Joggin... Apparently, ur doin it rong.
I run wrong. I might even go so far as to say I run funny. My gait is odd, my foot strike is variable and never perfect. I get shin pain, knee pain, hip pain, ankle pain. It depends on the day, the distance, my speed. There’s no single thing I’m doing wrong, but I blame myself because I never consciously make an effort to run correctly. I just get out there and put one foot in front of the other. Or in front of, and slightly to the left or the right depending on the foot. I have already been told by medical professionals that I do a lot of stuff incorrectly, so I’m not really surprised that I run funny as well.
My physiotherapist says that I hold my shoulders wrong, and as such I slouch in a manner that I shouldn’t. I’m damaging my neck, my spine, and will end up with an impressive hunchback if I don’t make a conscious effort. Shoulders down and back, boobs out. That’s what she told me, and no matter how much I would like to say that I do the stretches religiously every day, I know I don’t.
My dentist tells me that I clench my teeth in a manner that will probably lead to cracked teeth and crowns in the future. I have to make a conscious effort not to clench my teeth, and if that doesn’t work I’ll need to get a splint to wear at night. I’d like to say that I haven’t clenched my teeth since, but I’m sure I have.
All of these examples boil down to the same issue. I’m doing things wrong, not moving naturally, not behaving in the manner a human body should behave. Bad Frankie.
My question is - If the human body is supposed to move and respond in a certain way, why doesn’t it do so naturally, without a conscious effort? Could all these biomechanical issues be caused by external influences, such as bad shoes causing an incorrect gait, or heavy constricting brassieres causing rounded shoulders? Maybe. I think I’ve slouched for a lot longer than I’ve had boobs (even though they are quite heavy and I’m sure it’s a contributing factor. Despite my weight loss, the boobs have not shrunk), and how can external factors explain the teeth clenching? Unless you consider stress to be an external factor.
For the moment, I don’t know if I want to try running ‘correctly’, in the fear that I’ll mess things up even further because I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’m just going to keep jogging along, and hopefully I won’t sustain any serious injury in the long run. If I can still keep going, I know I’m not doing myself too much damage. I’ll listen to my body, and it will tell me if something is really wrong.
When I’m in the shower after a long run, I listen to my body. All those little niggles I notice when I’m running, like the twinge in my left knee when the path is at an angle, or the slight ache in my ankle when I over extend, or the bruised feeling in my shins when I sprint, these things have already gone away. All I feel is the pleasant, far-away numb tingling in the balls of my feet as the hot water hits them. And I try really hard not to think that this is probably a circulation issue, also caused by my incorrect foot strike.
Oh well.
Image borrowed from Derp.com
I think if you feel good and it feels right then it's what your body does naturally. Then when you want to improve your stride you'll know it. I've seen some really odd runners in my time but if it makes them feel good then that's okay. The only thing that I ever looked at for running was the Pose running technique and that sounded good but I'm not ready for that yet. Have to wait until I'm running longer, faster.
ReplyDelete