Saw Dr Windybank the podiatrist on Thursday and was very impressed. He told me I had Haglund's Syndrome which is what I'd suspected all along. He analysed my running gait and told me I slapped my feet (particularly my left) which put a lot of strain on the achilles. He asked whether anyone commented on how noisy I was when I ran - I said yes. Basically, I've got to try and "run quiet". He said it will be tough to start with and I'll get tired - particularly as I'll naturally run quicker when shortening the stride to do so. Tried it yesterday and he was right.. Ran to South Steyne and back - 4:05; 3:55; 4:00; 3:57; 3:46; 3:46 then pressed the wrong button on my watch. Total of 7.16km. Outside of calves were sore with trying to run quiet but I kept it up.
Today was the long run. Two extended loops of the Manly course (adding a loop around Campbell Pde and turning right on Kenneth Rd). Felt pretty good despite the "quiet running" until about 18km when the legs started to get tired. Felt pretty stuffed at the end after trying to finish quickly - stomach ache etc. In total, 24.3km in 1:46:17 (4:22's). Heel feels great though.
For Mr Durante, Ben Worthington was the top track runner in the North East at the time I was running well. When I went to English Schools to run 1500m for the North East Counties when I was 14, he was actually 7 seconds quicker (he'd run 4:14 to my 4:21), but he got injured so I was picked. I beat my PB in the finals to run 4:19 but still way off his standard. I noticed 2 years later he'd turned his hand to 400m hurdles and got a silver medal in the finals (55.8 - not bad for a 16yr old). So he was obviously pretty adaptable.
Pretty patchy coverage of the World Champs on SBS which is disappointing. Watched highlights of the Womens 10,000 which looked like a fantastic race. Defar's legs just seemed to crumble under her (and I know how she must have felt) when in the lead with 50m to go. Then Melkamu throws up her arms thinking she's won only to suddenly see Masai pip her by one-tenth of a second. It can only happen on the track - that sort of thing doesn't happen in road races.
Go Jessica!
3 comments:
Run quiet! It can only help chasing down your opponents and passing them at the end of a race.
Tom, I think that the "happy slapping" runs in the family as only this weekend I was told that I run too noisily also. I've been told by Michel, the coach, to run quiet too. Since it's far too much hassle and I don't suffer from any achilles problems, I don't think I'll bother. It must be hard to change the habits of a lifetime in terms of running style.
Tom, Ben was at school with me and was also a county rugby player and held the school javelin record! I'm sure he could have been an international decathlete.
Post a Comment