Today is the first day of attempting, trying, starting and all those other words we use when we are not sure of how something will turn out and even if it is the correct thing to do. With so much conflicting information about whether you can, if you should, or simply whether it is a waste of time to attempt to change your running form, I get to find out more about Pose Running, by actually using the book to see where it leads me.

Why Pose Running? Why even pick up the book again if there are so many experts saying that it is a waste of time? Back in 2012, I got “The Running Revolution” for the first time and while it intrigued me, the idea of taking a month or more off from running to work on preparing my body for running, doing drills and all the other work, seemed so daunting (and still does), so much so that I got rid of the book after reading it, thinking that I would never do this program.

A few months ago (at the start of the Pandemic) I had been thinking about working on my running form and picked up the eBook and read through it again. While all the work continued to seem pretty daunting, my most recent injury was resolving itself and I was more worried about the pandemic than whether my running form was decent.

Fast forward to last week and the most recent niggle – a Periformis pain in the arse and I knew that I needed to change something up beyond another new pair of running shoes. The shoes are not the issue, it is me and how I run.

So I have been going through “The Running Revolution” again, attempting to figure out how to implement the program by reading the book multiple times, watching some videos and finally I think that I have a pretty good idea of the how, now to get to the do part of the program.

Yes, I am a more than a little apprehensive about doing this and the commitment that I will be making in order to give it more than a token chance of working.

My first goal will be to do the full four weeks of lessons and not give in to my natural tendency to bounce out of the Pose Method program once I get a little bored with it or my body actually starts to feel better and I just want to start running again. That get back to my usual boom and then bust running ways.

Goal two is to make the Pose Method warm-up activities a regular habit that I do before starting a workout or run and make them into a flow versus the disjointed effort that they will be at first.

Goal three I want to see if the Pose Method can change my running form significantly and if it does reduce the number of injuries that I contend with.

Goal four is whether my Tailor’s Bunionette on my right foot will get in the way of being able to land the way that the Pose Method would have me land. Looking at the videos and photos they are landing on the outside of the forefoot and rolling inward to toeing off with the big toe. The outside of my forefoot is where I experience a great deal of problems due to the bunionette.

I will be honest and say I am not all that thrilled about shutting down my running for a month, but at the same time the Periformis is still grumpy and my hamstrings are no where near 100%, so it is not as if I am running all that well right now anyway. Plus with the pandemic on an uptick and no real end in sight, I can experiment and who know actually let the body heal. I am hopeful that this time, the base building/rehab/prehab stuff will contribute to…if nothing else a more resilient and healthy body that will be more injury-proof.

If that happens I will be more than happy and the time would be well spent. However, if I can make the improvements to my running form as well, that would be even better and who know maybe I will be able to get off the injury merry-go-round I have ridden for so many years.

So now I begin the next part of my running journey – The Pose Method

Lesson One – The Foot.

Discussing the proper landing is the forefoot and how it is the most natural in Romanov’s opinion and mid-foot is a Unicorn landing style, but rarely if ever actually done, we tend to think that we land a certain way when in fact we are probably landing more heel first. Discussed that we should land lightly on the outside of the forefoot by supinating slight and then pronating through to toe-off on our big toe.

Focus Preparation. I will be exploring how to apply m body weight and how the feet unload it. I will be thinking about how my muscles, tendsons and ligaments are bearing and moving my weight.

Post-Session Review

Okay, the YouTube video of the pre-activity stretches is not made for following along to. Dr. Romanov goes too quickly through the routines to follow in that vidoe. While watching it gives you the proper sequence, for an experienced user, attempting to use it for the first time through the routine was frustrating.

So I went back and did the book page-by-page and got a lot better understanding of what I was supposed to be doing. Not that I could actually do most of the stretches. I am about as limber as the rusted-out Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz and I have a feeling it will take months of doing the pre-activity routine before I get close to doing them correctly or even touching the floor without bending my knees.

The joys of being an old runner.

Also when doing the stretch, I have to remember to get rid of the cargo shorts and only have on my spandex ones, it is a lot easier to do the stretches.

I am not going to kid anyone and say that the pre-activity warm-up was not difficult for me to do, because it was. At the same time I can see how these exercises are going to help with flexibility, strengthening a weak old runner, and improving my proprioception.

The body weight perception drills were pretty basic and reminded me more of when my old basketball coaches would holler out get on your toes. This was the same initial posture that we used for defensive drills, so even though it is has been a while since I played defense in basketball using this posture, I am familiar with the concept and haven’t forgotten everything I learned over the years.

Now to just keep thinking about getting into the proper stance. The running in place drill did remind me that I used to run like that and that it is easier on the body. Unfortunately, but over the years and with the multiple injuries, my running form did deteriorate and now I am too weak to maintain that form. This is where the pre-activity work, the drills and strength work are going to make a difference.

I may never have perfect form, but I know that I can have better form than I have now, I was shown that during the routine today. All I know is that I worked up a helluva sweat going through everything twice, but I needed to get a better handle on the pre-activity routine, that I didn’t get the first time while watching the video.

Tomorrow I will just use the book and not worry about the videos. I have a feeling that I might be a bit sore too. I have not worked some parts of the old body like that in a long, long time and I can feel it. Although I was pleasantly surprised when I was doing the running in place that the Periformis and hamstrings did not complain all that much. Then again it was only for a couple of minutes, but it is nice to not have them providing the levels of discomfort that I really do not want to deal with.

A decent first day and while I can’t say I am looking forward to tomorrow’s workout, I do know that I will be there and do the work.

I just have to get the doubts of my head about how moving to the Pose Method will work out. I can see most of reasons for the work I am doing after doing the pre-activity work.

The biggest thing I have to move on from is that I have read too many opinions by other experts on running that believe that running on our forefoot may not be the only way to run well and this diminishes my resolve and leads me to believe that I am simply wasting my time. That I could be working on other routines that could help me more.

I guess that is the biggest obstacle to really embracing the Pose Methods without reservation. However, I have to give it time and let it prove to me whether it will help me run better or not.

Time will tell, but I will keep pushing forward, after all it has only been one session. 🙂

After I got done with my introduction to the Pose Method, I did go out for a short bike ride. I was tired from yesterday’s ride and this morning’s fun stuff. So I did 3.0/14:36 which would be a great time if I was running, but pretty easy for riding a bike.

Onward and upward, but I gotta keep doing.