week 1 – MCM training

I am happy to report that week 1 is done. Besides some left hip pain at the beginning of the week (which resolved itself quickly), I have no complaints. I completed each of my workouts including cross-training (yoga) on Wednesday and Friday and felt great getting back to yoga. On Thursday, I had a run gait analysis done.  This is something I have wanted to do for a while and I was excited to have won a gift certificate to have this done. I went prepared to run and brought both pairs of sneakers. I ran on the treadmill and was videotaped from 2 different angles.  

I was happy to hear that a lot of what I am doing is good. Some issues found were that I am collapsing on my left side and I am driving my right shoulder forward more than I should. She gave me some tips – pretend like I am holding a potato chip between my pointer and thumb and drive my elbows straight back. She also told me to remember my alignment and use my core to remain upright because as I tire I will lose my good form. She also had me run to a metronome although my natural cadence is already averaging around 173 and they say 180 is ideal – so she said I was pretty close already. No change in sneakers. She gave me some exercises for injury prevention (hip raises, single leg bridges, side steps with resistance band, planks).  This was a great experience and one I would recommend to anyone interested in seeing how they run.

My runs since the analysis have been great. I  feel like I can run at a steady pace without much effort, while focusing on my fingers and elbows. There were also a few times where I felt like I was sitting back and was able to correct this by paying attention to my core.

All in all, this week was a great one.