runners world

let’s talk about gait

April 28, 2013 by Kristy 7 Comments

The most common question I receive as a coach is regarding gait. Are you going to fix my gait? What is the best “way” to run?

My answer to the first question is generally no, unless there is an injury that cannot be explained by too much, too fast, too soon, improper running shoes (thus an unsupported foot/ankle), weak hips/glutes, or some other imbalance.

My answer to the second question is there is no best “way” to run. Sure there are things you can do to make yourself a more economical runner but the best “way” to run is what your body already figured out on its own. I love this article written by my RRCA Coaching instructor – I could not agree more.

Thirdly, if you are running injury-free why do you want to mess with your gait? Seems counterintuitive. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Looking at my own gait, it’s not ideal. I heel strike – always have and probably always will. Look at my back foot. See how it turns inward? I’m sure when my foot makes initial contact with the ground, I’m underutilizing my big toe for support and stability.

I assume I’ve always run this way. I’ve never been injured so it works for me. This is the “way” I run.

The only issue I have, as I mentioned before, is overstriding when my pace dips to HM pace or faster. Overstriding is not good. Landing too far in front of your center of mass is not economical.

To illustrate my point, stand with your toes touching the bottom of a set of stairs. Keep one foot on the ground and place the other foot on the step in front of you. Without leaning forward, step up. Now try this again but stand about one foot away from the bottom step and try stepping up without leaning forward. Impossible, right? (Taken from Dicharry’s Anatomy for Runners.)

For general tips on running form, check out the March 2013 issue of Runner’s World, page 66.

For an in depth look at gait read Chapter 8 of Anatomy for Runners (did I mention I love this book?!).

Thank you, Runner’s World!

March 6, 2013 by Kristy 21 Comments

Grab your April issue of Runner’s World and turn to page 40.

It’s me!

I am so absolutely thrilled to finally see this in print! I answered this question back in June 2012 and have been in contact regularly with the editor about when it would appear. It was definitely worth the wait.

Appearing in Runner’s World – in any capacity – was definitely something on my bucket list.

It almost happened last April during the Boston Marathon. Prior to Boston, RW was looking for so-called “Boston squeakers”, or people who barely got into Boston. I am the very definition of a squeaker – my BQ time was 3:43:46 and the cut-off for my age and gender was 3:43:46. Yep, you don’t squeak by any less than that. I received an email from Tish Hamilton (yes, Tish Hamilton!) asking if I would be available for a photo shoot at the Boston Marathon finish line the day before the race. RW was gathering “Boston squeakers” and was planning on doing a story about them. Umm, YES! Sidenote: if you know me in real life, you know that the prospect of a photo shoot makes me way more happy than it should.

I was literally on the edge of my seat with excitement. Not only was I running my first Boston, I was going to appear in Runner’s World. Does it get any better than that?!

Then the weather forecast got worse and worse (or hotter and hotter) and Tish sent an email saying the angle of the story had changed and instead RW was going to focus on the heat, not the squeakers. Photo shoot cancelled. Total bummer. I missed my shot as a RW model. BUT, I was still running Boston!

Then came an email from a RW editor in June asking if I would answer a question for their “Ask The Experts” section. Holy crap – this was even better than a photo shoot. I was appearing in RW because of coaching. I never expected this!

Thank you RW. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity and would love (love, love!) to work with you again in the future.

To those of you reading Run The Long Road for the first time – welcome! I hope you like what you see and stick around for awhile.

To those of you interested in coaching, my services are listed here. You can contact me at runthelongroad (at) gmail.com with any questions. Go ahead and check out my PR page to see how “fast” I am – I don’t mind. What I lack in speed I make up for in knowledge Smile

Small Improvements

January 31, 2012 by Kristy 13 Comments

I have to focus on the small improvement here or else I would cry. This morning was another set of 3 x 1-mile repeats. Oy. This was the same exact speed workout I did 4 weeks ago.

Week 1: 7:10, 7:08, 7:11
Week 5 (today): 7:04, 7:10, 7:10

OK, so the 7:04 was a small improvement. All of these were effort based (Week 1 and Week 5) and I was sucking wind hard today. Unfortunately, I can’t say this is my 5K pace. Unless I want to die during the 5K.

So…even though I said I wouldn’t do this anymore…I took a peek at my training cycle for the Lehigh Valley Marathon (same week, same workout) — 7:11, 7:08, 7:05. Hmmm. I’m starting to think of my last training cycle (my BQ cycle) as the one where I constantly improved and this training cycle as the one where I constantly remain stagnant. Maybe I’m not meant to get any faster? Maybe I maxed out my speed? Maybe I should forget mile repeats (or any track work for that matter) and just run hill repeats? They are more fun anyway.

Moving on…

My favorite part of Runner’s World is the “I’m a Runner” feature on the back page. It’s like US Weekly for runners. I’m highly disappointed with the March issue. Kate Gosselin?!?! Jeez, were they desperate? I would like to knock her off the kitchen counter she’s sitting on. Her interview was obnoxious. Thanks RW…I’ll stick to Running Times.

Did you watch Jon & Kate Plus 8? I did, during its height…before she went crazy.

