I got caught in the rain. It was probably the high point of my run. Let me explain.
As you all know, I haven't been doing too badly increasing my speed and distance with the way I've been running barefoot. Most of the method I've utilized has come from Michael Sandler's book. My goal through all of this has been to run painless (apart from the occasional lactic acid build up) and injury free (apart from the occasional bruise or scrape to the foot). Well I'm not quite there.
About a week ago when I ran my second 5k barefoot, I experienced some knee and shin discomfort. Ever the perfectionist, I've been supplementing my technique with that of Barefoot Ken Bob's.
Well I'm 3/4ths of the way through his book (past the part where you learn his technique and about half-way through some drills) and I decided to put it all to use.
His emphasis on knee-bending is a great take-away and something I hadn't concentrated on before. I'm feeling the pain from the different muscles used for that. Also the 1-2-3 landing (ball of foot, then toes or heel) has been difficult to master. According to Ken Bob, you should feel little if any calf soreness/pain from running his way. I guess I don't have it down.
There's also a bit about slightly rotating your hips naturally, and a gentle lean of your hips and lower body (not, as is common in Pose and Chi running, with your torso).
I started off my run with a really intense warm-up. I used the foam roller for a good 30 minutes getting at my glutes, quads and calves. There were some serious trigger points I'm going to have to keep working at.
Whether it was the rolling or the new form, I could only go about 1.39 miles. And I took a 15 second break a couple of times. Then it started pouring. I slipped on my VFFs and ran back home (of course my pace was a lot quicker). Needless to say, I'm a little disheartened. I feel like I'm at square one again. But I suppose, if, in the long run, I don't get a good form down, I'll continue down the same path I'd been on before.
The good news is that its only my muscles that are sore. And my ego.
The upshot is, its hard to gauge what's right when the proof is not in the pudding. In other words, doing something correctly, doesn't mean that you'll be faster or run farther -- at least not initially. And that's the hardest part.
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