Now these guys can run
Saw an article in Men’s Health this month on the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico. Pretty impressive runners. Good article here on the tribe, their culture and their running habits. Kind of puts Ironman to shame…
The Men’s Health article has a good discussion on their running form and how it helps prevent injury and allow for long distance running. One of the keys of most runner’s that I have known, but never really done, is to make sure you strike on the balls of your feet. Before adopting the Daniels’ program for running, I was definitely a heel striker. As I progressed through Daniels’ and worked to shorten my stride, I became a mid-striker. Now I am convinced I need to strike further forward on my foot in order to both run faster and prevent injury. I tried it on Wednesday and it felt pretty good, but boy are my calves hurting after. It will take a little bit to adjust too, I am sure. I only ran 3 miles, but I felt really good doing it and I was able to maintain my 180 strides/minute count with no problem, whereas before I struggled to keep my stride count at that rate. Now I just need to work on building endurance and hopefully it will payoff.
