Category Archives: Half Marathon

Reflecting on my first half marathon

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I can’t believe more than a week has passed since I ran my very first half marathon. I feel like I’ve needed the time though to fully digest the entire experience. While to some of my more experienced runner friends, running a half marathon may not seem like a big deal but it was a huge milestone for me.

I started running only eight months ago, in March, the goal of running a 5K. When I started running I didn’t expect to fall in love with it like I have but I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I was actually getting good at it. So, in June, after only having been a runner for four months, I decided to register for the 2012 Hampton Rockfest Half Marathon.

Many of my friends and family tried to discourage me from registering because they thought I didn’t have enough experience as a runner yet. My dad, a 16-time marathon veteran (3:09 PR), said I needed more experience racing and building up mileage. But, I ignored their opinions and decided I had the capability and drive to build up my mileage to be able to run the 13.1 miles and cross the finish line on Sept. 30.

After months of training, some injuries, and some amazing runs, I crossed the finish line without stopping once. The race was amazing and the course was a breeze. Although the weather was awful, it was the most amazing experience.

When I hit the 11-mile mark I even started to get emotional and thought I was going to start crying. I couldn’t believe how far I had come as a runner in just eight months. In eight months I went from being able to run 0 miles to running more than 13 miles. Not only did I develop into a “runner,” I’ve noticed other changes in myself over the past eight months. My body has changed quite a bit, my muscles are much for toned and I have a much higher level of endurance but I’ve also changed emotionally. I’ve learned to use running as an outlet for when I’m angry, stressed or happy and excited. While I may not have started running for the best reason, it has literally transformed me into a different person and I love it.

As I started to speed up during the last 2 miles of the half marathon, all of these thoughts were whirling around in my head and just then, I saw my parents with all of the spectators and nearly lost it. I feel so lucky to have had such an amazing support system throughout this journey and although they had their reservations in the beginning, they never doubted me. The same goes to my friends who have also supported me through all of this and showed up at the finish line to congratulate me.

As I said in my last post about the half, my first thought upon crossing the finish line was I can’t wait to do it again and I’ve been looking for some more to register for in the near future. I think once I get a few more halfs under my belt, a full marathon is not too far off :)

What was your biggest race accomplishment? How did it feel when you crossed that finish line? Please share your stories in the comments section below!

Hampton Rockfest Half Marathon race recap

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After months of training, the race day finally came last Sunday and I ran my very first half marathon. I feel like I have so, so much to share about the experience of running this half that it frankly will not fit into one post. Therefore, I’m going to break it up into two- a race recap (this one!) and then a lessons learned reflection.

For those of you who have been following my running escapades over the last eight-ish months, you know where I started- a couch to 5k program last March. Before starting this program, I could barely run a mile and the only running I ever did was for sports in high school. But for some reason, I decided I needed to start, so I started slowly. Before I knew it I was running more than 3.1 miles and my cousin, Paige, convinced me in June to register for a half marathon with her- the Hampton Rockfest Half Marathon. At this point, the most I had ever run was just under 6 miles, but we were both convinced we’d have plenty of time to train in the four months before the half.

Turns out we had plenty of time and before we knew it we were running even more than 13.1 miles on our weekend long runs! All of our hard work and dedicated training finally came to fruition this past Sunday when we crossed the finish line on Hampton Beach.

We planned out our weekend accordingly. Because we would have to travel to New Hampshire for the race, I stayed over Paige’s apartment on the North Shore (of Massachusetts) with our friend Lindsey, who was also running with us. This would be the first half for Paige and myself but Lindsey had run a few before. Once we were all settled in at Paige’s we decided to head up to NH to pick up our bib numbers so we wouldn’t have to deal with picking them up before the race. Turns out, that was a great decision and the packet pickup was also super easy.

My lovely number after the packet pickup.

