone who is changing their foot strike, or whether it was because of the shoes. I thought more about it and here is what I think. They say, if you’re changing your foot strike, first, don’t do it but if you insist anyway, then it’s gonna hurt for weeks before you can feel comfortable. It is true that I did spend a few weeks after the ADHM (Nov 1st), but as it is clear from yesterday’s blog post, I ran only five times before yesterday after the ADHM. So that won’t really count as running for few weeks. This then discounts the ‘natural’ explanation for no injuries yesterday, leaving the new, no-frills shoes as the only reason for lack of injury yesterday AND today. So, 16 KMs without injury in two days. McDougall is indeed right that it’s the fancy shoes that prevents the natural movement of the foot/ leg causing more and more injuries. In fact, I think I was lucky that I could run continuously for one full year in those earlier running shoes and could even finish the target half marathon before starting to get injured. Well, going by the theory espoused in the book Born to Run, it may be because that pair was a lot less expensive than the usual running shoes, more expensive shoes would cause greater damage to you feet, and now it seems, they will also do so earlier.

There is one expected problem though with the canvas shoes that I am now experimenting with. For a longer run (even 10k today), you start feeling the pressure on your toes from the thin inside lining which is completely un-cushioned. Recall though that this is also due to the fact that I am now running with a pre-dominantly mid-foot strike. In fact, the foot strike was definitely better today when I could actually FEEL the ball of the feet striking the ground first and the heels barely touching the ground soon after — different from what I felt yesterday. So the thinness of the shoe and the new foot strike combined to cause minor clots on the outside edge of the big toe on both feet:

This, I believe, is the price I have to pay to change the foot strike pattern, and also because it will take time for the feet to get used to running without cushion after so long. It’s almost like running barefoot and will of course take time. The important thing is that there was no muscle soreness and certainly no cramps. There is also another factor, though it may be too early to judge the effectiveness of that yet. I have been trying to do some of the new stretching exercises for sometime now but always after the race. Now, Beaulieu clearly says that if you can do stretching only once, it’s always better to do it before rather than after running. So today I followed that advice and did all the 17 suggested stretching exercise routines in J. E. Beaulieu (1981) ‘Developing a stretching Programme’ in Physician and Sports Medicine 9 (p59-69) mentioned in Noakes’ Lore of Running BEFORE going for the run. Many of these exercises require sitting or lying down, and the ones where the knees have to be bent require some carpet thickness cushioning under and it was good to do it at home rather on the road or on the wet grass in the park.

The other nagging problem that I am yet to work out through is the HR going up too soon with the new style — thankfully the HR worked fine today, apparently after PUSH PAIR one has to press the lap button if the device cannot locate the monitor automatticaly. Anyhow, the HR shot up to 184 bpm in the first lap itself. This is way too high, so I slowed down progressively to bring it down to the 160s, still the average was 163, not so good. Midway through the run, or may be after four laps, I decided to concentrate one thing at a time and that was to make sure that the foot strike takes place under the body. Also I tried to control the HR with this. It worked till I decided to then include bending of the knees too, the moment I started to add this, the HR went up again. Bit strange I thought but I soon realised that the new style does make running kind of automatic which in turn makes it faster and the HR goes up. Also bending the knees meant more work and the HR going up. So there are these 3/ 4 variables that I’ve to work through — I am sure it’s going to be fun, running’s turning out to be more brain than brawn!

Relaxo

Finally, I think I can see the “light”! After a long while (almost a month) I ran without any discernible pain — and in fact with the pain of muscle cramp from yesterday — for 6 k. It may be recalled that after that great half marathon on 1st Nov 2009, I have ran only 5 times before today in 28 days totaling a pathetic 35 Kms (whereas my weekly average used by above 40). Moreover, this period was marked by two major events: (i) according to most estimates my earlier pair of shoes reached a stage where a new pair must be bought (more than 500 miles), and (ii) I started to have problems with my lower leg muscles during all the 5 runs prior to today’s run. The scores of websites on running would love to jump at the conclusion that obviously these two are connected. I thought that too, old shoes, therefore injury. Recall also that the third important event during this period, one which was under my control, was my discovery that if I changed my foot strike from heel to forefoot, I got temporary relief from muscle cramp in the lower legs. However, during the last few runs this effort of changing the foot strike must have been the cause of the injuries. In addition, there was also the fourth, and the most important event taking place around this time — finally a positive event — the arrival of Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run. I consider myself very lucky that all of this was happening almost at the same time in my running life, giving me this rare opportunity to learn something quickly about several crucial aspects of running and also to see it uncovered before my eyes the billion dollar shoes business based on running injuries and in fact, exploiting such conditions. Much of the book is story telling (and good ones too) but some previously known facts here and there are analysed clearly for the first time in this book at one place making it a must read for runners. For me, it was just great that I could experience all this within a relatively short period of time and through happenings around my own running life.

Now about the light — yes, I ran 6k without difficulty and without aggravating the cramp I suffered yesterday. The secret? Well, I ran today after purchasing, yes, a new pair of shoes — but one costing only Rs 300, a simple model of Relaxo canvas shoes. Here’s how it looks:

The good thing about it is that I didn’t have to much worry about the foot strike, I ran with whatever the most natural foot strike with these shoes on was, which, I think was almost a mid-foot strike — it started from the edge of the mid-to-lower foot and rolled towards the midfoot and the heel at the same time. This is not a strike which I have read about or seen described elsewhere. I must also mention the fact that neither McDougall nor the other sites advocating barefoot or minimal wear running mention canvas shoes, at least I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere. I have been thinking along these lines myself and after finally figuring out myself my foot type and lack of pronation in my running style (and after some so-called self-advertised well-known running coach from Canada refusing to answer my emails about my running style), I had decided that minimal heel support and some cushioning is what I should look for — canvas shoes was the obvious answer.

