Slow It Goes

A’s IT band is still far from one hundred percent, but his heart is no longer completely buried in his wounded knee.  He has been making both metaphorical and literal strides in his recovery, and we’ve been back to going on short, flat, slow runs together.

I am taking advantage of our decreased pace to experiment with some technical adjustments that might help my form and stamina.  I read about a rhythmic breathing technique in Runner’s World that advocates three steps for the inhale, two steps for the exhale.  Thanks to my swimming, I often find myself breathing in some kind of rhythm while running, but this technique was really difficult for me to execute.  I had moments where I think I got the hang of it, but then it would disappear.  I think I’m so used to the three- or four-count meter that is the standard for Western music that using an alternating five-count is hard to intuit and maintain organically.  It's too early to tell if this kind of breathing is reaping any benefit, but I might try it a few more times to see how it feels.

Another thing I'm working on is being mindful to only move forward with every step.  This sounds like it should be obvious, but I think I have the tendency to splay my foot outward once I push off from the ground.  This leads to me planting my foot back onto the ground diagonally in front of me instead of straight ahead.  This means I'm not advancing forward the full length of my stride and translates into wasted energy that gets compounded over the course of many miles.  To combat this problem, I have been watching my feet as they land on the ground, making sure my toes are directly in front of my heel and I'm not landing pigeon-toed.  I find that when I turn my hips out like a ballerina, my feet end up at the proper angle.  It’s an odd feeling, but hopefully the more I work on it, the less extreme it will feel.

And finally, in an effort to experience the best of both the road-running and trail-running worlds, instead of sticking solely to pavement, I’m starting to seek patches of uneven terrain in the urban landscape.  These are mostly found in the small swatch of earth between the sidewalk and the curb, an area that apparently is called many different things but has no official name.  I’ll run along this strip of land if there are no major obstructions while A nurses his knee on the sidewalk beside me.

Hopefully the things that I am working on will incorporate themselves so wholly into my running technique that I eventually won’t have to even think about them.  Because I know it won’t be long until A is back to peak form and I’ll be huffing and puffing just to keep up again!