Went for a fun last night in the Thunderstorm and some light rain which was quite nice. Am following the couch to 5k program loosely to get the running up to speed. I am trying to utilise a different gait - shorter stride and fast turn over , landing on the ball of the foot, not the heel. So basically barefoot running with shoes.
Why am I trying to concentrate on my weight and running? They go hand in hand with decreasing the risk of injury. The reduction of weight means less loading on joints (I think when running your joints strike at a force of something like 8-13G's so being 20kg overweight mean I'm stressing my knees between 160-260kg each and every step I take). Not to mention the decreased oxygen requirement and cardiovascular risk reduction....
The running component is a mixture of decreasing energy expenditure, increasing speed (hopefully) and decreasing injury. This is attained via the body's natural shock absorbers the fore/mid foot and the calves instead of the heel. The increased speed is via the decreased tiredness/pain of heel striking.
Links to a couple of good articles
No comments:
Post a Comment