Posture Injury Prevention tip

Heather North has posted an injury prevention tip in the July 2013 Revolution Running exPress - Monthly Newsletter.

I can attest to the accuracy of this tip. I have spent my own career hunched over at a desk and have developed lower back pain. I had severe back pain last summer that I was able to correct by popping my left hip/femur joint while lying with my tailbone on a rolled up towel. Heather has predicted this injury and she also says desk bound runners lack the muscular strength to hold the proper posture during running. I tried Heather's posture guidelines on my next run after reading her post. About halfway through the run I realized that like Heather predicted, I was not holding the correct posture for my head and shoulders. I tucked my chin, put my shoulders back and imagined I was being lifted by a pole up the back of my head. My left hip joint immediately popped exactly like when I lie on the rolled up towel. I was totally amazed. Running while slouched over for years is what has been causing my back pain. Now I am trying to strengthen my posture muscles. I have not found any exercises to do this but will continue to keep good posture at all times in order to strengthen the muscles.

Running form screenshot

Here is the Revolution Running form tips I have found so useful. These are from their monthly newsletter and written by Heather North.

My Bolder Boulder 10K results for 2013

I am pleased to have finished the Bolder Boulder 10K in 2013. It was a lesson in humility because I was way slower than my predicted time.

Gymboss Minimax Review: Lunch is at Zero

My new Gymboss Minimax has freed me from the tyranny of the stopwatch when I run 10-20-30 intervals. The two key features are 3 intervals and a vibrating alarm. I run 10-20-30 intervals and need a timer capable of three sequential intervals. The regular Gymboss allows only 2 intervals but the Gymboss Minimax allows 24 and you can save the program. I have hearing loss and cannot hear an audible alarm so the vibrating end of interval alarm is what I use. My program has 5 sets of 10 s interval (90% effort), followed by 20 s interval (70% effort), followed by 30 s interval (30%) effort. This is repeated 5 times. The alarm pulses continuously at the conclusion of the fifth interval. I clip the Gymboss Minimax onto my running shorts and can feel the vibrating alarm on my abdomen. I hit the start button, run 5 10-20-30 intervals and hit the start button again to reset for another 5 interval session. Not having to look at my watch has allowed me to concentrate on my speed and form during my intervals. The Minimax also has a stopwatch mode I use for my tempo and long runs. The only quirk I have discovered is in the time of day mode. It does not have a 12th hour, 12:35 is displayed as 00:35. While this is numerically correct I have trouble thinking "Lunch is at Zero."

Running Tip: What to do with your arms

Today's running tip comes from the Revolution Running's Bolder Boulder training newsletter. Buried in a running form section was a tip that says the backward drive of your arms drives the body forward. I have always thought the forward motion of my arms contributes to my body's forward motion but I decided to try their suggestion during my latest tempo run. They said to hold your arms in a 90 degree position and swing them 1/3 in front and 2/3 to the rear. I started doing this when I began my warm up to the start of my tempo and immediately found I have been running wrong since my college cross country days. The change in my posture, form and balance was dramatic. And I was still in my warm up. The scary thing was if I stopped driving my arms backward during my tempo run I could instantly feel a loss of momentum. The good news is I am not too old to learn. I looked all over on Revolution Running's website for the Bolder Boulder tips so I could post the link for others. I could not find it and it seems these tips were only in the newsletter.

Shoe Review: Nike Structure Triax 16 after 300 miles

I got my first pair of Structure 16's in October 2012. I had put 300 miles on them by March when they were retired and I bought another pair of the same shoe. That pretty much sums up my opinion of them, I like them so much I bought another pair. I liked the Structure 16 on my first run with them. They are stable and lightweight. I used them for intervals, tempos and long runs. My only concern was how durable they were because the dynamic arch support can only take so many shocks. I found out the dynamic arch support lasts 300 miles. One day they were fine and the next day they were deflated. I was surprised because the outer soles hardly had any wear. They lasted 50 more miles than my Structure 15's however. I highly recommend these shoes to other moderate overpronators like myself, Galin Rupp and Mark Plaatjes.

Tempo length for Bolder Boulder 10K training

I am running a tempo or threshold run of 5K in preparation for the upcoming 2013 Bolder Boulder 10K. I will run this once a week in May. I run them at my threshold pace of 8:51 mm except for the tempo run 2 weeks before the BB when I will run at my predicted 10K pace of 8:43. How I came up with these paces is the subject of my last post. This post is my reasons for training with a 5K tempo. Runners who train for fitness or 5K are advised to run a minimum tempo of 20 minutes duration. I run my 2.3 mi course in 22:00. I add one .9 miles lap to get a 3.2 mile or 5K tempo run.