So this was almost like barefoot running, with minimal covering. So the foot strike must have been natural too. All I was ‘trying’ to do was to make sure that the foot strike happens under my body, that I bend my knees, that the foot-change happens under my body too, and that (after reading a book on Chi Running) I stay bent forward a bit. All this happened today, I won’t say easily, but they were falling in place. And ‘naturally’ I was running fast, the first lap was wrapped up in 5:38! The 2nd lap was not measured properly, the HR display still acting up and I was trying to make it work. 3rd to 5th laps were just above 7 each and the last one was 6:33. The average HR was above 165 (yes, the HR did start to work finally). So I think the average must have been surely below 7, which is what I used to do just before the recent spate of injuries.

So, long live Relaxo!

Experimenting with the foot strike

Ran after 12 days and it wasn’t good still — got cramps on both calf muscles of both the legs. I am about to complete Born to Run by Christopher McDougall — and a completely new world of deceit and commercial interest is being revealed to me, it’s a great learning experience. As I’ve mentioned before, it has come to me at the right moment when apparently I’d reached the stage (post 500 miles) where shoes must be changed and also the time when I was experimenting with my foot strike. In short, I am going through a crucial stage of transformation into a style of running that would cause less and less injuries. And if I plan to run for long (which I do), I must strive towards an injury-free style of running. All that is fine, but not what I am actually going through — it is as if I am learning to run again, in fact, I am going through exactly the stages that I’d gone through when I started to run, leg cramps, stomach pain, breathing difficulty for the first two laps, etc. After having been running smoothly with hardly a problem worth my consideration, and enjoying it immensely too, it has been difficult to be stung by beginner’s injuries preventing me from running.
Anyway, the details are as follows: ran 4.25 k before being forced to stop. Laps 3 and 4 are one lap (a total of 7:24 min). The HR monitor too didn’t work (it started to work AFTER the run!), so no heart rates. I slowed down considerably after the 1st lap when the first calf cramp hit my right leg, it reduced a bit because of slow running but soon I developed the same kind of pain on the left leg, still kept on running, but then finally got a more intense cramp on the right again — that’s when I decided to stop (HAD to stop).

Muscle Cramp

Was desperate to run, not having run for the last 4 days; the quadriceps possible tear continues but the cramp developed during the last run was gone but still was in two minds about running today. This has been the case for sometime, and it is certainly due to the undecisiveness about getting new shoes and also the footstrike — these two aspects are of course related, as I discovered sometime back. I’ve been experimenting ever since I developed unexplained pain in lower limbs just before the ADHM. The experiment has been with footstrike and I was not at all sure where I was going with this experiment as sometime it’d feel like a good thing and sometimes not so. I was sure that the leg muscles are trying to get used to the new strike — almost like learning to run again. Today’s story is no different, except that there was a twist to the tale, or the shoes.

The lap times are all above 7 — basically I’ve gone back to the humidity laden days as far as the timing is concerned. Took 34 minutes for 4 laps and another 600 meters — I HAD to stop running then. If you look at the graph for the lap 5 (incomplete), it becomes very clear that halfway after the first 500 m, I almost stopped — the sudden drop after 3 minutes is clear:

The unfinished 5th Lap

Yes, I got a cramp yet again at the same position as on the 9th, calf of the right leg. Though I wouldn’t like to believe that this is due to the shoes, that’s I did a further experimenting today. I’ve been thinking of trying out my old ShoeTree shoes bought in Dec ’08, almost a year ago and quite worn out, although I’ve been wearing it everyday — it’s my shoe for daily use. It’s leather with rubber sole. I’ve been thinking of using it mainly because it feels quite comfortable and quite “close” to the ground under my feet. And given the recent discussion everywhere about bare foot running or minimal footwear running, I thought it might be a good idea. So I tried it on today. Well, it was OK as far as the feel was concerned except that my little toe of the left leg was hurting a bit, but that was due to the footstrike, since it hurt earlier too with the running shoes when I changed my strike to forefoot. However, it was making a lot of noise, otherwise it was fine. Making noise would really mean that it will wear out much faster. I think that’s due to the strike pattern shifting to the forefoot rather than due to the shoe material.

There was another further experiment that I performed with the foot strike. After having watched a lot of videos on the YuTube on footstrike this week, I realised that it’s not the toes that I should aim to land on but rather the mid-foot — perhaps even along with the heel. So I aimed for that and that’s why the run became much slower. So two things, (1) landing on mid-foot, and (2) running in a shoe with very little padding.

I’ve also been advised by Steve to bend forward a little and run, well I did that too. And right when I was feeling like having solved all the nagging problems, I got this sudden cramp without any warning and had to stop almost immediately.

I did a very short routine of stretching but walked fast for 2 laps — it was ok to walk. However, climbing stairs to the flat later was difficult and after ice-hot water treatment, it’s not improved much. So no running for another few days — which is a good thing anyway because by Monday I hope to get a copy of the ‘Barefoot Running’ book meant for me and bought all the way from San Francisco! I might be able to decide on the strike and shoe issues afterall.