We came home after and made a delish baked ziti, drank one glass of red wine each to calm the nerves and watched a few episodes of some trashy reality television before heading to bed at 10:30 p.m. Of course, I had a hard time falling asleep because I was thinking about what was about to go down the next day but eventually I fell asleep and woke up to my alarm blaring at 5 a.m. After making our breakfast and fueling up on coffee, we headed out of the house by 6 a.m. to get to the race with enough time to spare.

We arrived at the race around 7:15 and spent most of the time before the race waiting in line for the port-a-potty. When we were all set and warmed up, we headed to the start line. I couldn’t believe how many runners there were (more than 5,000!) and the start line was a little claustrophobic because of it, but the mass of bodies helped to keep us warm.

Awkward pre-race selfie at the start line.

That was the other problem. I think we may have had the WORST weather ever with temperatures in the low 50s and a steady, cold rain falling the entire time. Needless to say, after I crossed the finish line and stopped moving I was a frozen popsicle.

The race itself was pretty amazing and the course was pretty easy. It started off with a roughly 1-mile loop around the corner which crossed back over the start line. This was great because we were able to run through the crowd of spectators for a second time. The course then traveled down the beach road for about 2 miles before it cut off into the neighborhoods of Hampton, NH. This was kind of weird because we were literally running through residential neighborhoods and for awhile there were hardly any spectators which was not fun. However, because there were so many runners, the morale along the course was really high and we were even able to talk to a bunch of other runners along the route.

We had decided at mile 7 we would pick up our first cups of water and take our gels. This proved to be a little more difficult than we had anticipated because the water station was so crowded and some runners kept stopping before we could get to the water. Water in hand, we took off, ripping our gels open and refueling. After taking the gels I definitely had some fresh energy and felt great. However, some point right after mile 7 I got lost in the pack and Paige and Lindsey went on ahead. This was ok for me though because I knew they were going to speed off eventually (they are a lot faster than me) but I felt good at my pace and wanted to maintain it.

The last few miles went pretty smoothly. The course was extremely flat except for a moderately steep hill around mile 9, but once I got to the top of the hill I had a breathtaking view of the ocean and could almost make out the finish line down on the beach. I felt really good at this point but had to take it easy going down the hill because the pavement had gotten SO slippery because of the rain.

As I crossed into mile 11 I heard someone screaming my name and saw my parents jumping up and down on the side of the road. I knew they were going to be there but I wasn’t sure where they would be along the route because it wasn’t super well-routed for spectators. It was incredible to see them though and it gave me the extra encouragement I needed to blast to the finish line. With two miles left, my legs were started to feel crampy and heavy, mostly because of the cold. My hands were also freezing so I kept having to shake them to try to keep them warm. But overall, the last two miles were fantastic. With about a half mile left, the spectator crowd got thicker and I saw my parents again screaming my name. As I pushed hard to get across the finish line and pass a few more people I started to get emotional because I honestly could not believe I had done it! I crossed the finish line at 2:18:09 (not my best but the weather definitely took a toll) and someone placed a medal around my neck and I was ecstatic!

Finisher’s medal!

After finding my parents, I was walking around to find water and I heard two people call out my name and all of a sudden I was embraced by my two best friends Sydney and Angela! They had come all the way up to NH from Boston to see me cross the finish line. I’m getting emotional now as I write this because I was just so happy that they had come out to see me. They’ve been with me this whole time and have even wondered if I was going a little overboard with running but have been supportive no matter what. It meant so much to me that they were there.

At the finish line with my mom, and two best friends, Angela and Sydney!

Unfortunately because it was so cold and Paige, Lindsey and I were soaking wet, we didn’t want to stay around too much for the race after-party so we decided to all go out to lunch somewhere warm. I’ll talk more about the lessons learned in another post but overall the half was an amazing experience and the first thought I had after crossing the finish line: I can’t wait to do it again!

Monday Motivation: the courage to start

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I posted this photo to my blog back in March when I first started a couch to 5k program. I had never been a runner but at that point in my life, needed something to focus on, so I started running. Now, less than eight months later, I’ve not only run many 5ks but yesterday finished my first ever half marathon. I thought it would be appropriate to re-post this photo for this week’s Monday Motivation because if I hadn’t had the courage to start that couch to 5k program back in March, I would never be where I am today. I hope you all have a great week of running and you have the courage to start a new running goal. Happy running! (I’ll have a full race recap up of the half marathon sometime this week!)

