Back to Running School: It's not like me to exaggerate but....

Practice Makes Perfect

After last weeks session I was feeling pretty motivated to practice my homework exercises. I did these at home in my living room and although I'm not sure that this is recommended I did them while I was half watching TV (writing this has now prompted me to question if this might detract from the benefit of the exercises...I really don't know and I'll ask in my next session). BTW if you have studied this or know something about this then your opinion is always welcome in the comment box below.

This weeks practice also included some short runs to remind myself of my 'new & improved' technique. This went well, although I was finding it hard to maintain for longer than about 40 seconds at a time. Overall I was happy with the effort I'd put in and I certainly don't expect to become like Sally Gunnel overnight...a few weeks should do it ;-)

Meanwhile in the Classroom

Back at Running School for a my next installment (a warm up) and then first up was assessing my technique to see how much had stuck and how much had changed since the end of the last session. My running demonstrated that I was finding it tough to maintain my new form for long and Coach Chris suspected that there was something slightly different going on. Sure enough we found that I had over exaggerated the movement which was why it was difficult to maintain. Throughout the session we reduced this and made it much easier. We then concentrated on how to increase the length of running during training while keeping the quality high.

This made me think that one of the real benefits of being on a course is that you can correct mistakes such as these and why one session isn't enough to learn the art of running. NB: I also needed some correction on my homework exercises to ensure I was engaging the right muscles. One of the main focuses of these sessions is to encouraged the nervous system to work hard and create some muscle memory. Over time and with practice I hope that my body will adapt to the new technique so it becomes my new normal!

Here's me being extremely hardworking and engaging on the treadmill. P.S. I am standing and chatting at this point, this is not me running.

I'm hoping that at the end of the course to put together a montage of my running videos to show the progress. Any budding film makers get in touch!

You also might want to check out the Running Technique and Injuries Workshop on the 3rd December at BW Cycling in Bristol. It costs £10 and includes a presentation on technique and injuries related to running, a practical session to work on a few technique bits with a Q & A to finish. If you're not in Bristol then see your local Running School for more info.