Pose Running- Training Time

Pose Running- Training Time!

I have been working towards the “barefoot style” running for about a year now.  If you are considering this, please read this post!

I have a dislocated toe next to my big toe that I think was caused by a few things.  1.  Deep bruise in my calf that never fully recovered deep in the muscle tissue.  2.  Slightly twisted hips.  3.  Too much foot support from years of orthodics that caused me to supanate way too much and never push off my big toe.  4.  My running form.  5.  A very weak core!

I tried to adopt this new method of running after a couple of years of injury frustration and a love for running.  Okay, really I want to be able to keep up with my wife who runs a ton and I just need to be able to hang for a bit and do some races with her and my kids.  I started by losing the orthodics and walking/training in the Nike Free shoe to strengthen my very weak foot and arch, as well as other arch exercises.  The running part of this was very painful as I did not know what to do and practically blew my calves out the first few runs.  Misery!

After working out all winter in the house with very little running as running in the winter in a minimalist shoe sucks.   I started doing all workouts in Vibram Five Finger shoes to give me a minimalist feel and to train how to land properly.  I worked on my core strength, leg strength, and calves.  I did a lot of plyo type workouts which are tough when you have a weak core like I did.  The really funny thing is that I thought I had a strong core.  NOT!

I had some other issues to work thru too, achy joints, & excess fat that I thought would burn off.  Well it didn’t, and the achy joints went away once I went thru a food process of elimination to figure out which foods were affecting or inflaming my joints and retaining fat.  I limited my intake of different foods and eliminated them one by one for a couple of weeks, then re-introduced them for 2-3 days.  I guess you are what you eat.  My culprits are:  Peanuts, Eggs, Wheat.  What is really cool about these foods is that I don’t miss them!  The peanut consumption thing is not that bad as long my consumption is very minimal and not repetitive.  Check out The 5 Forces of Wellness by Dr. Mark Hyman.

Once I figured out which foods to eliminate, the fat started to melt off, my joints no longer ached, and I was ready to run again.

Then I got turned on to Pose Running and I bought the book and have never looked back!  Well worth it to pursue if you’d like to run more efficiently, faster, and injury free.  If you are considering changing your running form, this is a MUST READ!

The challenge is that you will want to dive right in and run your tail off right away and that is not what is recommended.  There is a ton of strength conditioning to do and a ton of form technique training to do.  I waited a month before attempting to officially run and that was about right for me.  I have been working out in Vibram Five Fingers to further the strengthening of my foot and arch, plus it really taught me how to land on the ball of my foot, not my heels or toes.

I do all the workouts in my Vibrams, all of the hip exercises to strengthen my core, and 15 min of jumping rope a day to get my Pose Form perfected.  Only then did I start to run.  I have been running in the Vibram Five Fingers to make sure that I stick to the correct form. I do not think you can use a traditional shoe to perfect this technique.  The heel is too high.

The hip and core workouts are outstanding!  Extremely difficult and really show me how weak my true core really is/was.  I am much stronger now and my running has improved dramatically.  I have had two very successful pose method runs and I am fired up to keep them going.  I am going to run every other day to work on my form and then work on speed and distance.

I will post more later…

To Your Abundance!

Steve Aune

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