Excited for my new lease ... on running, that is!

Last week I completed a few runwalk sessions on the treadmill and felt great.  I tried my Brooks Ghost 4, with the custom inserts, with the thought that these were the shoes that I was fitted for, let's just wear these to keep my form and feet in line, to avoid injury.

Two days ago I decided I would get a new pair of the Brooks Ghost, excited that after injury I could start running again.  I went to Road Runner Sports, and was 20 minutes too early, the store wasn't open yet.  Instead of waiting, I just turned around and went home.

That may prove to be the best decision I made, because it gave me more time to listen to the Mickey Miles Podcast, in which this particular episode Michelle Sribner and Mike Scopa and their guests talked about shoes ... and the one that got my attention was ...

The Hoka One Ones!

Never heard of them before, but sounds like the opposite of the whole minimalist movement.  These shoes look big and clunky, but are described as very cushiony and "like walking on clouds" or pillows. On further research, they are both maximalist and minimalist.  the heel toe drop is minimal, only 4-6mm, yet the stability is there since there is a wider base.  But the obvious thing is that the midsole is oversized.

The point is that there is an 80% reduction in impact!! from both the cushiony EVA midsole and keeping the feet low to the ground.  This is what I need.  Given my stress injuries, this may give me a new lease on running.  run longer.

I ordered them yesterday site unseen.  Can't wait.

Soft

I did a run-walk workout today on the treadmill, 1:1 minute ratio. Felt awesome. My run was more of a shuffle, and I really concentrated on relaxing and running softly. I imagined myself running light yet strong, and focused on Chi-running technique. I watched Jeff Galloway's style of feet low to the ground and running upright today. I also came across the acronym SOFT (from thenakedrunners.com soft style running i think) which is immensely useful:

SOFT = Stride (180/min), Over (center of gravity over base), Flat (midfoot strike), Tall (upright).

Awesome. Take it easy. I can do this. Injury no more. Light and strong. Atlantic City Half Marathon here I come ... And then the 2014 Goofy Challenge.

Yellow light means go

My endocrinologist gave me somewhat of a yellow light to run ... Kind of in passing said it would probably be ok to start running ... Then on second thought wait till I see him officially.

In any case today I did a modified form of running. I did a walk-run workout on the treadmill (after a great upper body dumbbell workout), with a 90 sec:60 sec ratio, like week 1 day 1 of the couch to 5 k ... Yup, "baby steps" yet again for I don't know how many times due to injury. But today I did something different -- during the "run" phase, I did a light shuffle. I kept the speed of the treadmill the same (4.2mph today) as my walk, but increased my cadence to 90 (or 180/min), kept my feet low, with nice light relaxed form, and concentrated on midfoot striking, very lightly and relaxed to minimize impact and also reduce tension in muscles. Again to avoid injury ... But instad of thinking of avoidance, i'm just feeling good!

Run

I ran today. I wasn't supposed to, but I did. And damn it felt good.

Well, out of 47 minutes of brisk walking on the treadmill, I ran for maybe 3 minutes, if that. i was careful. Most of the time I walked ... Briskly, then sped up to a shuffle and evenrace walking ... But a few minutes I ran for real. 8 months of crutches due to previous running injuries were a setback ... But not now. I actually achieved a runner's high in seconds!!!!

But I'll be good now. My endocrinologist said could probably start running again, then he said wait ... So i'll wait till our next appointment.

Atlantic city half coming in october. Let's do this the right way.