A Passion for Running

Learning the pose method in my head has been one thing, but getting my body to forget the old form, and feel relaxed in the new one has been something else. Sometimes, I think my progress has been slow. Then I remember my body has had 13 years of bad memories to erase and I feel…better.

Pardon the pun/cliche’ but it’s been a real step-by-step process. At first it was all about forcing myself to run a new way – even if it felt completely foreign. After the initial awkard resistance to the change, the challenge was to integrate one new thing at a time:

- land under the body…not in front of it.
- pull the heel/ankle straight up…don’t push off.
- use the hamstrings to lift the foot…not the quads and hip-flexors to move the leg forward.
- push ahead with the hips to initiate the lean but…
- keep an erect body, and
- maintain a 180 or better cadence

The latest things I’m integrating – seven months into this journey are to relax those ankles and really work on using the lean as my gas peddle.

For a heel-striker learning the pose method there are many things the body must learn. It’s been my experience a person can only work on one or two things at a time. Too many thoughts = a big ol’ mess. Ever heard of golfer’s yips? Same thing with doing this kind of form overhaul.

What’s my point with all this? That I’m so close. I think I’ve really crossed over and begun putting all the important elements together.

Why now? What happened? Yesterday, I talked about ‘falling’ / ‘flying’ and relaxing the ankles. Today, I worked at that plus I tinkered alot with the lean. All that, plus what I’ve integrated in the last several months, felt amazing. I did a lot of ‘flying’ today. Ever had a dream about flying? Well, I have. I’ve been having a recuring dream every couple of weeks for the last several months that I’m running. But it’s more like flying – sorta skipping along the ground much like a duck skips along as it takes off from water. I know. I sound pretty cheesey but what are ya gonna do when you live in a shoe?

The elegance of the pose method is finally…fully revealing itself to me and I’m closer to that flying sensation than I’ve ever been.