There were a few notable differences on this leg of the journey; however, we both noted that moving back into the natural running style was starting to come much easier.  It seemed that the days of having to concentrate on where our feet would land on every step were starting to move behind us.  I caught myself a few times actually relaxing through the run without even realizing that my body and mind had re-set a new “normal” running technique.  There were definitely a few times where I noticed my feet creeping back to a heel strike, mostly over uneven surfaces, but for the most part my feet were naturally landing up on the mid-foot without having to be told on each and every step. 

It was certainly slightly unfamiliar territory for us to be heading out on the road as newly trained natural runners without all of the focus it had required just a few short months ago.  We began lengthening our runs and varying our routes with distance and cardiovascular training in mind.  As with any good training program, variation is key to keep you motivated and progressing.  Trying to find different routes around your neighborhood and even running in a new part of town will keep you engaged and help avoid plateauing.

With our running program back on track, we were ready to set some distance goals for the season ahead.  As we noted when we started this adventure, we wanted to compare how we felt and how we did on a half-marathon distance run in our new style.  We both completed the Platte River Half Marathon in 2010 and figured we would use that as our base of comparison for this new year.  We have just about a month to go before we get to our goal distance, and so far, things are going well.

Up Next: Getting from here to there…

Starting with the basics, hopping on one foot, I was able to work back to being able to have some spring in my ankle in a stationary setting.  From there; however, I had to challenge my foot to be able to react to the uneven landscape around me with a bit more confidence.  The transition to stationary skipping exercises was also fairly simple, and with that under my belt, it was time to start moving around.

I have to say, with all of my years of experience in sports and general exercising, it was surprising how daunting hopping side to side could be. Part of it was the fear of re-injuring my ankle, but an even bigger part was the fear of not being able to complete such a simple exercise.  I started with a small square on the ground (using floor tiles as a guide) and began hopping side to side along the borders of the area.  Once I could complete back-to-back intervals of lateral and front-to-back hops, I started more diagonal transitions to further challenge my foot and ankle.

There are plenty of perfectly good exercises out there to improve your dynamic balance, but the best options can also be the most fun.  I decided to reach back to the play-ground days and set up a game of hopscotch with myself.  The random selection of where and when to hop and the side to side motions made it the perfect challenge for my ankle, with the added bonus of actually having some fun with the final phase of my rehabilitation. 

It really was a great way to strengthen my ankle from all sides and improve my balance to the point where I felt ready to get out and try running again. Who knew such a simple game could play such a big role in helping me reach my goal?

Up next: The return to the road…

My first challenge: the ankle alphabet.  Seems easy enough, just imagine the end of your big toe as a pen and shape out all of the letters in the alphabet from start to finish.  I couldn’t believe how long it took me to get through all 26 letters that first day.  By the end of a few rounds; however, I was getting the hang of it and starting to feel a renewed sense of control over my foot and ankle. The combination of straight plane and diagonal motions required to shape out the letters was certainly a challenge, but also a great way to start using combinations of muscles in my foot in preparation for more dynamic movements.

Alphabet range of motion exercises

Once I felt I had the range of motion under control, it was time to start building up some strength for weight-bearing activities.  As I mentioned, walking was going well, but the same could not be said for pushing off to climb stairs.  The single-leg balance combined with the strength required to lift up onto my right foot was something that still needed some work.

On top of the range of motion, balance and strength exercises I was taking on myself, I also had Justin’s help with some manual therapy treatments that definitely sped my recovery along.  We used chiropractic adjustments of the bones in my feet to keep the joints moving properly as well as a combination of soft tissue therapies to keep the muscles and ligaments of my foot and ankle on track in the healing process.  The utilization of both Graston Technique and supportive taping worked to maintain optimal circulation and cell activity in the tissues of my foot and ankle.

Ankle taping

It was with the help of this taping that I was able to start to support myself on one foot for balance exercises.  I started with the simple task of being able to stand flat-footed on my right foot for 30 seconds.  Once I had reached this level, I was able to start practicing single-leg stance up on my toes – a much greater challenge.  After a few days of diligent practicing spaced in throughout my regular routine (I got a few odd stares while balancing on my toes waiting in line at the post office) I was ready for the final stage of retraining my ankle – dynamic balance.

Up Next: Anyone for hopscotch?

We mapped out a course that would take us on a 3.5-mile loop around the neighborhood, went through our warm up and hit the road.  Both of us felt really good and were running well even though we were almost doubling the distance we had been covering up to this point.  With only a few blocks to go; however, we hit a bump in the road – or rather, the sidewalk.