Picking the perfect pre-race breakfast

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(via Pinterest)

After months of training, I am now three days away from running my first ever half marathon. I can’t believe how fast it has come but I feel so confident in my training and ready to run happy. However, one of my biggest concerns this past week has been how to fuel my body before the race.

I asked some friends and sought advice from Runner’s World and Active.com and the one major take away from everything- don’t change anything. I’ve known this all along, the worst time to try something new is on race day but I have a problem. In my training thus far, I really haven’t had much to eat on long-run days besides a cup of coffee and some water. Even when I did my 14-miler, the only thing I ate beforehand was a pack of Chomps and Gatorade.

However, I have fueled before some smaller races before with a slice of whole grain toast, some fruit (usually strawberries or oranges) and some coffee. This has always been a pretty good pre-race meal to me so I think I’m going to stick to this for the half as well.

After further research however, I had questions like, how much time should I leave between breakfast and start time. The answer I found from Runner’s World was at least two to three hours before. Although this will mean a very early morning for me (the race starts at 8 a.m. but I’ll have to be there at 7 a.m. and it’s an hour away) but it will allot enough time for digestion so I can start feeling nourished but not full and heavy.

According to the Runner’s World article as well I should sip water up to a half and hour before the race starts, this way I’ll be hydrated but not over-hydrated and have to stop at a port-a-pottie along the course.

Since I’ve basically already decided on doing my toast-fruit-coffee routine, I’m not planning on trying anything different but I’m interested in why this has worked for me in the past? According to an Active.com article, a solid pre-race meal should consist of 80 percent carbohydrates. The article said the type of carbs isn’t as important but many runners, like myself, tend to choose more bland foods like a whole grain toast or some runners like oatmeal.

Some ideas for pre-race fuel could be:

  • Bagel or toast topped with either peanut butter or a low-fat spread– many people eat this for breakfast routinely so it’s always good to stick to routine come race morning. Also, bagels and toast are chalk-full of carbs which are needed for fuel during a race.
  • Bananas– lots of runners love bananas as an addition to any pre-race meal (personally, I hate bananas so I can’t speak to this very much) but they have 30 grams of carbohydrates, low in fat and high in potassium which is lost while sweating during running.
  • Energy Bar– a lot of runners eat energy bars before a race but this is something you really have to be careful with in terms of not trying anything new. Stick to a bar you know that’s rich in carbohydrates but not too high in fat or protein (save those bars for after the race).
  • Shakes– there are a lot of runners who like to make a real-replacement shake before a race. I’ve never tried this but there are tons of recipes out there for these kinds of shakes.
  • Oatmeal– this is another good fuel-boosting carbohydrate option. It’s bland but won’t upset your stomach while racing.

I would also recommend drinking some kind of caffeine if you’re a frequent morning caffeine-drinker. I have coffee every morning so I try not to change this on race day but sometimes I’ll opt for caffeinated tea on race day instead of coffee (because I like cream in my coffee and that can be weird).

As always, DON’T try anything new on race day. A poorly picked pre-race meal could possibly wipe out all of those months of training and preparation. Stick to what you know, race hard and look forward to that amazing post-race meal!

What is your go-to pre-race breakfast fuel? Share your thoughts with me in the comments section below!

Week 16: Half-marathon training update

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(via Pinterest)

I can’t believe my first half-marathon is now only one week away! That being said, this past week I started to taper my miles so I’ll be prepped and ready to go for next weekend.

This week as super busy and hectic for a variety of reasons, one of which I will announce tomorrow because it’s a HUGE deal!! But training-wise I did pretty well. I’ve never run a half obviously so it was weird to taper because after running a 14-miler last Saturday I just wanted to do it again. But in the spirit of not getting injured and storing my energy, I did what my training plan told me to do and tapered.

