I am a Pose convert - proof is in the pudding (where the hell did that phrase originate from?)

The secondary title of this post is : thank you Yvonne! Yvonne, who is in my tri group, makes great cookies and whose blog I read. She has been struggling with a lot of foot and running injuries in the past 2 years. She mentioned something about this new method of running. I thought, great - I really don't have time for yet another thing to attend. But I went to ask her (Yvonne) about orthotics, she wrote about running in a way that didn't injure you, so you didn't need orthotics. Intrigued.....

  Pose Method of running. Can check out here http://www.posetech.com/pose_method/pose-method.html 

I'd probably screw it up trying to fully explain, but it is based on very logical principals, biomechanics really. There is a natural way of running that uses our body and gravity, but most runners don't run that way. We run the way we think we're "supposed" to run. Interesting side note to all this, is that children run in this natural way, but it somehow gets taught out of them.

Running unnaturally causes a lot of force to hit your body in unnatural ways. Example - I heel strike. I was told I might as well just hit a hammer to my heel three times for every step. In addition, I run with my legs in front of me. So I'm basically just stopping myself (well letting the ground and gravity) from going forward. Imagine an almost hitching movement - step, stop, step, stop, step, stop. Very inefficient. No wonder I felt I was running "hard" and not going anywhere.

In addition, the unnatural leg positions also cause force to go up the leg, causing hip and knee problems.

[Valerie - if I'm screwing up this explanation, please correct me! But I think I got the jist of it]

Notice that I consistently was a heel striker! with one leg far out in front of me and the other behind. Even as recently as IM Florida.

 Now recent race photos after learning Pose method:

Much better body position - no heel strike or legs in front of me. Notice the second picture. You can almost draw a straight line from my neck to my hips to my foot to the ground. This transfers any force upward through the body and spine (evenly I think) instead of jarringly on the hip or knee.  A slight lean forward to use gravity (which is free!) to go forward.  Almost perfect form (my lifted foot should be parallel to the ground.)   

So form is great and all, but so what? Two weeks ago I ran a half-marathon. My friend was running her first, so I went to support and pace her. I ran it pretty slowly. I stopped at the portapotties a lot for some reason, so she would keep going and I would sprint ahead to find her. When I ran with her, it was an easy pace for me. Still, I averaged 10:45 minute miles over 13 miles and this was feeling like it was easy run! I did a little test - I ran next to a guy, matched his cadence step for step - and was going faster! I noticed I was spending more time in the air, so using much less effort, going faster, running more efficiently! 

This all completely makes sense. Swimming is all about form and technique. Cycling less so, but it's emphasized as well (and I've gotten stronger learning about proper foot position etc in spin class). Why not running? Makes more sense than anything else, since most people are injured running. Duh, revolutionary I think. I'm a convert.

Their motto is "Love to run." Not sure if I'm there yet, but I like it much more!

Comments

[Yvonne]

Wow Jane thanks for the mad props! Your form looks AWESOME, you can see a HUGE difference in those pics. I'm so glad you found the clinic so helpful. I too have learned a lot and I think you explained it very well.

I'm a heel striker too. I'm constantly trying to work on trying to push my chest and hips forward more (like the last side pic you posted). Isn't it weird how we teach ourselves to work against gravity and not with it?

Thanks for the "thanks". I feel special to be mentioned in your blog :) and happy to see that Pose has helped you. I'm a believer!

[RA]

Wow, this is really something for me to look into. Running has always been a struggle for me and I work hard and 'feel like I'm going NOwhere!' How long did it take you to re-learn?

[trigreyhound]

Very good pics for comparison, Doc. Good on you for all the changes and improvements.