Today was my appointment at MPI and I sat down with Coaches Mark and John. It was a really neat session, since both coaches offered advice. We talked for a while about how I got started running, what happened 15 years and more ago with my knees, my training plan, what's going on with my back now, and a bunch of things. Then we went upstairs to the fitness center and they showed me the Trigger Point Therapy kit. Wow! What a neat thing! I tried out the rollers on my legs and found some knots I didn't realize were there and worked them out. Then Mark showed me the massage ball and he worked it in my back. To my surprise, the pain lessened drastically in jut a few minutes. I worked it again a little later and I felt such relief. I imagine that Cherryl will be able to make a huge difference when I get to see her. She had to cancel on me today.
Then Mark started talking to me about running and proper form. He mentioned cadence and I told him mine was 80. He was impressed that I knew mine. He said that I should work at getting to 90. We talked about how the foot should strike the ground, how the upper body should be loose, and several other features of running posture. Then he got on the treadmill and I got to watch his feet and form as he ran at different paces and cadences. Then I got on the treadmill and they had me just walk for a while. When they were behind me I heard some comments about how one knee rolled in more than another, but I really couldn't hear them and I don't think they wanted me to. It isn't something they wanted me to focus on; they just wanted to see what I do naturally. Then we picked up the pace into a jog. They commented that my foot lands just forward of my hip, causing a slight overstride. When they asked me to try and quicken my cadence that disappeared and I was hitting in the right spot. Interesting. Then the other interesting thing was that my arms tend to swing a little across my body rather than straight back and forth. When I tried to adjust, they said that it didn't look natural, so I should just keep doing what was natural. Their concern was whether it was causing any rotation at the waist which would put some strain on the back. They decided that it wasn't, or at least wasn't appreciably twisting, so they were OK with it.
So my task, when I'm up to it, is to increase my cadence (and "shorten my stride") so that my feet land under my hips in the proper location. They both recommend staying away from the run until I can see Cherryl and get some of these muscles loosened back up. They are on board with me doing cross training and showing the bike some love this week rather than running. After the massage they recommend not going whole hog and getting back into it nice and easy. Mark also revised my training plan. Instead of a steady increase, he put in a recovery week. He also suggested that I do a 10 to 15 minute -- no more than that --- run the day before the race to keep loose.
It was a really great session. I learned a lot. Mark and John were impressed by my new PR from Saturday and the fact that it was 6:11 off my first 5k time, barely 6 months ago. They said that I am now an Athlete. One who trains in a sport, pays money to enter a race, and then deals with pain from an overuse injury.
After that session I went to Running Wild and purchased a Trigger Point Therapy kit. I wanted at least one of the massage balls, but thought the foot roller was a good idea. I didn't get the leg roller. I figure if I find that I need it I can go back and get it. There are two massage balls in the kit. I think I'm going to put one in my purse so I can use it as I need it.
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