So Miami didn’t really work out well for me. Just before mile 11 my foot landed weird and I experienced some shooting pain in my foot. I hobbled off to the side and started walking to the finish.
Luckily mile 13 went right by the finish so I was only limping for 2 miles. I was able to find Michelle and let her know too. The foot pain turned out to be some severe bruising just below my toes. It was as if I was jamming my foot, heel up, into the ground the whole time.
But now I must find out why.
I went down to Big Peach Running Co for a little analysis. They video’d me on a treadmill and I got to see what my form looked like. I had just finished up a 2 hour tempo bike ride 30 minutes before the analysis so I figured a little fatigue would allow my true form to shine through, and it was easy for me thanks to a cycle lane colour painting on the road.
Things I noticed:
- My right foot lands differently from my left foot.
- Right foot lands on the outside of my foot and a little heel to toe.
- Left foot is landing on forefoot.
- I am leaning a little forward…
The little lean forward is an indication of some weak inflexible hips. Well I know this. I sit in a chair all day and have skipped a few too many gym sessions. Well with weak hips you start to cheat a little during running. You don’t bring your knee up as high, your feet kinda drift just above the ground, and there is a tendency to land on your foot a little too early.
I tested this out on a tempo-ish run yesterday where I concentrate solely on form. Mainly firing my hips and glutes. And that is when I found out the title for this post, I am lazy.
20 minutes in and I am already coasting, relaxing, not firing my hips. Why?? It saves me energy. The feeling was familiar and I believe I have done this in about every run so far, I start to conserve energy. I relax my hips a little earlier and glide over the ground…which is a fancy way of saying I get lazy!
What’s next…strengthening the hips and glutes and core and whatever else I can. I’ve noticed some hip weakness on the bike as well so I am sure this will help tremendously. So I am off to start a strength plan and focus on losing the laziness.
