This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a running workshop called "Running for Life: Strategies to Help you Stay Healthy, Avoid Injury and Run Strong" put on by Dr. Peter Larson, author of RunBlogger and professor at St. Anslems College in NH and Dr. Brett Coapland of Performance Health Spine and Sport Therapy. I first heard about the workshop on RunBlogger, a great blog that features helpful shoe reviews and resources for running form, and the topic outline piqued my interest:

I was most interested in the discussion of common running injuries. I've had issues with plantar fasciitis and lower back pain due to tight hip flexors. I was interested in finding out what I could do to prevent these pesky injuries as I start to build mileage and train for my spring marathon. Right around this time last year, as I was training for a fall marathon, I felt the tell tale signs of plantar fasciitis. Luckily I caught it early and was able to remedy the flare up with intensive, ice, rest, stretching and visits to my massage therapist. The back pain I kept at bay with hip flexor stretches and self massage.

My thought in going to the workshop was that I might learn some preventative stretches or exercises that would help me from developing these in the first place. My view of what I would get out of the workshop was pretty specific, narrow even, but I walked away with a whole lot more information and food for thought than I anticipated. And what I did learn will definitely help me prevent future injuries, but not in the way that I anticipated.

From Dr. Larsons lecture I learned some great information on running form and injury development/prevention, here's some of the key points I took away:

--Contrary to popular belief footwear, running surface, BMI, stretching, warm-up and terrain among other things have NOT been linked (in any scientific studies) to increased/decreased chance of injury. Many times I've blamed injury flare-ups on old shoes, or the fact that I ran hard hills the day before, but these may not be the culprit at all. This made me think: there must be something else causing my injuries.

-Running injuries are most commonly caused by: previous injury, lack of experience, competitive running (pushing the body's limits) and excessive weekly distance (increased load). Injury is often caused by stress on tissues that are not prepared for the load, frequency or intensity of a workout. The key is to include runs that are stressful enough to cause adaptation in the body, but not stressful enough to cause the body to cross the injury threshold. This is where mixing rest and easy run days with hard efforts becomes important in preventing injury. This made me think: I need to build mileage slowly and really stick to the easy and rest days of my training plan.

--If you look at the history of running shoe development shoes have been increasingly "built up" to compensate for issues caused by the shoe in the first place. For example: in the 70's cushion was added to the heel of most shoes to help prevent achilles tendon injuries. Added heel cushion creates instability in the heel, which creates pronation issues (which can cause knee injury) so manufactures started adding that gray stability foam to the shoe. Shoes, get higher in the heel, heavier all over and make it easy for runners to have bad form comfortably (its hard to have bad form and run barefoot or in a minimalist shoe). This made me wonder: did wearing a built up shoe (the Asics Nimbus) when I first started running contribute to my heel strike and over-stride issues?

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--Larson noted that there is not a lot of evidence that supports popular shoe design, and that what you're told when you go to a running shoe store isn't necessarily based on accurate information. Often you're prescribed a shoe that is supposed to fit your foot strike/arch: neutral cushion, over-pronation, motion control. He sighted a study that evaluated the effectiveness of motion control shoes. The study found that "motion control running footwear has yet to be proven to prevent running related injuries." In fact the study found that runners who pronated reported fewer injuries (while training for a half marathon) in neutral cushion shoes and neutral runners did better in stability shoes. His advice: EXPERIMENT.Try different shoes. Deviate from what you've been "told" to wear and see how they feel. This made me think: What a great excuse to buy shoes! I love shoes! Seriously though, I think I'll try a racing flat or track flat and see how short workouts in these shoes help correct my form.

--More so than foot strike, stride length has been shown to be related to running injury. Over-striding is especially bad because it causes a spike in the force applied to the leg as it impacts the ground vs. a stride that lands with a vertical shin. An over-stride can also be detrimental to running efficiency because it forces the ankle out in front of the knee and the line of the leg actually propels the body backwards, the opposite direction of where you want to be going. This made me think: OH NO! I do this. I've seen it in race photos. My leg strikes the ground way out in front of my body, my ankle in front of my knee, my heel hitting first. My suspicions were confirmed when I viewed the video analysis Now that I see it and know it's wrong it looks so painful.

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--Dr. Larson's suggestions for helping correct poor running form: approach all change gradually. Rushing into change your stride or foot-strike can lead to injuries and imbalances in other areas. Focus on small mental cues, like the one I used on Sunday: "lengthen your stride through the back leg" (I talked about this in my last post) or "put your foot behind you." Barefoot strides on grass or the treadmill, cadence training (shortening and quickening the stride, more foot strikes per minute), track drills like "but kicks" are some of the other drills that can improve form. This made me think: I should try that. I've done barefoot strides on grass and when I do wear my Vibrams I know my stride shortens and moves under me. I should try the mental cues.

I tested out Larson's suggestions with great success this past Sunday. Now that I am aware of issues with my running form and know some techniques to help change it, I think my running will begin to improve as I begin seriously training again post-baby.

Have you ever taken a look at your running form? What is it like? Have you ever tried to change it?

I'll recap the second half of the workshop and Dr. Coapland's material in a post later this week.

--Sarah

Running For Life: Workshop Recap Part 1

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