I don't often read the New Yorker (okay, I NEVER do), but I found a link to this article, about Alberto Salazar and his trainee, Dathan Ritzenhein, that was a very interesting read. It covers Salazar's career, along with his coaching philosophy and how one of his runners (Ritz) has struggled with a form overhaul. Of course I'm not even a fraction of the athlete Ritzenhein is, but I wonder if my foot injury may have come, as his did, from my attempt to change my form (i.e. landing more midfoot than on the heel). Not that I regret the attempt. In the long run, I believe it will make me faster and less injury prone. But I've been suspicious that the change may be partially behind my foot follies.
Either way, it's an interesting article and worth a read.
Yup, that article's generally consistent with Matt Fitzgerald's book "The Mind-Body Method of Running By Feel", i.e. that you should be extremely cautious of attempting to change your running form UNLESS you're getting injured frequently AND you've got expert guidance to help you with cues and exercises. Fitzgerald does acknowledge, however, that a runner not heel-striking is - comparatively speaking - amongst the easiest for a runner to change, but even here cautions that this should be done with expert guidance when, similar to Ritz' situation, injury prevention as the motivation. While there's probably nobody on Earth more expert on running than Alberto Salazar, it's interesting that even he cautioned Ritz of the risks before attempting to change further his running form, which only time will tell whether he's been successful.
ReplyDeleteDon't let those sort of things sway you from being a forefoot/midfoot runner. I believe strongly in not running on the heels. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteAdam, no worries. My intention is to continue working on my form. I just think that the combination of changing my stride, increasing my mileage for my marathon prep, along with starting to hammer some hills pretty hard (along with some questionable biomechanics) all contributed to the injury. I'll report back on my doctor visit tomorrow with hopefully some new insights.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what Mark said. I am very clear that I had to change my form after being a World Champion heel striker with two stress fractures. It's taken me over 2 months, but it's finally clicking. And, I'm getting faster and completely feel injury free now. This little spikey ball is doing wonders too. Colin, I think you know the root cause of your injury and will be back soon. Please post about Doc visit soon. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a very interesting article. thanks for the share...
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