San Francisco Marathon Route

Jeff over at Map My Run alerted me to the fact that you can now embed maps into a blog. So here's the 2007 San Francisco Marathon route. A preview of what I'll be preparing for over the next several months.

Also, I hear it's National De-lurking Week, and I know there are a few of you who've found the blog, so please leave a comment and tell me about yourself!



Follow-up to the New York Times story "When It's OK to Run Hurt"

Here's a quick follow-up on the New York Times article I wrote about yesterday. I wrote to the story's author asking if the advice applied to shin splints. My question and her reply are included below.

I said:
Thank you for today's story "When It's OK to Run Hurt." The article, however, didn't answer one question that I'm sure many runners are dying to know -- does this advice apply to shin splints as well?

Gina's reply:
I think it applies to everything that is due to inflammation, which means if you have a stress fracture or real fracture or a ripped tendon or muscle, you can't run. So I guess it depends on whether your shin splints are from tendinitis, which is most likely, or a stress
fracture. Good luck -- I am so so sympathetic!

Interestingly, she attributed most shin splints to tendinitis, something I had never heard before. But when I Googled the terms "shin splint" and "tendinitis," I came up with this fantastic explination of the two different kinds of shin splints from Merck.com. It turns out that Posteromedial shin splints (the kind that effect the inside of the shin) are indeed a kind of tendinitis and would probably respond well to the icing/running therapy outlined in the NYT story.

Torture

Merry Christmas! Ben has posted a great response to the blog in his myspace blog -- which is the way I sometimes feel too, minus the prison guard training bit, of course. Which brings me to last night's run. The sweat was dripping down my arm, which I was soundly laughed at for likening to Chinese water torture:

Running

Current mood: exhausted

I just finished reading my step-daughter's running blog and am completely exhausted and need a good nights sleep to recover. Most of my experience with running centered around getting away. It's just not good for me to run. All these people I see running and huffing and sweating and spitting and blowing their noses...they impress the hell out of me but not enough to get me out there for the cardio-pulminary thing. Way back in the early 80's I knew this guy, I'll call him Jim (because that was his name), who kept telling me how easy it was to build up the long-distance huff-puff, breathe-that-exhaust-from-diesel-Mercedes Benz-mother-fuckers-cars-until-you-drop-dead-health bullshit. So I gave it a try. Jim and I would gear up and run around Tiburon for an hour or so and, in fact, I was able to do around six big ones after a surprisingly short time...maybe six weeks or so. I ended up attending the Richard A. McGhee Correctional Academy in Galt, California to become a big bad Prison Guard...excuse me...Correctional Officer. Part of my training was to get up at 4:30 A.M. and run 2.5 miles WITH a flashlight so a passing farmer wouldn't run over me in his John Deere. It was torture. It was far more profound than simple torture. Nothing about me, or my body, felt better after the run. I contracted a lung disease that I had to keep to myself or be thrown out of the Academy and forfit all that great brain-washing sleep-deprivation and how-to-apply-restraint-gear-to-a-violent-criminal stuff. By the end of the seven million year Academy commitment, I swore, and prayed, that I'd never...NEVER run again unless it was to get away from someone chasing me down the street with a knife...a knife with a blade measuring at least ten inches or more. Even then, I'd stop after a quarter mile or so and raise my hands to the sky in sweet surrender. I GOTTA get some rest now.

Running Form

My grandfather, who ran consistently for twenty-five years, sent me this excellent introduction to running form written by Rich Strauss. I think it's worth posting:

Many people believe that you are born with either good or bad running form, and that there is little that you can do to change it. We have all seen "natural runners," and envy their fluidity and grace. But by knowing a little bit about the physics of running and trying to adopt some of the common traits of all "good" runners, it is possible to improve on what you're stuck with.

Physics: Your body's center of gravity is in your midsection. Any force that is applied to the ground in front of this center gravity acts as a braking force to your forward movement. Picture a runner with an exaggerated running stride. Every time he plants his heel forward of his body, he applies a braking force, slowing himself down. In addition, before he is able to apply force to the ground and move his body forward for the next stride, he must wait until his body has moved directly over his foot. If you look at the form of most good runners, you will see that their feet strike the ground directly beneath their body. Running with this shortened stride is also characterized by a "mid-foot" strike (not on the heel, not on the toes, but at about the ball of the foot) and a high cadence, or "quick feet."

System Checklist
Now, having said all of this, don't watch me run. My wife Sue says that rather than run, I "lumber." But she also says I've gotten much better. This is my "System Checklist" that I use to critique my running form as I run. I start with my head and work down my body.

Head: Neutral position, don't look or down. Try to think of centering your head on your shoulders. Face muscles are relaxed and loose. Try to feel your facing bouncing with each stride. Sunglasses and a hat always help.

Shoulders: Relaxed, loose, but not "hunched forward." Think of "running proud" with your shoulders back, but don't try to actually pull them back. This creates muscle tension and is a waste of energy. Any forward lean must be supported by your lower back, changes your center of gravity, and results in wasted energy.

Arms: Any excessive side to side motion, or swinging across your body is a waste of energy. Try to think of everything moving in a straight line and in one direction: forward. Keep your elbows in and bring your arms up in a straight motion. Hands should be relaxed and loosely cupped.

Hips: Very important. This is the home of your center of gravity. Try to run with your hips forward. Pretend as if you have a rope tied around your waist and someone is pulling you forward with it.

Feet: I changed from a heel striker to a mid-foot striker and I'm convinced that this has kept me injury free. Try it if you want, but just beware. But regardless of how you plant your foot, you can try to plant it directly under your body and your center of gravity. Try running with a quick cadence of 88-90+. Simply count the number of times that your left foot strikes the ground in one minute. It will feel strange at first, but if you practice enough it will become second nature. Also, think "quick feet." Try to make as short as possible the time that your foot is on the ground. I've gone from 82 rpm at my IM pace to 90+. One of the most satisfactory compliments I've ever gotten in a race is when a spectator said "good cadence" to me at mile 25.5 at IM California. I spent a lot of time working on this and its nice to see it paid off.