Monday was my crazy busy day so unfortunately I only had enough time to do a quick yoga session and ab workout in the morning. I was on the move for the rest of the day which I will talk about later..

On Tuesday I did a 2-mile pick up run with quicker paces of 8:03/mile and even some 7’s thrown in there. I was really tired from work and the day before but I knew I had to get this run in so I sucked it up.

I had planned to run 3 miles on Wednesday but my foot was really bothering me for some reason so I ended up just doing 2-miles (and change). However, because I cut my mileage I decided to do some strength training which included squats, lunges and some lifting. Also, I did ab work as well.

Thursday was shaping up to be another busy day at work (I had to cover a meeting until 10:30 p.m.) so I knew I could only get in a quick workout in the morning. I did two Tone It Up workouts, as well as my own arm workouts and abs.

I got out of work early on Friday so when I got home at noon, I quickly changed into my running clothes and went out. I did a quick 3-mile run and the route included some pretty ridiculous hills so this run gave my buns a run for their money. It felt really great though to push up the hills.

Saturday I had to work all day so I couldn’t get in a run but decided I needed a rest day after the week I had.

I went out for my “long” run on Sunday and I put “long” in quotes because the run was only supposed to be 6 miles, which felt like nothing compared to last week’s 14-mile run. This run went really well though and I tested out a new route which is always exciting. I took it really easy pace-wise with this run because with the half only a week away, I’m not taking ANY chances.

Overall it was a really great week for training. I’m looking forward to the half-marathon next Sunday because I feel like I’m really prepared (knock on wood!) Also I can’t wait to tell everyone my big news tomorrow so be sure to check back here to find out!!

How is your training going? What are your thoughts on tapering before a big race?

Week 15: half-marathon training update

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Oh my goodness I am so sorry this has taken me so long to post! Last weekend was a tad bit crazy for me and work has been out of control but I really wanted to update everyone on my training last week because it was nothing short of AMAZING!

For one, I hit a huge milestone and ran the farthest I’ve ever run- 14 miles! It felt so incredibly amazing, I almost didn’t want to stop (but my legs clearly had other plans!). I also was about to do the first track workout I had done in a very long time and that was pretty amazing as well. Before I go on, let me backtrack.

On Monday I started out my day with a little yoga for recovery on Lululemon’s YouTube channel. I wanted to do this because my legs were a little tight from the weekend before. After work, my cousin and fantastic training partner, met me at my office and we headed over to the local high school track to do a sprint interval workout. Neither of us had done this in weeks so it really felt great to get “back on track” and do some sprints. Her legs were also tired from the weekend before so we took it easy and did 4×800 sprints at 7:12 pace with about 400m of jogging in between.

On Tuesday I did some more yoga, as well as weight training for my arms and core exercises. Last week I didn’t get a chance to lift as much as I like to because I had some late nights at work, so I tried to get in some lifting on “rest” days.

On Wednesday I was able to get up early and head to the gym. I ran 4 miles at 9:33 pace and then did 1 mile on the elliptical. After that I hit the weights and did some squats and lunges. I also did a bunch of core exercises.

Thursday I did yoga and core exercises in the morning before work. I had to stay late for a meeting so I wanted to get in some exercise before. I did a power vinyasa yoga exercise and felt great after.

I drove up to my cousin’s new apartment in Marblehead on Friday because we had a long run planned for early Saturday morning. We had a great night checking out the local digs and carbo-loading, if you will, at the Barnacle, located right on Marblehead Harbor. However, we probably stayed out a little too late because the Saturday morning alarm clock came way too early!

Saturday was a big day for me because I had my longest run ever planned. My cousin is also training for a full marathon right now and according to her training schedule, she had to run 14 miles on Saturday. She wanted me to run it as well, and so I thought, 14 is only 1 more mile, why not? Our friend met us to do the run as well and we left the apartment around 9 a.m. (an hour after our planned start time.) We ran at a very comfortable and conversational pace and I felt like the miles just flew by. We made it to the halfway point and I couldn’t believe it was almost over! We had one problem though with hydration at mile 10. We had planned to quickly stop at a local beachside shack that usually has water but as we approached it, we saw that it was closed. Lucky for us the owner was standing right outside and said she would go in and get us water! After we had our water in hand we had some gels and were off again.

