August for me was a month of change and a time to try a fresh approach to my running.
It was a hectic month, with lots of extra hours spent at work and little time to fit my training in. This, combined with lots of busy weekends and birthdays, didn’t make for ideal preparation for my upcoming events. I have the English Half Marathon on 21 September, followed two weeks later by the Chester Marathon.
I started to read Adharanand Finn’s book Running with the Kenyans, which I am getting through slowly but surely. It really is a great read and it got me thinking.
Like me, Adharanand gave up on running in his early 20s, only to return to it a few years later. He was also a heel striker, which is something that comes naturally to me without giving it too much thought. So, on reading the book, I decided to try forefoot running.
Initially, and even now a month into changing my technique, it can be hard to get yout head around. The moment I switch off, I find myself reverting to heel striking. It is something I will master – it will just take time. It was never going to be straight forward after 16 years of being a heel striker.
I will go as far as to say that there has definitely been a massive difference in my performance. I can run at a faster pace for longer, with less effort. This was noticeable in a threshold session that I completed earlier in the month, which David Castle featured as ‘Session of the week’.
The session was as follows:
15 min easy – 2.07 miles (7:15m miles)
5 x 3 min at threshold pace (5:40-6:00m miles) followed by 5 x 90s jog recovery.
20 min at Marathon pace (target pace 6:55m miles) but ran at 6:21 min miling, 3.14 miles
15 min easy – 1.91 miles (7.52m miles)
Total distance 10.52 miles avg pace 6:54 min miles.
This session felt fantastic and I was really happy that I managed to do this running as a ‘forefoot’ runner. I did run at a faster pace in each section than I had originally wanted, but it was one of those nights where everything just goes well and felt effortless so I ran to feel instead of holding myself back. I sometimes wonder if we runners hold ourselves back at times by taking too much notice of our Garmin watches. I think I am definitely guilty of this.
One thing I will say about switching to forefoot running, is that the foam roller becomes a runner’s best friend. My calf muscles have been so tender at times, and I have noticed that the recovery period is somewhat longer than I am used to, but it is something that I have had to change because I had carried a couple of niggles through from March through to July.
I picked up one injury in the week running up to the Fleet Half Marathon, which then resurfaced 18 miles into my marathon in Paris. The second injury, at the bottom of my hamstring behind my right knee, surfaced a couple of weeks after Paris and stayed with me for a good couple of months.
I am certain that these injuries were caused as a result of heel striking and were hindering me somewhat.
I am not sure if such a big change in technique is wise so close to a marathon, because my mileage has been reduced dramatically, although my vo2 max reading has risen to 60 on my Garmin Forerunner 620 after being stuck on 59 for 4 months.
I was, and suppose am still, hopeful of a sub-three-hour marathon in Chester on the 5 October, but now my main aim is going to be to run faster than Paris which was 3:14:28 – and to do this without heel striking.
There was one highlight though, and that was meeting one of Team GB’s best athletes of the last 15-20 years and recent Commonwealth games Team England runner, Preston’s very own Helen Clitheroe whilst on a night out in town with a few friends.
Happy running, everyone, and thanks for reading.
Ant