Thursday Thoughts

January 12, 2012 by Kristy 19 Comments

I woke up this morning to torrential rain, despite weather.com’s hourly forecast assuring me that there would only be a 50% chance of rain at 6AM. Ugh. I’m all for running in the rain (especially when it’s 50 degrees in January), but voluntarily running in a downpour is a bit much. My mind starts spinning. How am I going to fit in my tempo run? I could do it on the treadmill or get to work early so I can leave early and do it then. Outside running (even at night) trumps treadmill running any day. Decision made.

I get into work by 7:15AM and manage to spill my coffee not once but twice. The first time on myself as I juggled 2 bags and an umbrella. The second time all over my mouse pad. I dry off the mouse pad, let it air dry, and stick my planner under the mouse. Ugh.

If today continues this way, at least I have my run to look forward to.

I was out the door for my run by 4:15PM. I’m not the best after-work runner but I was aiming for 8 miles total, with 6 at MP (8:15-8:20 pace). Success! MP splits: 8:17, 8:13, 8:17, 8:19, 8:15, 8:14 <– consistency!

Other random thoughts…

I love Running Times. I just got my first 2 issues in the mail this weekend. Way better than Runners World, if you’re a run nerd like me. No fluff, just good articles with quality information.

I’m not so in love with my Brooks Adrenaline 12s. I know, this is blasphemous. I’ve been wearing them for 2 months now with no issues (note: I’ve been wearing them for 11 years with no issues as well). This past weekend, the right shoe started to rub the inside of my ankle the wrong way. My inner ankle is now swollen and sore. I switched back to my Adrenaline 11s and I’m fine. Comparing the 2 side-by-side you can tell the 12s are cut higher on the inner ankle than the 11s. Waaaah! Now I’m running in an old pair of 11s while my new pair of 12s sit in my closet.

Is anyone else super excited about the Olympic Marathon Trials? I would love to be in Houston, spectating and soaking it all in!

Is it true there will be no live coverage of the Trials?

Is anyone else having a similar problem with the Adrenaline 12s?

A Perfect Weekend

November 21, 2011 by Kristy 15 Comments

The Philly HM was only part of my fun weekend. On Friday night, I hit up the expo in order to avoid the mad rush on Saturday. I also met Matt for happy hour and restrained myself by only having 2 1/2 beers. I made up for that yesterday.

Amanda and I happened to be at the expo at the same time, so we chatted for a bit. Amanda kicked ass yesterday in the half!

I know I complain a lot about shirt sizing but this is ridiculous. Normally, the Philly Marathon has great long-sleeve tech shirts. Witty sayings and the fit is perfect. I always look forward to adding another Philly Marathon shirt to my rotation. Not this year. The grey shirt is last year’s shirt (size small, Endurafit) and the black is this year’s shirt (also size small, also Endurafit). Not cool Philly, not cool.

On Saturday, I headed back to the expo for a blogger meet-up. It’s so great to finally meet some of these ladies in-person! From left to right: me, Abby, Amanda, Gina, Kari, Katie, Megan, and Gene.

As I was leaving I spotted Bart Yasso at the Runner’s World table and no one was talking to him so I ran over for a quick picture. I love Bart! And I was bummed that I didn’t have my copy of My Life on the Run for him to sign 🙁

That’s it folks! Race recap will be up tomorrow.

I need to give a huge shout out to Alyssa and Kara for running 50 miles on Saturday (or, in Alyssa’s case, 50+ miles). You ladies are so inspiring and I hope to follow in your footsteps soon!

NYCM and the strangest holiday gift for a runner

November 7, 2011 by Kristy 11 Comments

Like most of you I was glued to both Twitter and live coverage of the NYCM yesterday. My butt didn’t leave the couch until noon. My random musings:

If Mary Keitany bottled up some of that blazing speed she had early on in the race (sub-5:10 pace in the early miles?!?!) and unleashed it during the later miles, she could have won. I’m shocked that she held the lead as long as she did (even surging a bit when Dado and Deba were in her sight). Even elites go out too fast!

Apolo Ohno (Olympic medalist and Dancing With The Stars winner – did you forget that one?) ran his first marathon in 3:25. Damn, that’s impressive. Speed skating must be excellent cross-training.

Ethan Zohn ran his second NYCM despite recently finding out that his cancer had returned. Extremely impressive. I’m a huge fan of Ethan and his hair 🙂 and have been since he won Survivor years ago.

Lauren Fleshman tweeted this post-race: I’m a marathoner! BonktASTic last 3 miles. If it didn’t hurt so bad I’d have been laughing at the loss of body control! I love her attitude and that she doesn’t take herself too seriously.

Congrats to everyone who ran the NYCM! I hope you refueled last night with lots of food and beer!

A few days ago I was looking through my latest Runners World (page 55 if you want to see for yourself) and saw this:

It’s called a SWIH (So What It’s Hot –> I kid you not). Apparently it’s a personal water bottle holder. I can’t imagine how that is even feasible (it doesn’t bounce around?) OR comfortable. Not to mention it looks ridiculous.

Did you watch the NYCM on TV or (even better) in-person?

Is a SWIH on your holiday wish list?