The last 4 miles were definitely a little more difficult after stopping but once the gels kicked in I felt great. The views on the run also helped to motivate us because we ran along the ocean and the weather was perfect. I was so excited to have ran a full 14 miles and it gave me even more confidence in my upcoming half marathon. I think it’s official, I’m addicted to distance running.

I took a complete rest day on Sunday after the long run the day before because my calf muscles were pretty sore.

Overall, it was a really great week of training. I felt strong and had tons of energy for my runs. This week I’ll be tapering in preparation for the half marathon which is now only a week and a half away!

What are you training for and how has it been going? Share your training stories in the comments below!

Week 14: Half-marathon training

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Last week was a pretty amazing week for training for me. To start I ran four days in the week (haven’t done that since I hurt my knee!) and I placed FOURTH for my age group at a local 5K I raced on Saturday!

While I didn’t have a long run this week according to my plan, I was really happy to get out there four days during the week to run. Now I wish I could make it five but baby steps for now. Overall, I’m becoming much more comfortable with my form. It’s starting to feel less awkward and I no longer have to concentrate on it as much which is good. Don’t get me wrong, I still focus on lifting from the core, leaning from my ankles and “gun-slinging” my arms but it’s becoming more natural as opposed to something I have to always consciously think about.

I started off with an easy 2-mile run on Monday. I finished the run in 19:35 which wasn’t bad but I wish I could start getting a little faster. The weather was less than desirable and I definitely went out for my run way too soon after breakfast, causing cramping but overall it was a good run.

On Tuesday I just did a half an hour of yoga and then ab workouts including planks and other core exercises.

I had to run after work on Wednesday unfortunately because I much rather run in the morning. I did what was supposed to be an easy 4 mile run but ended up being a 3.5 mile run ending with my legs cramping up like you wouldn’t believe. It was only 80 degrees out but the humidity was at 80 percent. It was unbearable! I followed up this run with a ton of stretching and some yoga to help my muscles calm down.

Thursday was for cross-training and strengthening. I did some yoga and worked on strengthening my arms and legs, as well as ab work.

Friday I rested and just did yoga and abs. I had my race the next day so I wanted to make sure my legs were fresh.

Saturday was race day! I signed up for this race late but am so glad I did. I hadn’t raced in awhile but I thought this race would be a great opportunity to race before my half-marathon but more to meet other local runners. I tend to travel for running partners but I wish I had some local running friends to go on long runs with.

The race ended up being a lot hotter than I expected but overall it was really great. According to Cool Running, my finish time was 28:07 and I came in fourth for my age group which was female runners ages 20-29. I’ve never been high up in the rankings for a race in my life so this was a huge accomplishment! I went into this race thinking I wasn’t going to race hard, because I don’t want to risk getting injured before my half-marathon, and I really didn’t but now I’m wishing I had gone a little harder, maybe I could have placed higher!

Either way I’m proud of my accomplishment, even if I could’ve gotten a much faster time! Another great thing about racing locally is most of your family and friends can make it out to see you race. My parents came to the race on Saturday and lucky for me my Dad was there to take a pretty embarrassing post-race video of myself. I’m not ashamed and I’m not envious of the two 12-year-olds who beat me. Take a look:

Sunday I really wanted to work on controlling my form and my pace. With the new form I tend to run really fast, which, believe me is not a problem! But when I go out for my 10, 12, and 13 mile runs I tend to get out of breathe around mile 8 because I’m going at an 8:03 pace. So I took to the gym to try my new form out on the treadmill so I could manually control my pace. I did a quick 4.5 mile run at varying paces so I could feel the difference in each pace. I think it went pretty well and I’m hoping I’ll be able to try it out on my long run this weekend.

Overall I felt really great last week. I am hoping to have another good week this week and I honestly cannot wait for the half-marathon to be here! Eighteen days and counting!

