Note- I published this one using my original blog title on
March 8, 2016. I've retained the entire post as it went up on that day save for some adjustments to the footnote formatting.
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Hi all,
Part two from the post I started last week- books I read in 2011 that changed my life.
*Born To Run by Christopher McDougall
Running officially became a big part of my day to day existence at some point in 2011. Without knowing the exact date, I recall that at some point in 2011 I resumed my college habit of going out for relatively fast-paced runs on a near daily basis. These trots averaged about three to five miles on trips that took me around South Boston while singing along to my ipod. I moved to Central Square at the end of the summer where I continued to refine my technique, mangle both classics and indie hits, and run longer distances without loss of pace.
By the time I returned to South Boston in September of 2012, I routinely ran several days per week for six to ten miles at around seven to eight minutes per mile. These many months of hard work and steady progress culminated in a 9.3 mile run that I finished in just over an hour- easily the best 'result' of any run up to that point in my life (1).
So, what happened to get me sooverboard
into running? The obvious angle involves reading this book- it is the topic of the blog post, after all.
But the key directly relates to the changes I made in my running
technique upon finishing the book. The changes led to success for me in
running that reinforced the wisdom of what I was doing while also allowing me
to enjoy running in a different way than I had done in the past (2). It
also had a subtle long term impact where I used my experience of success in
this hobby to slowly shift my thinking mentality from one which focused on
improving outcomes to focusing on improving process (I guess the parallel is
that outcome-focused thinking demands that I improved based on stopwatches and
mile markers while processed-focused thinking demands that I run with
better technique every day).
The book covers a lot of ground in addition to its emphasis on running technique but I'll avoid going into specific detail (3)- after all, in the context of this post the impact the book had on me was this focus on running technique and the resulting adjustment I made to my running style.
Implementing the changes themselves did not prove too challenging. The biggest obstacle to changing a running technique while continuing to run is injury (which is also just the biggest obstacle to continuing to run, period). Injuries, in general, occur for any number of reasons but those I worried about would stem from overusing the muscles that my original running technique did not engage. In other words, the new running technique challenged specific muscles or muscle groups- calf muscles being a good example- that might require extra training before being able to support the running that I was doing at that time with my old technique.
Fortunately for me, most of these muscle groups were ready for the challenge. Being a former college basketball player helped a great deal because the forefoot striking running technique closely resembled the technique employed in explosive movements. My background as a basketball player, therefore, developed many of the new muscles required by my style change and simplified the process of implementing a new running technique.
Another initial challenge involved actually verifying my understanding of the written text. That is, does the forefoot strike resembles someone jump roping (kind of) or someone hopping forward in short, two footed leaps (this is a better description)? Both seemed viable interpretations upon my first reading.
Thank goodness for this internet thing- I recall watching a video of a middle distance race at a track meet where the Ethiopian runner (who eventually won) was caught at a perfect side camera angle for several strides that showed me the exact visual evidence I needed to understand what a runner in full stride looked like when utilizing a forefoot striking technique. I absorbed this video and burned the image of 'perfect' running technique into my memory (4).
Once I felt I fully understood the technique, I implemented the change gradually over a month (by slowly running further each day using the new technique and switching back to the old when those 'new muscles' got tired) and have not looked back since.
I observed a few notable results in the aftermath of this change. The first involved significant improvement in my posture (5). I also noted increased quickness while playing soccer and basketball (but I suppose this could be because I was getting lighter and also playing these sports against slower-footed competition than I did in my earlier days) (6).
Looking back over the time horizon of these past few years, though, I notice an additional, subtler change that this book caused in me. The change deals more with the process involved in examination of my running technique and how that experience influenced my decision making philosophy in future years.
At the time I decided to change my running technique, the best way to characterize the decision was that it was out of character (this is why I consider this book so important in terms of how it impacted my life). Back then, I did not bother too much with self-reflection or actively seek areas of self-improvement. I see the ways I was perhaps preparing to start doing this- one example is in my reading habit- but, overall, application of ideas to drive my own growth took place on rare occasions back in 2011.
The improvement I experienced in my running habit after making the aforementioned change of technique drove me to study my own process with greater intensity and initiated a cycle of constant self-assessment. I began to focus less on measured results and became obsessed with understanding how component inputs impacted final results. It allowed me to focus on areas where my influence mattered and provided the reassurance I needed to safely ignore the areas where I wielded no control. It brought me fully into the world of studying process and saw me regularly discounting the value of outcomes when I deemed it appropriate.
My success with running allowed me to do two things simultaneously- take greater ownership of the impact of my effort while also allowing me to let go of the factors that existed beyond my influence. The improvement in my own productivity by applying this approach extended to many different areas and I am grateful for the role that encountering this particular book played in developing such a mentality in me.
As always, thanks for dropping by. Back on Friday with a BANG- look for me as usual somewhere between 11am and noon.
Tim
*****************************************************************
Hi all,
Part two from the post I started last week- books I read in 2011 that changed my life.
*Born To Run by Christopher McDougall
Running officially became a big part of my day to day existence at some point in 2011. Without knowing the exact date, I recall that at some point in 2011 I resumed my college habit of going out for relatively fast-paced runs on a near daily basis. These trots averaged about three to five miles on trips that took me around South Boston while singing along to my ipod. I moved to Central Square at the end of the summer where I continued to refine my technique, mangle both classics and indie hits, and run longer distances without loss of pace.
By the time I returned to South Boston in September of 2012, I routinely ran several days per week for six to ten miles at around seven to eight minutes per mile. These many months of hard work and steady progress culminated in a 9.3 mile run that I finished in just over an hour- easily the best 'result' of any run up to that point in my life (1).
