The Running School
I entered a running competition on Twitter and was fortunate enough to win three free sessions with The Running School – yay! Paul, the coach at The Running School, had already given me a free session for the promotional work that I did for The Running School, so I’m getting a great deal 🙂
I did my first session on Tuesday.
I have been given three glute activation exercises that I need to do at home:
- Kickbacks (Standing without holding onto anything for support. Learn forward and kick your leg back as if kicking a door shut)
- Pendulum leg swings (low legs with square hips)
- Bridge
The session was an hour long and involved lots of sessions on a treadmill. It is a machine that I dread. I fear falling off the back. Even more, I worry that I will punch it if I’m too close to the front. (That may seem far-fetched, but I have ended up with bloody knuckles on more than on occasion!)
I explained to Paul that I seem to have a lazy right leg, (according to my swimming instructor). However, the video analysis showed that when I run, my right leg is actually working harder than my left leg!
My cadence is OK. I was pleased to see that I now have a mid-forefoot strike. Paul said I don’t always put my heel down on my right foot. I also need to work on my arm positioning as apparently, I swing my arms too far forward.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about running technique recently, and have signed up for ‘Barefoot Running‘, which is an online magazine.
I’ve also been looking at hip strengthening and mobility exercises for runners.
Finally, I’ve been reading about Rosie Swale Pope‘s epic running adventure in ‘Just a Little Run Around the World‘ – thanks to Kev for lending it to me.
P.S. I’ve not managed to catch up with a blog post that I was writing about my week after Paris marathon and Stu’s run at VLM. I thought I’d better update what I’ve done recently. Maybe the other post will see the light of day one day!)
Have you ever had your running technique analysed?
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Congrats!! I think doing general strength exercises like you are doing is crucial to being able to run well and injury free. I started trying to incorporate some of these things into my routine. I have done pendulum leg swings before. They are TOUGH! I found all of these good videos on youtube called “fitness blender”. They have a lot of core and stability strengthening exercises.
Thanks for the tip – I’ll have a look at ‘fitness blender’ when I get home from work 🙂
I used to do two or three abs and core classes each week in my old job, but the University that I work at now doesn’t have the variety of exercise classes that I’m used to. I think I need to find somewhere relatively private where I can do some lunchtime workouts.