What are you training for? How is it going? Share your training with me in the comment section below!

Week 13: Half marathon training update

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I think my sweet new Nike outfit helped with my 8-miler!

This past week was a great week of training runs for me. I really can’t express enough how HUGE of a difference changing my form has made. (If you didn’t check it out yet, take a look at my post about how I changed my running form and simple steps to improve yours as well!) I have to admit, I was a little skeptical of the claim that changing my form would completely solve my IT Band problems but it really has. I’ve had three runs since changing my form and (knock on wood!) I haven’t felt any IT band pain.

I started the week out on Monday with an easy 3-mile run. I finished the run in 27 minutes and felt pretty good during it. This run was before I got feedback from Ryan Knapp about my form so I tried correcting my form on my own based on articles I had read. I knew I needed to land on my mid-foot as opposed to my heel so I tried my best to do that. I felt IT Band pain around 1.5 miles but was able to avoid a massive flare-up by really focusing on my form.

Tuesday was a cross-training day for me so I woke up early to get that done. I did two “Tone It Up” videos- Sunset workout for 12 minutes and the thighs workout for 16 minutes (times two)- because I had heard so much about them. I’m working on another post about using them for cross-training so check back soon for that! I also added in some leg exercises I read about in the Runner’s World half marathon issue. Then I did my plank a day and 50 calf raises because they help with alignment.

Wednesday was a big day for me because I received Ryan’s feedback and tips for correcting my form on Tuesday night so I was able to put them into practice during my 5-mile midweek training run. Overall this run went really well and I finished in 45 minutes. I focused on three things in particular (as mentioned in a previous post):

  • Lifting from my core in order to mid-foot strike.
  • Gunslinging my arms
  • Running with lean from my ankles

I really focused during my run on making sure I was implementing all of these tips. For the most part I found it pretty easy to incorporate them even though it felt a little awkward at first. The only tip I found difficult to implement was not running with my arms too high up on my ribcage. I tasked myself with focusing on this more during my next run.

On Thursday I did some cross-training at the gym. I did about 3 miles on the elliptical and then a bunch of strengthening exercises to help me run stronger. I focused on a lot of leg exercises because my legs have been feeling a little tired lately. I also did some arm exercises and planks.

Friday was a complete rest day!

Saturday was the real test for my new form because it was my long run day. I had 10 miles on tap but it turned into 8 miles because my stomach wasn’t feeling well but I finished 8 miles in a speedy 1 hour and 5 minutes! I couldn’t believe how fast I ran this run, especially with an upset stomach! This was my first long run since experiencing the IT Band pain and I felt like during the whole run I kept waiting for the pain to appear but it NEVER CAME! I don’t want to speak to soon however because it could still resurface but so far so good!

On Sunday I had to help my sister move back into college but it involved lots of lifting and going up and down four flights of stairs so I’m going to count it as cross-training.

Overall this week was great and I’m feeling a lot better about the half-marathon at the end of the month. I’ll be looking forward to the rest of my runs this week and hope my form will start to feel a little more natural.

Monday- 3 mile easy run, 27 min. average pace- 9:55/mile

Tuesday- Cross-training, Tone It Up workouts (Sunset and thigh workouts), planks, calf raises, Runner’s World leg exercises

Wednesday- 5 mile run, 45 min. average pace- 9:56/miles

Thursday- 3 miles on the elliptical, cross-training

Friday- Rest

Saturday- Long run 8 miles, 1:05, average pace 8:05/mile

Sunday- Moving (cross-training)

Monday Motivation: It takes a team

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Training isn’t always easy. In fact, I’d like to argue it’s never easy. But isn’t that why we do it? To push our limits and challenge ourselves? I think so at least. But sometimes when injuries happen or you have a bad run, it can be hard to keep going. Self confidence can get low and doubt can rear it’s ugly face but if you have surrounded yourself with a support team, a team that believes in you no matter what, you can push through the doubt and continue going.

