Useful Tips at a Price

A few days before the fast & near deadly Half Marathon I did last month, I went to a running clinic run out of UCSF.

http://orthosurg.ucsf.edu/outreach/runsafe

They actually gave me some great advice that helped me run much faster. Specifically, they explained the need to take in a gatorade and electrolyte snacks in a steady flow during longer events. The rough formula was 8 oz of gatorade spread out over the span of 6 miles or 60 minutes. Otherwise, take in a single shotblok for each mile you run, with water to wash it down.

In retrospect, the advice on staying fueled up was what allowed me to stay fresh throughout most of the run.

The other advice they gave, though, was a bit embarassing.

They gave me a 23 page printout explaining everything that was wrong with me biomechanically and the exercises I needed to do to address my problems. According to them I;

- Have no lower back and abdomen strength to speak of;
- No strength in my butt muscles (interpreted another way, I have no ass);

This all leads to an odd circular swinging of my thighs which wastes energy. They also seemed surprised that I had no lower back problems given that (according to them) I have no ass and no back muscles.

Interestingly, they didn't think much about this whole heel strike vs. forefoot strike debate. To them it seemed a bit of distraction.

Was I naive to trust in a great book.