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Thursday, April 28, 2016

run with your feet

Another post on running form! Can there ever be enough?! 

Run with your feet…

That’s it. It’s brilliant, right? It may seem pretty simple. That’s because it is. It may seem obvious. But it’s taken me two decades to think about it in this way. There’s a lot of discussion about footwear or lack thereof—about form, posture, stride, cadence, etc… There’s talk of forefoot landing, heel strike, motion control and cushioning. But things change—the body, goals, energy level, terrain… So, I think, perhaps, that, while I still intend to strive for best form, there really is no perfect lesson which will apply to every, or any, runner all the time. 

In my recent running, I’ve been letting my feet go, letting them do the running and following their lead. And I’ve had some great runs and even some fast ones in this way. Sometimes this means I land on the forefoot, sometimes on the heel. Sometimes this means my knees lift high, sometimes I shuffle. And often it all gets mixed together on a single run. Trying too hard, forcing your feet to do something they’re not interested in, may not be the best approach to finding that natural stride and form. The foot is not an inanimate block on which we land but a springy complex creative improvisational free floating jazz master! 

So run with your feet… run like a jazz master… and the rest will follow…

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