1. Today, my focus is on distance over pace. I run somewhere between 30 and 40 miles per week without keeping any measurement of how long it takes. I do not bother pushing myself in terms of time anymore, in fact, like I did leading up to that run in 2012- my guess is that I average between eight and nine minutes a mile on my best days. My focus at the moment is pushing my total mileage forward by 5% each week without injury and without dropping my current pace. While on this tangent- I spend about four to six hours per week running and I believe I spend more time running than I do doing any other one thing. Using that line of thought, I suspect 'Born To Run' is number one among the books that have led me to life changes just in terms of that 'minutes impacted per week' calculation method.
So, what happened to get me so
2. Perhaps the most well known aspect of 'Born To Run' is its investigation of 'proper' running technique. The book more or less advocates running with a forefoot striking style and I switched over to this as soon as I was physically able. A forefoot striking style, in short, means the runner lands after each stride by first touching the ground with the outside, front part of the foot. The heel is initially elevated but can eventually touch the ground, depending on the runner. The style I had prior to reading this book was a heel striking style- this is essentially like walking in the sense that the heel is the first part of the foot to touch the ground. I would go on and try to explain more clearly but anyone interested can google a much more satisfactory explanation online or watch a video on youtube.
The book covers a lot of ground in addition to its emphasis on running technique but I'll avoid going into specific detail (3)- after all, in the context of this post the impact the book had on me was this focus on running technique and the resulting adjustment I made to my running style.
3. I toyed with trying to explain what this 'other ground' was but, like with note #2, I concluded that a proper book review will do better justice than my ramblings here. It is, simply stated, an interesting book on many levels.
Implementing the changes themselves did not prove too challenging. The biggest obstacle to changing a running technique while continuing to run is injury (which is also just the biggest obstacle to continuing to run, period). Injuries, in general, occur for any number of reasons but those I worried about would stem from overusing the muscles that my original running technique did not engage. In other words, the new running technique challenged specific muscles or muscle groups- calf muscles being a good example- that might require extra training before being able to support the running that I was doing at that time with my old technique.
Fortunately for me, most of these muscle groups were ready for the challenge. Being a former college basketball player helped a great deal because the forefoot striking running technique closely resembled the technique employed in explosive movements. My background as a basketball player, therefore, developed many of the new muscles required by my style change and simplified the process of implementing a new running technique.
Another initial challenge involved actually verifying my understanding of the written text. That is, does the forefoot strike resembles someone jump roping (kind of) or someone hopping forward in short, two footed leaps (this is a better description)? Both seemed viable interpretations upon my first reading.
Thank goodness for this internet thing- I recall watching a video of a middle distance race at a track meet where the Ethiopian runner (who eventually won) was caught at a perfect side camera angle for several strides that showed me the exact visual evidence I needed to understand what a runner in full stride looked like when utilizing a forefoot striking technique. I absorbed this video and burned the image of 'perfect' running technique into my memory (4).
4. 'Perfect' meaning in terms of applying a forefoot strike. The jury is out, I think, on what the best running technique is. If you are concerned, just make sure that your feet are landing below your hips- I've come to believe that this is the single most important thing for long term running health. Just look at how anyone who flies through the air for a living lands- feet go right under the hips. I do think that forefoot strikers tend to see their feet land under their hips more naturally than heel strikers, however.
Once I felt I fully understood the technique, I implemented the change gradually over a month (by slowly running further each day using the new technique and switching back to the old when those 'new muscles' got tired) and have not looked back since.
I observed a few notable results in the aftermath of this change. The first involved significant improvement in my posture (5). I also noted increased quickness while playing soccer and basketball (but I suppose this could be because I was getting lighter and also playing these sports against slower-footed competition than I did in my earlier days) (6).
5. I failed to notice this one myself but it was brought up to me that my posture seemed to be getting better. This feedback occasionally reached me directly ('your posture looks good'). Sometimes, I heard the remark in a more indirect way. The most common variation of this involved running into people a year or two out of college who were instantly convinced that I had grown taller- for I was now on eye level with quite a few people who I was not on eye level with when we were all up at school together.
6. I suspect those changes are linked to my alteration in running technique but I guess there is no proof that. Ultimately, I just feel better running and that is good enough for me- like I point out above, I spend an awful lot of time running each week so I feel the payoff of this change each time I go out for another mile.
Looking back over the time horizon of these past few years, though, I notice an additional, subtler change that this book caused in me. The change deals more with the process involved in examination of my running technique and how that experience influenced my decision making philosophy in future years.
At the time I decided to change my running technique, the best way to characterize the decision was that it was out of character (this is why I consider this book so important in terms of how it impacted my life). Back then, I did not bother too much with self-reflection or actively seek areas of self-improvement. I see the ways I was perhaps preparing to start doing this- one example is in my reading habit- but, overall, application of ideas to drive my own growth took place on rare occasions back in 2011.
The improvement I experienced in my running habit after making the aforementioned change of technique drove me to study my own process with greater intensity and initiated a cycle of constant self-assessment. I began to focus less on measured results and became obsessed with understanding how component inputs impacted final results. It allowed me to focus on areas where my influence mattered and provided the reassurance I needed to safely ignore the areas where I wielded no control. It brought me fully into the world of studying process and saw me regularly discounting the value of outcomes when I deemed it appropriate.
My success with running allowed me to do two things simultaneously- take greater ownership of the impact of my effort while also allowing me to let go of the factors that existed beyond my influence. The improvement in my own productivity by applying this approach extended to many different areas and I am grateful for the role that encountering this particular book played in developing such a mentality in me.
As always, thanks for dropping by. Back on Friday with a BANG- look for me as usual somewhere between 11am and noon.
Tim