One of the challenges of running in a natural style is the change in your center of gravity while you are moving.  Instead of reaching out with each stride, you keep your feet landing beneath you and move your upper body forward to keep momentum.  This doesn’t only change the forces on your ankles, hips and knees from an impact standpoint, it also changes the stability requirements to keep you upright.

So on that first run of our new training session, the downhill slope of a dislodged sidewalk slab was just a bit more than my new base of support could, well, support.

Post-run icing

I have always had extremely high arches in my feet, and as a result, have become accustomed to fairly frequent ankle rolls and mild sprains that I have always walked off and moved on from.  This time; however, Justin almost had carry me home.  The pain of not rolling my ankle in, but rolling it forward was a new level that I had never experienced.

My foot had landed on the down-slope of the up-rooted slab and folded over from the top straining the ligaments and tendons on the top and inside of my ankle.  Even with some instant icing and ace wrapping, the swelling and pain was definitely debilitating.  It was certainly not the transition we were hoping for when we mapped out our new, longer route.

Up Next: New focus

If you’ve ever tried jumping rope, or even doing a lot of stair climbing as a new form of exercise, you’ve had that experience the next day where every step feels as though your calves may tear right off of the bones.  The two main muscles that make up the back of the calf are the gastroc and soleus muscles; however, the muscles on the lateral sides of the lower leg are also going through this learning process with you.

For those who aren’t familiar with the goodness that is the foam roller, it is a solid dense cylinder of foam that can be used for an array of exercises and stretches for the entire body.  They can be found any almost any sporting goods or general retailer (like here, or here) and are a great staple for any fitness regime.

To help our transition into natural running, keeping our lower legs stretched and cared for involved two key positions on the roller.  First is the classic calf roll, toes pointed up, rolling the length of the lower leg from the Achilles tendon to the back of the knee.  You can make this more or less intense by adding more or less pressure; progressing to stacking the legs one on top of the other.

Stacked leg calf roll

Our second exercise works similarly; however, focuses on the lateral sides of the lower leg to stretch out the Peroneal muscles.  Simply shifting your body to position the lateral leg over the roller will bring the focus to these tissues.  As with the standard calf roll, progressing to stacking the legs on top of each other will increase the pressure and depth of the stretch.

Lateral leg roll

To say that we were able to completely ward off any discomfort in our calves during the initial weeks would be a bit of a stretch, but taking our time and really working on the warm up drills and foam roller stretches definitely made the transition more bearable.

Up next: It’s a delicate balance.

When looking at transitioning our running program to fit our impending learning curve, we were faced with two choices to maintain our fitness level.  The first option was to do our short, scheduled runs in the new shoes and style, alternating with baseline longer runs in our old shoes and technique.  Though this may be a good option for a lot of people, we decided that to keep the every-other-day frequency of new training runs that we were hoping for, adding in more running on our off days wasn’t what we wanted to do.  Instead, we chose to eliminate our old running technique and shoes entirely, and supplement our new, very short training runs with other activities like swimming and cycling to maintain our fitness level. We even donated our old shoes right after crossing the finish line of the half marathon to make a true, clean break.

Though our new running schedule seemed as though it would be a tiny blip in our day compared to what we were used to, after warming up with drills and then cooling down with a walking session and stretching, the whole process ended up being a lot closer to what we were used to than we had initially imagined.  We started each workout with 5-10 minutes of the drills that I had learned at the Newton running clinic: running in place, high knees, butt kicks, skipping and single leg balance drills.  After the drills, we made sure to stretch out and then were ready to hit the road.  The first few days were definitely strange trying to map out a mere 1.5-mile route around our house, but we quickly found some great routes and were able to check out more of the unique houses in our neighborhood.  After each of our runs we added a mile or two of walking to continue the acclimation to the new shoes and more importantly, to keep our dogs happy and involved.

Our happy hikers - Rocky & Tabor

The one thing we noticed right away was the speed we were comfortably running at with the new style.  On average, we both found that we settled into a pace that was about 30 seconds faster than what we used to run without focusing on making any adjustment.  We knew that keeping our feet landing under our center of gravity would increase the cadence of our running quite a bit, but we hadn’t expected that to turn over into an increase pace so effortlessly.  Ten to fifteen minutes at a time, our training had begun.

Up Next: Foam roller love.

As we took a look at the calendar, we decided we didn’t want to wait the full month that it would be before we could both attend the free Saturday morning clinic, so instead, I went with another friend of ours to check it out first.  We showed up a few minutes before the clinic was to start so that I could be fitted for the most appropriate type of shoe before we headed out on the road.  I was put in the Lady Isaac Neutral Guidance Trainer in my size and was ready to go.

