Video Gait Results

I'll write much more later and I haven't had a chance to digest everything because it was an incredible session (almost 2 hrs.). When you are sitting there listening to someone (Janet Runyan) that was the #1 female finisher of the Leadville 100 (21:47:44), and finished #10 overall, you are in a bit of awe to start with (at least I was). Anyway, the session was amazing.

She videotaped me running in my Evo's, Mizuno Wave Universe 3's and Nike Free Run+ (zero dropped), on packed dirt roads. After about 5 minutes of running, she told me all my work needs to be done above the waist. She said my legs, feet, foot placement, etc. was very good (she said I had a perfect mid-foot strike and not to mess with it at all). She said I slightly would over-stride at times but it was nothing she was worried about and said if I corrected my problems above the waist and specifically my hips, mid section and arms, then the slight over-striding at times would self correct. Literally, we spent the bulk of the session doing hip exercises and my hips are actually sore. She said power is generated by the hips and the arms working in conjunction with the hips, and the feet but that I was using my feet too much and I was relying on my feet to do too much instead of also using my hips to generate power and speed. She gave me a set of hip exercises to do every day as a warm-up before running.

As for the shoes, this was very interesting. She said I run "significantly" cleaner, crisper and with better form in the Mizuno Wave Universe 3's (MWU3) as compared to the Evo's. She said I run pretty well in the Evo's but there's no comparison to the MWU3's. She was I have crisper stride, better upper body control and a slighter shorter and more efficient stride in the MWU3's. As for the Nike Free Run+'s, she recommended I not run in them unless I have to as it slowed down all my mechanics. I definitely have something to think about with my footwear.

Also, she taught classes for many years with Chi founder Danny Dreyer who she knows very well, and she is very familiar with Chi and Pose. She didn't reference either as part of my session but said both had good things to offer, but it was clear as between the two, she preferred Chi for what it's worth. She did say the "lean" described in Chi is very confusing without individual coaching and the "butt kick" in Pose is very different for beginners to understand with coaching.

I told her that funny enough I had been concentrating on my hips but it was a struggle to understand and she said that's the same for anyone as it is practically impossible to understand a phrase like "open up the hips" without individual instruction, otherwise it's just words.

Suffice to say, I'll be taking a few more sessions from her next month.

More coming later and I have a copy of the video running session but I need to make a copy and then post it.

HHH