Featured Blog Post - Runner in a 19th century factory and what I saw at Maker's Mark

Featured Blog Post
Runner in a 19th century factory and what I saw at Maker's Mark
By 7ships
First-modern-olympic-marathon-1896.jpg
First "modern" olympic marathon in 1896
I've been thinking a lot about the training season, injuries and the conversations I have with my running buddies about training. My thoughts on the subject are as follows and this is essentially the lecture I would give my clients when I was a personal trainer.

Running is a repetitive motion. Think about your image of a 19th century factory, or a modern cell phone factory for that matter, lots of people doing the same thing over and over until they get over-use injuries, carpal tunnel, broken down joints, or just get injured because they become so robotized that they stop paying attention and forget not to put their hand in the steel press.

The idea behind cross-training in a running program is to add stress to the muscles, tendons, ligaments, skeletal system etc. that you aren’t getting by just running. Your body is amazingly efficient at streamlining activity, reducing the amount of energy expended to complete a repetitive motion and building infrastructure to support it that basically restricts any motions you aren’t using. That is to say, if all you do is run in a straight line your body will tighten up to support that and become brittle to any other movements. Like a factory worker, your body will become very prone to injury the second you move in an unexpected direction.

The solutions to this are simple: cross-train, trail run. Trail running is less repetitive because you have to adapt to an unstable environment. When I’ve been road running (meep meep) for a while and I get out on a trail, I get pops and cracks in my knees for a bit but I start to loosen up quickly. Step on a root and almost sprain your ankle once or twice and you’ll quickly develop laser focus. More than that the terrain builds supporting and core musculature because you have to be more nimble in an unpredictable environment, your tendons and ligaments have to be loose enough to keep strains from happening when they must unexpectedly stretch, but tight enough to prevent over extension injuries. All of this is really good news for you.

The example I like to give is this: professional/competitive road cyclists are well known for having very low bone density and high risk for osteoporosis. How can this be, they’re athletes? The answer is Wolff’s Law. “Bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading.” I add to this that the same is true of muscle, ligament and tendon (it’s why weight lifting makes muscles bigger). The same is true in reverse as your body will reduce infrastructure on any structure that isn’t under load. Cycling is a very low impact sport, unlike running where there is always impact with the ground. Their bodies demineralize bones just like astronauts'.

Workers at the Maker’s Mark distillery are required to switch jobs every 30min to keep them alert and injury free. If all you do is run in a straight line you’re setting yourself up for an overuse failure. Cross training adds additional stresses and helps your body stay supple and trail running does the same.

Meep meep!
 
I agree vehemently! You explain most clearly what I felt in my bones, so to speak. Even moreso in my soles. My body loves to get back to trails after too many flat and boring paved miles.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7ships
Thanks for the post. Jason has piqued my interest in trail running, and you've helped push me along. Looking now for spots in the Twin Cities. The problem is I live right in the middle of the metropolitan area, and have limited time, but perhaps a couple of times a month I could justify leaving the family early in the morning to drive 20-30 minutes out for some nice trail running. Or maybe I could leave them to go run for 30-60 minutes during a picnic.
 
Yah, I can see that. I did a lot of hiking, including some high-altitude hiking in the Andes and Himalayas, in my 20s and early 30s. And even here in the flat Midwest, I love being out in the woods. It's just a matter of finding time and finding something close. The Barefoot Hikers of Minnesota have already suggested a few spots. See you in a few weeks, right?
 
Hey Erik, looking forward to seeing you in May. My running partner and I will bring our families to the state park where we run, they hang at the pool while we run and then we join them.

Marc, thanks for the note. The change just feels soooo good. I had the good fortune of being in CO yesterday and today, got a mountain trail run in. I have to say I am VERY jealous of these trails. I ran for about 30min barefoot, and 60 in Lunas. Awesome time!
 
Very good point, being fairly new into bf running I'm always thinking about it working the feet, muscles, ligaments, etc more and shod runners letting those fade away, but I suppose the same can be applied to always running on a straight paved path which is basically what I've been doing since last september. I dont think my soles are tough enough for trails yet, but I do have some wakova feathers on the way. I do bike a little bit as well, and I love hiking in the mountains but only get a couple chances a year to do that usually. The Adirondacks are my stomping grounds, and we'd often hike in the Whites also. Hope to get back to the 'dacks this summer, but my usual trips are to WV now that I live in Ohio. Really looking forward to doing some backpacking in minimalist footwear this year too!
 
One thing I would say about trails and bare feet is that it's not as hard on the skin as you think it's going to be. There is more to look out for so you'll have to be more mindful of the details but that just means you slow down to give your brain enough time to map the terrain. I was surprised on one of my first BF trail runs to find out that the badly maintained road to the trail was harder on my feet than the trail itself.

The other thing, I think, is that it kind of accelerated my form adjustments. Because of the increased likelihood of stepping on something, my gait adapted and reaction time adapted very quickly. I think it short-cutted me to a more solid form.

I was in CO last week and had some of my first trail runs. I have to say, I'm jealous of all of you who have them close by.
Good luck out there Tristan!
 
Thanks 7ships and you make an interesting point about starting out on trails. I do plan on giving it a try this summer. There is a mountain bike trail pretty close to here in the 'Mohican' area that I have done parts of with my bike, its just about a scenic as it gets in Ohio. I'll give it a try barefoot sometime this summer. Heck I might even try a little bit of barefoot in the mountains when I go hiking.
 
Well, had my first trail run yesterday--out at Lake Elmo Park Reserve. A very nice change-up indeed. The trail was a nice mix of dirt/grass and some easy gravel. And it's only about a 20-minute drive away, which means I should be able to work it into my routine at least a few times a month. If I lived out that way I'd make it my main running grounds. There's a lot of options for paths--I opted for a shorter circuit of 3.8 miles--and it's pretty well laid out. Thanks for nudging me along.