My Running Journal, 032410

Today was the first of my Crossfit Endurance workouts. Which factored in nicely with all of the short distance running that I have been doing. The workout that I am starting with is a time trial (TT) for a short course – which means run 5k as fast as you can.

So I ran 3.45 miles as “fast” as I could. Instead of going hell for leather, I ran as fast as I could while maintaining form. So I finished 3.45 miles in 34:18. Which seems like a long time to me, but I ran a new route, and from mile 1.5 to mile 2.5 was a continuous hill climb, covering about 200 vertical feet, most of which was right at the end of the hill. I’m also trying to figure out how I was averaging a pace of 10:30 in the first mile, but completed the first mile in 9:30, and how my second mile was at a pace of 9:35, but I completed it in 8:43? However that works, I ran a pretty decent pace given the hill involved and my trying to focus solely on maintaining my form.

Which, I discovered, is pretty poor. I really need to find a coach, or get on a treadmill and have someone film me run. On the final leg of the run, I was passing in front of shops with large windows. This allowed me to view my form while I was running. While it is hard to really focus on your reflection in a window next to you while you are running, I managed a few peeks. And I noticed several things. The most glaring issue is my hips and torso. I could really see that my chest was raised, my back was arched, and my butt was out. I had a really pronounced lumbar curve and my posture was very upright. Which isn’t what I want – I am aiming for a forward lean and a neutral torso.

Part of the problem, I think, is that I am running with my abdominal muscles relaxed. Which is allowing my spinal muscles to bear the load, and which is probably pulling my lumbar curve even further out. So I experimented a little bit with pulling my belly button towards my spine and tensioning my abs over all. I didn’t see much change as I was running past the various windows, but I could feel a slight difference. I need to find a treadmill and someone to video me while I run (or at least set up a tripod with my camera).

A good concept for me to keep in mind was first introduced to me while practicing Taijiquan a couple of years ago. Honestly, I wish it had been clearly explained and reinforced while I was a teenager, or before then. The concept is that all movement originates from the core and ends in the extremities. In the martial arts that I was practicing, the idea is that, ideally, you originate your power and movement from your lower dantian (your center of gravity). You then direct that through to your extremities. Something that is becoming quite clear to me, since injuring my abdominal oblique, is that I have failed to incorporate this idea. I thought that I had it – as I can hiptoss people, whip a punch out without utilizing too much of my shoulder to generate the movement, and am really aware of my center of gravity. But truly incorporating the idea of core to extremity really means engaging the core muscles. And it has become obvious to me, based on what I glimpsed in the windows, that I am depending almost exclusively on the muscles that are in my lumbar region for this. When I sprint, I really start to feel a funny, weak joint sensation in my lumbar region. And this also comes in when I would do work on any gymnastic apparatus where your lower body is a pendulum – high bar, rings, parallel bars. Core to extremities – I need to keep my abs tighter when I run or perform any exercise, in order to protect my low back. 20+ years of working out and learning about all of this, and now I am actively thinking about its integration.

I’ve hammered out my workout schedule – and barring further injury I believe that I can handle it. Regular Crossfit on the weekdays, with a CFE workout on Wednesday and Saturday.

I think I am going to sign up for the Race for Roses 5k, to see if my 5k time improves. It will have been about a month from the Shamrock run, and the Race for the Roses track has less of a hill climb in it than the Shamrock run does. We will see.