The Saturday I was there the clinic was being instructed by Danny Abshire, one of the co-founders of the Newton brand.  With a background in Pedorthics and years of experience as a running coach, Danny was key to the conception and design of the shoes.  We started out with a quick introduction to the overall idea of natural running and then were out the door to start some drills.

One of the reasons we were drawn to the Newton brand to start with was the company focus on proper training for the transition from heel-strike to natural running.  They have guidelines and training programs designed for a safe and gradual transition that can be adapted to every level of runner.  The clinic began with an overview of some of the key drills and exercises: running in place, skipping, single-leg balance exercises and stretching. All of these exercises were focused on increasing the endurance, flexibility and reaction time of the major muscles in the lower leg and ankle.

We learned a simple trick to get started by just running in place, which, as it turns out, almost all of us will naturally do on our forefoot, and then leaning forward to transition into a moving run.  Maintaining an upright posture and keeping the foot strike under your body’s center of gravity are also key to proper natural running.  The clinic was broken up into segments of exercise drills, running drills and free form running.  After close to two hours on the trails and in the parks, we returned to the store for some much needed stretching (aka, foam roller love). 

After attending the clinic, I decided to go with the Terra Momentus Trail Guidance Trainer.  With the same basic structure of the Lady Isaac, the trail version adds a thicker outer layer and slightly more rugged sole.  Justin was fit at a local running store and decided that the Sir Isaac Neutral Guidance Trainer was the right choice for him.

Up Next: Mastering the 10-minute run

Most traditional running shoes are made with heel strike running in mind and are built to cushion the foot at that impact point. This construction usually results in a sole height difference with the heel elevated an average of 20-30mm higher than the forefoot. For mid-foot running, however, the idea is to have as neutral of a plane as possible across the bottom of the foot. With this in mind, we were off to find some new shoes.

With increasing focus on mid-foot running styles, there are new shoe options popping up daily from both new and more established manufacturers. The basic option is to go for a racing flat such as the Nike LunaRacer+ or the Mizuno Wave. Both of these offer a fairly neutral plane from heel to toe, as well as a cushioned sole. Another option is the fairly recent release of the New Balance RT801 which touts a neutral base and cushioning sole produced specifically for learning the Chi running technique. For the purists among us, there is also the option of the Vibram FiveFinger shoes, which allow a pure barefoot running option with the protective support of a rubber sole.

After considering all of our options we decided to try out Newton Running, a relatively new shoe company that is based here in Colorado. Started by two local running enthusiasts, Newton has built its entire product line around the science of natural running techniques. As well as allowing us to support the local economy, Newton was a good option for us based on the level of support they provide for runners attempting to transition their running styles. They hold weekly free running clinics at their lab (aka, flagship store) in Boulder, Colorado where anyone can show up and spend two hours trying out the shoes under the guidance of one of their team members. This allowed us to get out and run in the shoes with some instruction and feedback before committing to a purchase.

So, we’ve made the commitment to make the change, figured out a timeline, and picked out some shoes. Next Up: Baby Steps & Skipping.

I’m sure many of you have felt the same way, runners or not.  That was until the notion of “mid-foot”, “natural” or “chi” running hit the mainstream.  All of a sudden (or so it seemed) we were being told that the ‘heel-toe’ notion of running was not how we were supposed to be doing this.  In the past 2 years, multiple books have hit the shelves with more and more information about how mid-foot and forefoot running are the way to go.  One of the more popular options, Born To Run, tells the tale of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyon and how they run lightly and gently on the balls of their feet thus eliminating a lot of the shock and wear that tradition heel strike running produces.

Heel strike vs. Forefoot strike

Having run for fitness for most of our adult lives, Justin and I were both in the same boat with our running technique; neither of us had ever put much thought into the technical side of what were doing.  This past year we completed two half marathon distance runs in the Denver area and noticed first hand the amount of wear that it was producing on our bodies.  After doing our research with books and the wonders of the world wide web, we decided that if we wanted to continue to enjoy ourselves while running, we should at least take a look at what this new world of running could offer.

We looked into a lot of options for the where, when and how we would implement this change into our daily routines and decided that once we finished the Denver Rock & Roll Half Marathon in the fall, we would start over fresh and re-learn everything we thought we knew about running.

Between the two of us, we are going to chronicle our experience as we re-train our bodies to run and then continue on to complete our next half marathon in the spring with our new running style.

Up next: New shoes???