I have been lucky enough through my training to have a massive support team in the form of family, friends, fellow run bloggers and complete strangers. After overcoming (fingers crossed!) some IT Band issues, I have never been more grateful for the amazing people in my life who believed in me and dragged me through my own stint of self doubt.

Sometimes we don’t do as well as we had hoped but at the end of the day, if there’s someone cheering for you at the finish line, or dragging you across it, you know you’ve accomplished something. Happy running this week!

Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan were the definition of team at the finish line of the London 2012 Olympic marathon.

How to correct your running form to prevent injury

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A few weeks ago I started feeling a sharp pain on the outside of my right knee. It usually showed up about a mile into my runs and felt like someone had stuck a knife into the side of my knee. My knee would either lock up at this point, or, if I was able to push on and keep running, the pain would travel all the way up the outside of my thigh to my hip. I knew immediately this was an IT Band problem.

With a little more than a month left in my training for a half marathon on Sept. 30, and three weeks into marathon training for a race on Nov. 19, this was not going to fly. I needed a solution. Fast. After taking quite a few rest days, I felt ready to hit the road again for an easy, quick 2-mile run. Not so fast, my IT Band said and around 1.6 miles my knee locked up and I literally could not run anymore. I was devastated and took to Twitter, as I usually do, to ask my runner friends what was wrong.

After hearing from a bunch of people I was informed it was more important to find out what caused the problem before trying to fix it. One of my Twitter followers, Ryan Knapp, a triathlete and endurance running coach from Kansas City, suggested the problem may be my form. Ryan asked me to take a 30 second video of me running away from my camera and back to my camera. I then sent it to him through his website and he evaluated it.

He told me he could immediately tell I used to be a dancer because of my posture and he said he’s be able to help me. Here’s the video I sent to him:

(Don’t mind my Dad talking in the background…)

After reviewing my video, Ryan filmed his own video to explain to me what he saw in my running form and what I could do to fix it. He said overall, my form wasn’t terrible- I have good body position (meaning I’m not leaning to one side or the other) and I have very still shoulders. However, he told me I had three things I needed to work on- lifting from my core, swinging my arms correctly and lean more.

  • Lifting from my core- According to Ryan, the reason I was having the IT Band problems is because I was swinging my legs like a pendulum when I ran, causing my foot to land in front of me and subsequently causing me to heel-strike, a huge no, no in the running world. To fix this, Ryan said I need to focus on lifting from my core so my feet will land below me and be able to power up immediately after hitting the ground.
  • Arms- From what Ryan saw, I run with my arms kind of high up in respect to my ribcage and they go across my midline (the invisible line that runs down the center of your body). Ryan said this wastes a lot of energy and space. To fix this, he told me to “gunsling”- make sure my elbows go behind me and in front of me, somewhere down by my waist.
  • I run very erect- My running posture is very straight and according to Ryan, there should be a little bit of lean in a runner’s form. To do this, I want to lean from my ankles.

Here’s the video Ryan did for me:

Ryan said there were two simple exercises I can do to work on my form and get used to mid-foot and fore-foot striking.

  • Skip drills- This is where you literally skip down the street. According to Ryan, skipping helps the body (and feet) recognize what it’s like to push off from the fore-foot because it’s impossible to skip from the heel.
  • Jump Rope Drills- Simply pretend (or if you have a jump rope) like you’re jumping rope. This has the same effect as the skip drill but you’ll notice if you do this and then immediately stop, that’s the same effect as a heel strike, which is very bad. Jump rope drills will also help your body learn to mid-foot strike and fore-foot strike.

Yesterday morning I did these drills and put the tips into practice and I noticed a significant difference in my running. (Knock on wood*) I had hardly any IT pain and I ran an easy 5 miles in 45 minutes, pretty good time for me. I had to concentrate a lot more on my form throughout the run because the second I stopped paying attention I found myself going back to my old form. I talked to Ryan about this and he said, like with anything, it’ll take some getting used to. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes!

If you’re interested in getting your form analyzed, feel free to contact Ryan either through Twitter or on his website.