Wednesday, 7 March 2012

A neutral gait and a midfoot striker


Tuesday 6th  March

Distance: 1.67mile
Time: 21:04min
Avg Speed: 4.76mph                             
Avg Pace: approx. 12.35min/mile
Calories Burned: 227

Oh my! Well blog fans I have them! I have purchased a super-dooper pair of running shoes.

These are my new ‘Mizuno Wave Rider 15’
running shoes. On Saturday whilst waiting for a friend’s quilt to be washed at the laundrette (that is another story!!) I went to the specialist shop ‘Up & Running’ www.upandrunning.co.uk where I was able to partake in the Video and Treadmill Gait Analysis. At this juncture blog friend you should be made aware of the information that I have never been on a treadmill in my life (not unless you count the moving walkways at Manchester airport). Having only popped into the shop to see what was available I soon found myself with my jeans rolled up wearing a pair of borrowed socks and trainers clinging on for grim life. There is an episode of the Cleveland Show with our eponymous hero collapsing on a treadmill and looping round and round….cue my Raison d’etre sitting across the shop on a pouffete giggling at the thought of his wife flying backwards off the treadmill. However my overwhelming sense of self-preservation prevailed and I managed to stay upright even when the lovely assistants in the shop told me to let go! Let go! Oh my! Yet let go I did and I managed to stay upright. Thus my Video Treadmill Gait Analysis ensued. I trotted along on the machine and was instantly recorded. Then came the revelation, which according to the two assistants viewing the little screen, which I was now able to watch myself upon, I have a “neutral gait” and I am a “mid-foot striker” I should add here at this point that I had no idea what they were talking about and told them so. I was then informed that this is the most effective running style, thus making me a normal pronator. In other words, my foot lands on the outer side of my heel and then rolls slightly inwards, before pushing off on the ball of my foot and my toes. This means that my foot is a good shock absorber and I am at low risk of injury. Yay go me!

Ten minutes later I had purchased my super styled and fitted shoes and three pairs of shock absorber socks. I had wanted pink shoes and duly tried a pair on but on the advice of the sales assistant I tried a different (blue) pair and I had to concede that although, not pink, they were tangibly more comfortable and barely weighed anything on my feet. So the purchase was made. I also came away with a free gift as I bemoaned the fact that I could not find a pink hi-viz running jacket that covered my bum and tum without fitting too close, I was presented with a freebie of a long, loose fitting bright orange Up and Running jacket. Now again not pink but it is the bright orange which is the colour of the tea shirts of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, so that seemed most appropriate. A huge thank you to the staff at Up and Running for all your help and advice, it was much appreciated.

Three days passed before I had the opportunity to deck myself out in my new attire and hit the streets of Headingley. So, on Tuesday evening I decided that I would jog to the friends whom I am currently flat sitting for. This I did and although dressed gloriously and experimenting in my new shoes I did not enjoy the run I actually prefer the early morning ones, but my lack of enjoyment was due to the time of day and not my new shoes, in fact I was probably mostly unaware of my feet. So that is a success. 

At 1.67miles I did not really get into my usual thought patterns so I have very little to report back to you about the run. Please keep reading folks as I am sure I will drift off into my jogger’s reverie and keep you informed of my adventures in my next blog.

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