At the Boston Marathon Expo, we stopped by the New Balance area for a natural running analysis. Basically, they video you running on a treadmill, and then you get a short 3-minute coaching session with one of their tech specialists on what you can do to promote natural (barefoot) running.
It's awesome - they send you an email with the actual video and your pointers. When you leave the NB exhibit at the expo, they even print out a pointers sheet for you to take home! The tech rep that helped me and Ben with our analysis was Stephanie, our NB tech rep -- you know, the one who comes to the store with the Minimus and 890 demo shoes. [Sidenote: when we first ran into her, she was just beginning her analysis with some random guy. This random guy was awful! He was really defensive about every tip she gave him and even said something to the tune of, "Well, I don't know how much running you actually do, but..." -- what? He volunteered and chose to do the analysis! Crazy.]
I think this natural running "thing" can help prevent some of my injuries and take some of the stress off the IT band and hamstrings. It's hard to re-learn to run, though! A couple things I learned from NB from my analysis:
Want to see my video? Go here.
Or see a GOOD example of natural running, here. Click "Good Form Example." (Of course it's a NB guy, haha!)
Check out my natural running video, photo, and pointers, below. The line and circle point out the center of my body and where my footstrike is. The closer your foot strikes to the center of your body, the better.
Of course, Shiva, Ted, Thom, and Ben did this same analysis. And then when I totally schooled them with my quick cadence (read: short legs), they tried it again a day later. They even tried it again doing all of the things that were on their pointers sheets... but not much had changed. Are you surprised at their persistence? Don't be. ;)
It's awesome - they send you an email with the actual video and your pointers. When you leave the NB exhibit at the expo, they even print out a pointers sheet for you to take home! The tech rep that helped me and Ben with our analysis was Stephanie, our NB tech rep -- you know, the one who comes to the store with the Minimus and 890 demo shoes. [Sidenote: when we first ran into her, she was just beginning her analysis with some random guy. This random guy was awful! He was really defensive about every tip she gave him and even said something to the tune of, "Well, I don't know how much running you actually do, but..." -- what? He volunteered and chose to do the analysis! Crazy.]
I think this natural running "thing" can help prevent some of my injuries and take some of the stress off the IT band and hamstrings. It's hard to re-learn to run, though! A couple things I learned from NB from my analysis:
- Cadence - Take small, efficient strides. The target was 180 strides/min. Stephanie told me that my cadence was one of the highest she'd seen that day! Woohoo - go shorty short legs! :)
- Lean - Don't lean back. Natural running is like "falling gracefully," so even an ever-so-slight forward lean is ok.
- Strike - Mid-foot strike. Let your feet fall under you, not in front.
- Posture - Keep arms at your sides, pumping in a front to back (and not side to side) motion. Arms should stay relaxed and low. This is something I was actually good at!
- Picking up your feet - something we discussed briefly, but the key to all of my injuries. I need to get stronger hips and use my glutes to run.
Want to see my video? Go here.
Or see a GOOD example of natural running, here. Click "Good Form Example." (Of course it's a NB guy, haha!)
Check out my natural running video, photo, and pointers, below. The line and circle point out the center of my body and where my footstrike is. The closer your foot strikes to the center of your body, the better.
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